A Human Right is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing free basic internet and phone access to developing countries, and to citizens of countries whose government has cut off or restricted internet access.
It was discontinued in 2016.
Buy This Satellite
In December 2010 they launched Buy This Satellite, a fundraising effort to purchase the
TerreStar-1
TerreStar-1 is an American communications satellite which was operated by TerreStar Corporation. It was constructed by Space Systems/Loral, based on the LS-1300S bus, and carries E/ F band (IEEE S band) transponders which will be used to provid ...
communications satellite, after its owner,
TerreStar Corporation, filed for bankruptcy. The idea to purchase the satellite developed out of a meeting in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
of thirty people under the age of thirty, described by A Human Right's founder,
Kosta Grammatis, as a "do tank" (as opposed to a
think tank
A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...
). A Human Right hopes that providing internet access to impoverished regions of the world would help to solve many of their problems, such as shortages of food,
potable water, and health care. Grammatis believes that, "People are ingenious. If you give people access to information, they can solve their own problems."
Internet and phone access to citizens of countries whose government has shut down all communications is another benefit proposed by A Human Right. This was inspired by the
2011 Egyptian protests
The 2011 Egyptian revolution, also known as the 25 January revolution ( ar, ثورة ٢٥ يناير; ), began on 25 January 2011 and spread across Egypt. The date was set by various youth groups to coincide with the annual Egyptian "Police ho ...
, where the government shut down internet and phone access to its citizens.
The goal of A Human Right is to have a satellite in
geosynchronous orbit over Africa, which would provide free internet access to African nations.
A Human Right intends to pay for the operation of the satellite through buying and reselling high-speed
bandwidth
Bandwidth commonly refers to:
* Bandwidth (signal processing) or ''analog bandwidth'', ''frequency bandwidth'', or ''radio bandwidth'', a measure of the width of a frequency range
* Bandwidth (computing), the rate of data transfer, bit rate or thr ...
while providing low-bandwidth internet for free. They are also working on developing an open-source, low-cost modem as part of providing internet access to those who can't currently pay for it.
Move This Cable
SAex (South Atlantic Express) is a proposed
submarine communications cable that will link South Africa and
Angola
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, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capital = Luanda
, religion =
, religion_year = 2020
, religion_ref =
, coordina ...
to
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, with onward connectivity to the United States. The cable route, as originally planned, was to narrowly miss the remote island of
Saint Helena, a
British Overseas Territory.
The project was successful and in mid-2012 the cable's path was changed.
Notes
External links
*
Buy This SatelliteTEDxAthens
video of Kosta Grammatis describing A Human Right and Buy This Satellite.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Human Right
Non-profit organizations based in San Francisco
Organizations established in 2010
Information technology charities
2010 establishments in California