India set to lose Net Neutrality? Act now
This topic is very much related to blogging in terms of internet access.
What is Net Neutrality?
As per this article http://www.medianama.com/2014/11/223-net-neutrality-simple-explanation/
Telecom operators/ISPs are access services providers, and can control either how much you access, what you access, how fast you access and how much you pay to access content and services on the Internet.
It’s important for access to knowledge, services and free speech, as well as freedom and ease of doing business online, for this access to be neutral:
– All sites must be equally accessible - The same access speed at the telco/ISP level for each (independent of telco selection) – The same data cost for access to each site (per KB/MB).
This means, Net Neutrality is about: – No telecom-style licensing of Internet companies (see this and this) – No gateways (Internet.org, Airtel OneTouch Internet, Data VAS), censorship or selection; – No speeding up of specific websites (that may or may not pay telcos) – No “zero rating” or making some sites free over others (and that goes for you too, Wikipedia and twitter).
Folks, please go through these links to understand better.
Action needs to be taken soon.
How you can act: https://www.change.org/p/rsprasad-trai-don-t-allow-differential-pricing-of-services-let-consumers-choose-how-they-want-to-use-internet-netneutrality
To gain some understanding of the situation: http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/pj61D8cXPVQXwO0UJnd67I/The-Airtel-Zero-idea-Splitting-Indias-Internet-into-many-I.html
Thanks,
Reason: formatting
There are good arguments both for and against the matter and having read both opinions, I stand firmly for net neutrality. ISPs should continue their hands off approach from internet traffic. And I do hope TRAI comes up with clear and precise rules protecting net neutrality.
that doesnt explain if sites decides to go app only...what will happen to net neutrality ..if sites forces one to use app only like myntra/flipkart is planning to do in near future by shutting their desktop versions completely....many other sites will follow suit....what then?
@Nandini Deka: I may have misunderstood your question. And I am going to apologise right at the onset for not having read all your comments so I might be missing something here. But anyway as per my understanding if we have net neutrality, once you have an internet plan you should be allowed to access any website without discrimination. Implies that as long as you have an internet plan you can access the apps for Myntra/Flipkart etc on your smartphone or tablet at no extra charge.
But I am curious... if certain websites choose to become an app only service how does it challenge net neutrality? I mean, as per net neutrality as long as I have an internet plan I can access whatever I want, so what if it is an app?
@Tangerine...nobody with sane mind would be against net neutrality....everyone wants to access the way things are. its wrong to assume that someone would be against it....from begining ive always maintained the way we are currently access net should not be disrupted....however keeping that intact, there can be a possibility of free net access for the unpriviledged...
@shantinath....if certain websites choose to become an app only service ...arent we being forced to use their app thingy only? since website version wont be there? so only my smartphone plan will be able to access it...not my normal desktop internet plan...isnt that discrimination?
@Nandini Deka: When did I imply you are against net neutrality? I have already very politely apologised for not reading all your previous coments and yet the tone of your response feels unpleasant (perhaps that's because I do not know you). I was merely trying to help with your query regarding apps from only a net neutrality stand point alone. And here you are telling me what is right and what is wrong.
I will say it again, even if certain websites become app only version, to my understanding (and yes I might be wrong), it is not against net neutrality. Yes, people without a smartphone will not be able to access those sites. But whether or not someone can afford a smartphone has nothing to do with net neutrality. (Yes I may be wrong again)
About being able to provide free internet to the underprevilaged, yes I am all for philantropy. I did not say it outright coz the question was about what will happen to NN if websites become apps only not providing free internet to the underprevilaged.
PS: Even though I am for NN. I don't think calling people with anti NN views insane. But you are prefectly free to have your own opinion.
*Also to my knowledge, whether someone can acess something from a phone but not from the desktop has nothing to do with net neutrality. (Eg: instagram or whatsapp are thriving in USA which has NN laws, so I am making an educated guess here)
Someone with better understanding on the topic please weigh in.
@Shantinath Chaudhary: I just noticed you confirmed my views even before I asked for expert opinion 
Anyway, time for emailing TRAI is over... fingers crossed for the verdict!
ok i got mixed up with names... second part was also for tangerine not shantinath
tangerine >> my reply was for this >> There are good arguments both for and against the matter and having read both opinions,
if you were refering to this particular thread..nobody has spoken against net neutrality....so i clarified..thats all....if you were refering other arguements beyond this forum...then i dunno...and i'm not saying what is right or wrong.
@Shantinath Chaudhary: Really sorry. I didnot mean it that way. I meant more like. "Your comment on apps and NN was exactly the confirmation I was looking for thank you. Because I was making answering based on my understanding and wasn't 100% sure. You replied even before I had a chance to ask for it." Calling your opinion from an expert was a compliment... Again I apologise if I offended you
@Tangerine: Oh No need to feel Sorry and apologise that way (as if you did a crime). You could have simply said that you meant the other way. Misenterpretation of expressed opinions is not rare. I guess reading your sentences I somehow misenterpreted it. Anyway, thanks for your compliments
Just to add up to the discussion, US came up with a clear NN law very recently. On the contrary, UK has clear anti-NN regulations in place! Many other countries too have anti-NN regulations in place. So I think as of now, only US has come up with a NN law to safeguard consumers' interests.
hmmm, I wasn't aware of that.
You have a problem?
See the second comment on that cleartrip blogpost
Joy Gupta Apr 15, 2015So you guys were trying to sell hotel reservation to the “underserved” who can’t afford data?
But they book Bus tickets too
Going to the bus stand and catching a bus is much better than booking a bus ticket online :P
After Flipkart moved out of Airtel Zero, now Cleartrip has come out in support of Net Neutrality. Cleartrip announced moving out of the Internet.org scheme, which is similar to Airtel zero. Moreover, they have written a very nice blog-post on why they earlier opted for Internet.org , but now decided to move out of it. Read it- http://blog.cleartrip.com/2015/04/15/cleartrip-is-standing-up-for-netneutrality/
@Nandini - Internet users in India are only about 250 odd million or so :P
isnt that sad...and if you read my comments ( which i assume u didnt )...that was the reason i was favoring free internet option too along with regular paid one....but then some privilegded sections seems to want the situation remain that way..
By this time TRAI also would have got confused and panic.
5 lacs emails are for favour or against the NN topic in real? 
Yes Pooja I read that one..:)
Slowly, anti-Net Neutrality arguments too are coming forward. I came across a very convincing argument, here it is:- https://www.facebook.com/guruprasad.gp/posts/10206136369277470
Interested people can read that post. It's by a die-hard BJP supporter, but keeping that apart, the arguments do make sense. It argues that all data are not same, hence all data can't be treated equally, so different kinds of data should be priced differently.
It's by a die-hard BJP supporter
:s
We have a professor who is an aap supporter and every time something happens, he blames bjp in the class. :s And he keeps talking bad about some student who is a member of some executive council and is probably a bjp supporter.
@Ranjith: Surly you may have. I have seen blind supporters of both sides, Kejriwal Bhakt, and Modi-Bhakt. Both kinds. But still, nonetheless, the linked post of that BJP supporters does make sense. I just pointed it out, lest someone outrightly blasts that argument on the basis of it coming from such a BJP supporters (bcoz he does seem to blindly support BJP sometimes)
I read that fb post. I am not an electronics/telecommunication engineer but the arguments did sound reasonable.
I think for discussions running into pages, there should be a summary of the discussion happend in that page.
LOL Funny, but actually you have a point there. This thread is anyway smaller, but those threads which run into 100s of comments, they really deserve some kind of summary
Reading this thread in its entirety has made me a lot more informative on the issue. Thanks All
As per IB policy I dont want to be off topic. See this link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2327182/The-myth-great-Indian-Middle-class-Roughly-30-Indias-population-lives-poverty-line.html
instead of relying on some foreign media to know about india.....it'd be better to move out of the comfort of our homes...hop on a train/bus ourselves...visit rural places and see for ourselves how many people actually know about smartphones or even has seen internet.
@ Hafeezur Rahman Flipkart was aware of zero App issue but they wanted to check if it works and pressurise users to buy from their App and realising it won't work carefully witdrawn from AirTel so that AirTel will get major share of blame and not FlipKart.
@Nandini Deka: How to make such a distinction affordable and not afforadable among users as we don't have any unique measure till now to classify it(even Aadhar cannot)? Quite difficult. Internet users are more in middle class genre than in upper and lower ends. May be some steps to educate and empower computer literacy is must so that it can reach all walks of life but net neutrality is not about it.
Internet users are more in middle class genre than in upper and lower ends.
oh and how did you make the distinction? eh?
FK would have joined hand with Airtel Zero by mistake and without knowing the real picture of the new process, thus it might have escaped now to retain the current customers / affiliates 
.
oh..and you said its not about airtel zero
oh spare me thy double talk...thanks
Nandini Deka Everyone can see easily that you are failing to see beyond the Airtel zero concept (or may be you are deliberately turning blind eye), which has never been the main issue. But it's ok. To each his own.
yes..i'm failing to see beyond airtel zero....but you are the one who does the "yippee flipkart removed from airtel zero...yipee see power of people...airtel's bride's runs away blah blah'"...your comment was all about airtel zero who according to you wasnt the main issue/////hence, spare me thy double talks...enough footage given already///tata
Bad luck. Now, we'll be forced to choose SnapDeal. Everytime, I open that site, my laptop slows down horribly.
@Nandini: You are failing to understand the issue, you are failing to understand my comments, you are failing to understand the motive and intention of my various comments. But it's ok, everyone is free to fail. TATA!!
i didnt fail to point out the double talk...tata
@Nandini: If you fail to understand the issue even after so long, you can fail in anything TATA! TATA!!
yeah...except you no one understand the issue...thats why for last few pages you scream its not about airtel zero and that opening links are wrong too....and then do a 360degree turn and say yippe flipkart moved from airtel zero blah blah.
its failure on part of YOU to assume that one is not understanding the issue just cos they are asking questions...maybe they are doing their own loopholes-search in the entire thingy, but then you wont understand all that.....and yeah...you wont understand the mails ive been recieving in my inbox too by PRs handling many small time entrepreneues/start-ups who have put in their quotes on the issue..on how it'll affect them and all that stuff as well... you wont undertstand cos making assumptions on others and feeling self-intelligent is easy. and i know like you didnt understand till now what i say first time around itself and i had to clarify few times what i actually meant, you wont understand what I just typed too...
@Nandini: Yeah you didn't understand, I didn't understand, they didn't understand. Nobody understood!! So be happy
been hearing a lot about it on twitter. lets see where it takes us from here. TRAi did ask for suggestions, is that deadline over yet?
Telecom service provider's concern is more on voice calls than data. They try to increase the charges on voice call services like Viber, Skype, FB calls and so on than accessing / charging normal data usage sites.
Not really. Their focus is on all kinds of mobile apps being used in any kind of communication, be it text, audio or video. Because these are what hitting them hard.
Yes, but accessing any websites have no issue for them since it could take less data for that process but accessing various features like audio and video gives them trouble on using huge datas beside other disadvantage. The 'voice calls' trouble them more due to directly hit their Telecom business on ISD/Conference calls and its rates in addition to consuming higher datas.
Yes, they also concern on less benefits and less saving (than current one) for future investment on technology upgrades to retain the customer or gain the customer to stay in business for a long.
I hope all of u gt to see the news hour today with Arnab and understood the gravity of the situation. If its reached his talk show it definitely means its going to pinch our right to freedom alot
I don't like Arnab, so no value of issue reaching his show. But yes, this issue has already started getting huge attnetion. Lots of celebrities have tweeted about it- SRK, Farhaan, Arjun Kapoor, Gul Panag, to name a few. So many media houses too have published it. More than 1.5 lacs emails have been sent. In fact the email ID of savetheinternet guys being used for getting the bcc copy, was blocked by google for receiving emails at too fast a rate (limit is 3600 emails/hour). So it means a lot. Lots of positive actions being undertaken. These efforts will surly not go waste.
Hahah hi five his voice irritates me to the core but sometimes u cant help but watch a bit of the show down.
It's a slap on the face to know that to show your talent or innovation or idea now comes at a heavy price rather than the intial freedom to express and get the required attention for ur quality of work
In fact the email ID of savetheinternet guys being used for getting the bcc copy, was blocked by google for receiving emails at too fast a rate (limit is 3600 emails/hour).
Really? Any reference link?
I have written a blog-post on this issue, which is strictly based on the understanding gained by reading the TRAI consultation paper. I would request anyone still having not fully understood the issue, to read my blog-post on the issue Thanks
IRCTC is down in the sense if the access is slowed down then.
Google will not do unless others do it. But no net neutrality gives better chance to them to propose charges. if Google ask now then surely people will move away for other free services as some alternative will be there in net neutrality.
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