The Right to Compute Act

Summary

The Right to Compute Act recognizes the civil liberty of using computation resources, protecting it against government infringement both direct via statute and indirect via discriminatory utility rates and regulations. This Act asserts that the right to compute is a technological extension of the fundamental human right to freedom of thought, analogous to the freedom of the press and the right to bear arms being technological extensions of the fundamental human rights of speech and self-defense. This Act is motivated by an awareness that computation technologies play a critical role in expanding human intellectual capacity and ability to exercise all other rights. While acknowledging the importance of access to computation resources, this Act creates no entitlement to receive them, and imposes no additional obligation on the citizenry.

Preamble

Whereas:

Freedom of thought is a fundamental human right, as Benjamin Franklin noted in 1722: “Without Freedom of Thought, there can be no such Thing as Wisdom; and no such Thing as public Liberty, without Freedom of Speech.”
Computers are to thought as the printing press was to speech—a technological augmentation without which the naked human faculty is left pitiful and insignificant
Computation offers vast economic potential in many areas, including blockchain and artificial intelligence
Those denied access to computation will be manipulated and exploited by others who have it

Be it enacted that:

Definitions

“Person” means an individual, business entity, or any nongovernmental organization or group acting in concert.

“Computation resources” means the technological devices for performing computation, whether a mechanical device, mobile device, desktop computer, server, or server cluster, as well as components such as graphics cards.

“Discriminatory rates” means utility rates substantially different from those of other similar utility uses in similar geographic areas after accounting for the cost of service.

“Discriminatory regulations” means regulations, such as on sound decibels generated, substantially different from those imposed on similar persons and activities in similar geographic areas.

Provisions

The freedom of thought is an inalienable human right, and shall not be infringed by government action.
As an extension of the freedom of thought, the right to compute shall not be infringed by government action.
No law shall limit a person’s computing power or access.
No person shall be deprived of the right to compute without due process.
No political subdivision shall impose discriminatory rates on the utilities required by computation resources, such as electricity and internet connectivity.
No political subdivision shall impose discriminatory regulations on computation resources, other than limits that apply to the area zone generally.
The provisions of this Act are severable. If any provision of this Act or its application is held invalid, the remainder of the Act, and the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances, shall not be affected thereby.