| 1 | 0Icelanders Seek To Keep Remote Nordic Peninsula Digital-Free (apnews.com) null/SLASHDOT/0102641672 70\r |
| 2 | i Thursday September 06, 2018 @11:30PM (BeauHD)\r |
| 3 | i from the no-cellphones-allowed dept.\r |
| 4 | i\r |
| 5 | i Hikers, park rangers, and summer residents of Iceland's\r |
| 6 | i northernmost peninsula are seeking to keep the area free from\r |
| 7 | i internet service, worrying that all that comes with it "will\r |
| 8 | i destroy a way of life that depends on the absence of [email,\r |
| 9 | i news, and social media]," reports the Associated Press. "The\r |
| 10 | i area has long resisted cell towers, but commercial initiatives\r |
| 11 | i could take the decision out of Icelanders' hands and push\r |
| 12 | i Hornstrandir across the digital divide." From the report:\r |
| 13 | i Despite or because of its remoteness, Iceland ranks first on a\r |
| 14 | i U.N. index comparing nations by information technology use,\r |
| 15 | i with roughly 98 percent of the population using the internet.\r |
| 16 | i Among adults, 93 percent report having Facebook accounts and\r |
| 17 | i two-thirds are Snapchat users, according to pollster MMR. Many\r |
| 18 | i people who live in northwestern Iceland or visit as outdoor\r |
| 19 | i enthusiasts want Hornstrandir's 570 square kilometers (220\r |
| 20 | i square miles), which accounts for 0.6 percent of Iceland's\r |
| 21 | i land mass, to be declared a "digital-free zone." The idea\r |
| 22 | i hasn't coalesced into a petition or formal campaign, so what\r |
| 23 | i it would require or prohibit hasn't been fleshed out. The last\r |
| 24 | i full-time resident of the rugged area moved away in 1952 -- it\r |
| 25 | i never was an easy place to farm -- but many descendants have\r |
| 26 | i turned family farmsteads into summer getaways. Northwest\r |
| 27 | i Iceland's representative, Halla Signy Kristjansdottir, is in\r |
| 28 | i favor of adding cell towers for the safety of sailors and\r |
| 29 | i travelers in the area. "I don't see anything romantic about\r |
| 30 | i lying on the ground with a broken thigh bone and no cellphone\r |
| 31 | i signal," Kristjansdottir said in an interview.\r |
| 32 | i\r |