What is Net Neutrality?
Net neutrality says that all content on the internet is equal and must be accessible to every user. In this way it renders every person that comes on internet an equal chance to use internet in whatever the way he/she wants. Yes, it supports free speech in its very own way.
So, why are we baffled?
We are baffled because big corporates wants to gain monopoly over the market of internet which clearly violates the definition of net neutrality. Telecom operators want user to use zero rating plans and user get a subsidized access to a particular app. This is what Facebook is doing with free basics. Sometime back E-commerce website Flipkart withdrew its contract from Bharti Airtel’s zero rating plan regarding the same issue.
Free plan sounds good!! But it is not as good as it seems.
- Telecom operators collaborate with the app /apps and if you use that particular app you will not have to pay anything.
Here is the main issue, if an app is providing you any service without costing anything, in the long term you are accustomed to using that app. This eradicates internet from being level play field. It basically violates the “Competition act of India 2002”.
- To gain monopoly over market the Telecom operator may increase speed of the website which is heavily paying them. So that user would be likely to go to faster site .Small entrepreneur may get a big loss because of this, which again violates the “Competition act of India 2002”.
- How Free Basics violates it?
- Free basic tracks all the interactions of all web users. Although they say that they will save the data of only 90 days at their server. This is not something that can reassure us that they are not spying on us.
Besides, Free Basics does not use https protocol which assures users that the website they are dealing with is an authentic one and allows them to be sure that no one can intercept the secret content of our communication.
- All the exchanged data among users will be first decrypted at Facebook office then encrypted again. And still they say they are not spying on us.
Neither Facebook, nor the content partner of Free Basics will pay the telecom operators for the data people will be using through Free Basics. Then on what cost these payments are being done.
- Facebook says free basics do not violate NN because anyone can apply to be partner with it. But the problem is, Facebook get to choose who can be the content partner and enjoys right to reject. It of course kills competition.
Facebook CEO supported Free Basics saying “Having some connectivity is better than having no connectivity and that is why programs like internet.org (Free Basics) can coexist with Net Neutrality.”
- See what does Tim Berners – Lee (founder of World Wide Web consortium) has to say about NN.
That is all for now. It is upon us users to decide whether they want to be a part of corporate driven internet or want to keep their democratic rights alive.
