What is Digg?117 Comments
- TRUEPATRIOT, on 10/12/2007, -13/+45actually once Cubans touch American soil they are granted asylum so they aren't illegal. so try another crappy joke.
- punchingjudy, on 10/12/2007, -5/+25My god, I would start swimming to the US.
- bouche, on 10/12/2007, -0/+17I was in Varadero, Cuba in december on an all-inclusive resort. As a tourist, we had full access to the internet via 3 computers in the resort...it was VERY slow, but enough to check in at my website and email.
I had to purchase 1/2 hour for 4 pesos. I found out when I tried to exchange an email address with a guide that we had on a trip that he, like all other Cubans, had no email address and no access to the internet. I was surprised to find out that the government didn't allow it.
It has nothing to do with bandwidth. They have no magazines, no television beyond a couple of local propeganda channels. We heard the same cuban songs eveywhere, and the same art work was sold and displayed everywhere.
They are very controlled, but VERY nice people! - nrbelex, on 10/12/2007, -7/+24Link to the damn article - not a blog please.
- neverender, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13
_________________________
From the blog:
It's already been 36 days [without food]....
...It seems like an awfully big price to pay to surf the web.
_________________________
...or for freedom. good job techdirt for picking on the guy who is actually standing up to his government. - riven, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12actual article: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=90528
- thatsiebguy, on 10/12/2007, -3/+13"Free Cuba!"
- venom25, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11It is because of people like you still visiting Cuba that Fidel still is able to control the population. Tourism is the major industry of Cuba at the expense of the general population. You want to see the regime that you are supporting then go to http://www.therealcuba.com/ and you decide if there aren't many other places you can choose to vacation at that don't treat their citizens like crap.
Maybe I'm biased because I am cuban but I would not visit any location that treats its citizens like that. - SphereII, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11I somewhat agree with your experience in Cuba.
I spent 6 weeks in Cuba, in a non-tourist role. Yes, the government is very controlling over what kind of media gets distributed. Yes the Internet is very slow. Yes, the people have access to email and the Internet. They can have access to hotmail and yahoo, and even gmail. The problem that you run into is that the Internet is expensive down there, and most Cubans do not even have phones, let alone Internet connections.
You mentioned that it cost you 4 pesos for half an hour. That's very cheap.. for us. For an average month, a Cuban may only make 250 to 300 pesos... that's about $15. They have to buy their food with it ( they are given x amount of food a month but its not enough ).
Now here's the real kicker: For many, its no big deal! They are very big on family. Nothing makes a Cuban happier than showing you their house or cooking you food. They have a lot of pride in what they have, and are not jealous or envious of what others have. You know how nice of a feeling that is? Probably not, most of us have never ever felt that.
While Castro has really hurt their economics, they are still WAY better off than they were 30 years ago, where people still lived in mud huts, etc. I'm not excusing what Castro has done or is doing, I'm just stating a fact. Castro has a long list of human rights violation, but so doesn't everyone else. Gitmo anyone? The US has harmed the average Cubans a lot, but has also inadvertently created a country that is very close to where the US was 50 years ago.
Some people want out of Cuba. Some people want out of the US. Cuba filters its Internet. China filters its Internet. The US Marines filter their Internet. US companies filter their Internet. - lollerskates, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9All the hostility of the Cuban government towards their own people could have been avoided or at least lessened if the US would at least do some trade instead of adopting the decades old "OMG commies r evil HURRR" stance. The US is just making Cuba even worse by refusing trade.
Of couse almost all of the blame rests on Castro as well. But I still stand by my idea that Cuba wouldn't be so bad if the US weren't so intolerant of other government systems. - goatrandy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9man, and I thought people in China had it bad. :(
- dargon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Can't get satellite internet if your dish is gone :)
- pbones, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10I'll take one, please.
- CiXeL, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6dude these people make fans to cool themselves out of clothes washers. it taxed the grid so much that castro said 'we need to conserve energy' so he unplugs the whole country every night.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5All of us here on Digg.com are living proof that Cuba isn't missing all that much.
- erikpemberton, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Would be better if it was a direct link to the story on MSN and more descriptive (i.e. "Man goes on hunger strike for internet access" rather than "Cuba blocks internet access"). Still dugg, though.
- ToeCheese, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5The difference between Cuba and China's internet access is that stuff still gets through China's filters. That is why they are talking about creating their own network. Which is a waste because someone will find a way to bridge the networks just like early days of the internet.
- ToeCheese, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5If you know anything about Cuba you would know that there is a group of rebels that Castro has been after since the 60's.
Also many people had illegal access to the internet and it has gotten harder. No VOIP though because some of the modems are 9600 or 14.4k - szelij, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8Wow is he addicted or what? But yeah i'd probably go nuts without the Internet if i didn't have something to occupy myself with...As for the low bandwith problem, i'm thinking Venezuela and some countries will pay to link Cuba with the South American continent.
- Galaeron, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I wanna say 60 minutes or CNN or somebody did a huge report on this like 5 years ago.
I remembering watching it and like an american would smuggle computers and stuff in for his cuban friend. Was pretty interesting - Nezzari, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6This won't stick. On my last trip to Cuba, I had the opportunity to speak with my cousin's boyfriend (who turned out to be a C++ programmer) When I asked him how he accessed the Internet I was surprised to hear that he had an illegal account. Apparently there are some government workers who sell accounts relatively cheap. Granted, there is hell to pay if he gets caught...
And for the record, yes, I am Cuban. - ViperDaimao, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7what does fox news have to do with cuba not allowing people internet access? Take your non-sequitors elsewhere
- johnbrito, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4no wonder i haven't been receiving any email from my cousin in Cuba.
- CiXeL, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8theres plenty of people trying not to
- TRUEPATRIOT, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5i agree some what. but i bet you own something made in china and that just helps that gov treat people like crap too
- Wootery, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Alternative real article : http://web.archive.org/web/20050206133940/http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/business/7672667.htm
- Reddog_x2000, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6@ We are the only ones who don't offer healthcare for our citizens.
Or, to put it another way, we are the only ones who don't force our citizens to pay other people's healthcare bills. - ToeCheese, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Their healthcare is better than ours in the US!
In the list of 10 developed nations, we rank 8th but it's only because MEXICO and RUSSIA is in worst state. We are the only ones who don't offer healthcare for our citizens.
We have great healthcare practices but the majority of our population can't afford it. - zodiacal, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3FREE CUBA (with the purchase of an equal or greater cuba)
- mikeazorin, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4This is a link to techdirt. Surely there is an original link to the actual story somewheres?
- n8to, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4
If the US would just drop the sanctions against Cuba, that island would be free in no time. The only reason Castro has been able to cling to power is because that country has been cut off from the West for so long.
Bring down the sanctions and in I bet in a few years it would be far ahead of other Caribbean nations. . - jwolf, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Someone should install some high gain antennas at Guantanamo Bay and offer free WiFi to the oppressed residents of Cuba!
Viva La Revolucion! - ViperDaimao, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2companies and the marines also restrict their employees free speach. I take it by your equivilency you dont mind if the govt tell you you are not allow to look at porn anymore, or talk about how much the govt sucks? Bottom line there is a huge difference between your employeer filtering the internet, and your govt.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6That comment smacks of Team America... If the Cubans wanted to be free so much they would be, surely?
- Reddog_x2000, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3@If the Cubans wanted to be free so much they would be, surely?
Right, cuz overthrowing governments is really easy. - compu73rg33k, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2They should just give the guy a ***** password.
- Bonobo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2You would think something like this would gain alot of attention and countless stories being written about by every news comapny imaginable...but strangly...no...
great read +digg - hyperstation, on 10/12/2007, -11/+13That wasn't even a coherent response. Have you ever lived in Cuba? Do you know anything that fox news doesn't shove down your throat?
- tonage, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4You people are amazing. You will hijack anything to spout your bias, partisan, propoganda. Iraq it not the subject. Keep on subject.
- blaineg, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4How would they block satellite Internet access?
- smcavoy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Yes Cuba should be free, just like they were before the communist revolution. Remember the government the US backed?
Yeah, the criminal one.
What needs to end is the US hostility towards Cuba and the US Embargo that impedes its progress. - TRUEPATRIOT, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2lol wrong place for your comment o_O
- dnder, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3[sarcasm/] Yes, Im sure that cubans are the people on this earth who knows true happiness. I mean communism's not that bad [sarcasm]
Look at reality and stop making excuses for YOUR country. - lasermike026, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I would like to know why the Cuban government is preventing Cuban citizens from accessing the internet.
- tekmonkey, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Sure the U.S. may have an embargo on Cuba, but then again, why would Cuba want to buy American cars? If you visit Cuba, you'll see that many of the cars there are new, imported from Europe (it's mostly just the very poor Cuban residents that own the old American cars). In fact, my dad's good friend who visited Cuba some years ago took a cab ride in a brand new Mercedes C-Class sedan.
Additionally, I remember an article from a while back citing that Cuba's internet access isn't restricted much, but it doesn't matter because the average person doesn't own a computer anyway. - warfang, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2It's not that he's addicted to the net. He's just tired of being controlled and having no freedoms. He feels it's time to take his stand. Cuba is way messed up
- xLiKx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1viva la unblocked internet!
- LordRahl72, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Cubas version of the internet is the CB radio. You cant even turn on a radio and not hear skip from Cuba when the conditions are right.
- diggitydank, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3[sarcasm] Yeah! Another victory for communism! [/sarcasm]
Any government that restricts people's access to a wealth of knowledge such as the internet obviously is messed up. We do have our problems here, but they are nothing compared to communist/socialist countries. God bless the USA!
Dugg to open people's eyes to the evils of socialism. - antoniojvr, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Dude, as a Cuban with family still on the island, I find your comment ignorant and just plain stupid. The Gov before Castro was not any better. They were worse off. When Castro came in, he wasn't communist at first. And if the US embargo is causing all the evils, how does Castro get to live in the extreme luxury that he does?
Read before you post, and consider yourself lucky that we can express ourselves this way. They can't. -
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