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Subscribe to RSSMAINZ, Germany -- A German court has ruled that the Internet is as much of a necessity for daily life as a fridge or car.
The legal decision means Germans now have the right to claim compensation from service providers if their Internet access is disrupted.
"Most people in Germany use the Internet daily. Thus, it has become an essential medium in the life of German society, the disruption of which has an immediate impact on the course of everyday life," the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe stated.
The court made the ruling after hearing the case of a man who was unable to use his high-speed Internet connection, which also offered a telephone and fax line, for two months from late 2008 to early 2009.
He had already received compensation for the cost of having to use a cellphone, but wanted to be compensated for not being able to use the Internet. Under German law, the loss of use of essential material items can be compensated.
"The Internet plays a very important role today and affects the private life of an individual in very decisive ways. Therefore loss of use of the Internet is comparable to the loss of use of a car," a court spokeswoman told Germany's ARD television.
The ruling puts the Internet among the things legally recognized as "essentials."
In Germany, "repo men" are not allowed to impound necessities -- including cars, refrigerators, beds, chairs or other basic furniture -- if debts are unpaid.
Paragraph 811 of the country's "code of civil procedure" -- which is known as the ZPO -- protects "items that are necessary for daily personal needs."
Among the ZPO's exemptions for farmers who have defaulted on debts are "small animals in limited numbers, as well as one milk cow, or at the debtor's option, a total of two pigs, goats or sheep, if these animals are necessary for the feeding of the debtor, his family or people who help in the household, on the farm or in his business."
"The rights of individuals are well secured in our country," Detlef Huermann from the Association of German Bailiffs said. "In our field, German lawmakers are continuously expanding the protection of debtors, for example, and compared to legislation in other European countries, our laws are very humane in that respect."
Reuters contributed to this report.
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I used to think internet access was a luxury, but it is rapidly becoming a necessity. More and more, employers are moving towards managing benefits programs entirely online. All aspects of my husband's benefits package are done online: enrollment, changes, 401k contributions and investments - there would be no way to do this without internet access. Our previous employers also have web-based programs, so we need internet access to manage the pension and retirement packages from them as well. And for those who are self-employed or have home-based positions with their employers, internet access is an absolute requirement. And school? Grade postings, homework assignments when kids are sick, communication with teachers - a lot of that is online as well.
We can "complain" that we didn't need these things when we were in school, so why do kids need them now, but the fact of the matter is that the way business is being done is changing rapidly. Period. We either need to keep up or accept that we will fall further and further behind.
I agree, while it may not be necessary for life and you could get by without it, its rapidly becoming similar to a phone. Yea you can get by without it, but things will be more difficult.
I had one job for about 15 years, then for the past couple of years went to another place. It was like sticker shock if you just buy a car every 10 years. I had to apply online, set up benes online, timecard is online. Seventeen years ago the computer just didn't have the importance it has now. I know its time for me to retire...I'm feeling overwhelmed with the changes.
Ya gotta love those Germans.
Sounds like we could stand to learn a lot from the Germans.
Big money must not have the death grip on their lawmakers that it does on ours.
It seems the Germans may now be more American than America...maybe we should build a wall somewhere and knock it down, that seemed to save Germany.
They have been wanting to build a wall down here in TX for as long as I can remember!
In Germany, they have a law to put labor representatives on top of each company and they do this for 2 main purposes:
1. To protect the "unions" and people working in the company.
2. To prevent the company from outsourcing jobs.
So far, it has worked great with around 5% unemployment and one of the strongest economic in Europe.
The problem I have with the internet being so necessary is the monopolistic control of access.....if you want to utilize this thing that is quickly becoming a necessity, you have to fork over $50/month to some telecom giant.
Step 1. Label something as essential or a right
Step 2. The government steps in and regulates and subsidizes said thing.
It is the natural progression of things. Someday the internet will be like the mail or phone service, everyone will be able to get it. If it will be a public entity like the postal service or government regulated/subsidized like phone service remains to be seen.
I for one am completely in favor of this. Knowledge is power and the internet truly brings the "power to the people" like never before.
The problem with the US is that we have "capitalist" in name only. We are actually have vulture capitalist and monopoly in a lot of states where the companies would do anything to rip off customers for the most profit.
Additionally, in all the developed countries, our internet is on average the slowest due to said above.
Yes everything you have said is true.
Wow, if we had this here, I could have gotten rich using Clearwire. It never worked.
Pity. The Germans used to be so logical. Too bad that's over.
You liked 'em better in the 30s and 40s or what?
It's not surprising Germany is more progressive and humane in its laws toward its own citizens. They're a very logical people who value truth and analytical thinking above all, and do everything for good reasons, not *sociopathic war mongers* as some have mistakenly portrayed them. They're not emotionless, just polite and disciplined.
I read that the telephone is considered a nessessity here! Thats news to me, I have never seen my phone bill go down after a loss of service,I get my internet from hughes net,it's really reliable,but then again it's $97.00 a month,you get what you pay for except for at&t about $45.00 a month and about as realible as the weather!Their cell phone service is worse,thank god for tracphone,cheap,realible and no lies!Yea i'm living in a place that is in the 2% of the country not covered,what a bitch!
Google lifeline service.
As to internet, I too live in an area where no hardline broadband connection is available. I had hugesnet for 2 years. As soon as my contract was over I dropped them like a bad habit. I now have verizon mobile broadband and it is better and cheaper and the customer service of the two companies is at opposite ends of the spectrum. Hugesnet is the only company I have ever dealt with that was worse than att when it comes to customer service. TracPhone and straight talk are definitely the best deals in cell phones.
I also live in a well developed hole in the wall. We have cable at $50 a month internet access. $100 a month if you want tv too. The service is great. They are there 24/7! They tell you this every time you call to tell them your sevice is out...which is nearly every night, just after they tell you they will put in a service order for your local company....the one that never shows up, or tells you they will be there sometime between 8 am on Monday, to 5 pm on Friday. Or the good one..."we're waiting on a part from At&t and they take their time". The part never comes, apparently, so you call again to get the same routine. Once in a while they will even try to blame your antivirus software or your router.
So what do you have to do to get service, take a week off and wait? Then they will call you when the average Tom is at his job trying to make money to pay the bill, to see if someone is home to let the cable guy in. If you live alone, they want a friend or neighbor. Ok neighbor! How about YOU stay home today and watch for the cable guy to come to my house?
But God forbid you forget to pay your bill! They shut you down IMMEDIATELY.
The cost of straight talk would be great, but I'm in that 0.000004% that they don't provide service areas to.
*sigh*
Does that apply to electrical service also? Can they turn off your electrical service if you don't pay the bill?
Actually, it depends. The electricity legally cannot be turned off due to debt from October 15th until some time in the spring where I live because it's ~cold,~ and if someone in the house is on a medical device that requires electricity (oxygen machine, etc.) the power cannot be shut down.
Absolutely - in fact I hate that I'm so dependent on it. On the plus side, I have reconnected with old friends I probably would have never otherwise found. I keep in touch with family and friends and learn new things. Then there's the news, the weather, entertainment, history and all the things I enjoy looking up. On the downside, I worry about viruses and id theft. If I had a choice between a fridge and the internet, I'd pick the net.
While I do think service providers should be required to compensate their customers for service interruptions; the internet doesn't keep food from spoiling, or allow people to get to work, the hospital, etc. So, NO the internet is not essential
While day trading my service went down. It cost me $500 because I could not sell a stock in time....
joe blow-2227056 Actually, the internet is essential. Did you forget how many people work from home these days? My niece works from home for 80% of her shifts. Other people work 100% from home. Also, some people are online students: my daughter earned her high school diploma online and is getting her degree online.
Yes, it actually IS essential considering your work expects you to post your projects online, send emails instead of calls, have web training and conferences etc., online. They also send you important papers this way so they don't have to pay for the cost of printing.
Schools also have turned to the internet to save on money.
Then there's the "green" side of it. MANY companies are going green and want you to accept an internet based bill instead of paper billing.
Many businessess are also starting to require people they hire to be on social networks, which are also a part of the internet. They use this method to find out what kind of person you are outside of work...basically to SPY on you.
If it is mandatory for you to have the internet, I think someone else should be footing this bill, since we're not talking about a night on the town here. We're talking about requirements you have no control over.
Mandates for renewable energy has raised energy prices in Germany 61% since 2000.
How can anyone in Germany afford to use a refrigerator?
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/01/23/lomborg-electricity-prices-for-german-households-have-increased-61-since-2000-renewables-blamed/
http://www.thegwpf.org/800000-german-households-can-no-longer-pay-their-energy-bills/
Greedy corporate ways have raised energy prices 2-3X right here in the good 'ol USofA in even less time.
I don't have any links, just ask anyone who has had their public utilities company privatized. I'm sure they can tell you all about it. As to the price of gas well, no links needed, it speaks for itself.
We could learn a lot from Germany right now
Actually it is the government regulations. Coal which is the cheapest energy is being stopped in favor of Green energy which runs about 6 times more per a kilowatt. Obama's administration is better reason for higher prices then greedy corperations.
Bull@!$%#!!!!!
Web as 'essential' as a cow?
We never had a cow when I was a kid, but we got by somehow...
And we didn't have the web "when I was a kid, but we got by somehow ..."
Just wondering, though, when you were a kid did you have milk, hamburger, steak or leather coats?
I hope you could always go and borrow a cup of internet from the neighbors...
I had a neighbor who once "borrowed" some airwaves from my internet, until I put a new password in! :p
He must be Jewish???
I'm thinking about moving to Germany and racking up debt without paying. So if the internet is necessary then the computer to access is necessary too. Following that logic I can buy a computer on credit and not pay and it can't be reposessed because it's necessary to go with my uninterrupted internet service. If they can't repo beds, chairs, fridges, cars, and other necessary items, then what's left to repo? Clothes and shoes are necessary. These repo men don't have a big job there.
I use and enjoy web access. But given my choice between the web and a cow, I'll take the cow. Steak grills up a lot better than a laptop!
No question about it. The Web is important - certainly to many, and for all those reasons folks have identified... But WAIT! Just because you have become an addict doesn't make this desirable. The fridge is important, too. Unlike the Internet, neither your fridge nor that cow will take control of your life, enable some arsehole to make you bankrupt by ID-theft, enable any corporation or government to collect info on you and what you do without your knowledge (I'm assuming here that when you whisper family secrets into that cow's ear, you KNOW what you are sharing with it...), enable some agency or corporation to freeze your assets even if its their mistake, or any other "side-effect" of your desire for convenience.
Sadly, seems that many here think that the Web and Internet have empowered THEM, by allowing them to access SOME information (while both the types, amounts and access to that info are wholly actually under the control of and rationed out by others), and enabling "convenient" access to paying their money to others, when in truth the POWER is in the hands of OTHERS and over YOU, the user.
As to those Germans.... I lived there for several years, almost married one, love the scenery and the beer, and actually like the people and the culture. But let's remember that Hitler and the Nazis and ALL THAT happened, too. So the much-vaunted "reason" and "logic" need to, ahem, be taken con granum salis. IF they are happy with considering the Web indespensible and access to it a "right", more power to them. They are ever-deeper into the "cradle-to-grave" state, and this fits right in. They have no apparent fear of others having power over them! Zu Befehl! Me? I prefer that I control who I want to grant access to my house and info and money, even at the cost of having to occasionally go out of my way to visit stores, banks, the P.O., etc.
But I do fully agree with the idea that if a company provides a service, it is responsible for that service - to the limit of any agreement YOU and that company make. So, I would suggest that instead of this sort of law we read about here, make it a law that service companies MUST establish a written contract with the customer which identifies exactly what each party is responsible for - and then, if the potential ISP does not want to provide some promise of real recompense for your loss of service which is ACCEPTABLE to you, then we all have a tool to help get companies and customers onto a fair field - companies can COMPETE in the real service they will provide, as versus the myriad scams, deals, and "service packages" which currently serve as their means to compete for your dollars.
Beats Snail Mail, as well as a great tool to look up anything, and yes various infinite Games, not to mention staying in touch with people, essential though?? Wellllllllll Maybe...
The internet would be so bad if it wasn't for all the morons who use/abuse it....
Locally here in ohio,we at first were a little ticked off talking about getting reduced internet for low income folks.But it makes sense.If we think underprivileged kids are behind now,imagine a generation who grows up without it!They would be behind the eightball.The net is pretty dang importanbt
It is the now and the future.
Maybe the dude didn't bother to pay for his Internet. Think about that? After all, the Germans are a tight-fisted bunch. Just ask Angela Merkel, Chancellor of that country.
Actually, the Germans protect their people in ways that are insane. I think they should be banned from the rest of the sentient world.
Free internet for all.
It's true. These days finding work, paying bills and handling all kids of household matters is all online. And I know society got by without it before, but they did without refrigerators too. Everything has changed around the web.
http://empiricalmag.blogspot.com/
Okay, almost took this news seriously, then I read "German Court".
Ich Muschta Ien Undter Pomma Fritzs, Bitta !!!
I would like an order of french fries please?
Is my translation correct?
I haven't read or spoken German in over 18 years.
I'll give you props for trying, but the spelling made me lol.
Wow, talk about an asinine ruling from the German court, but give it time, that same ruling will appear here in the U.S. in one of our courts. Have those idiot judges ever heard of sun-spots that may interrupt internet service or a traffic accident that may take down a transmission line??? This world has gone mad and it is the insane in charge of the asylum.