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