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