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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 |