Facebook and Net Neutrality in India

[sylarspock]

If India is getting and understanding the concept of net neutrality right, I don't see why other developed nations can't do it.

Facebook's internet.org while seeming innocent, does have a larger agenda.
 

 

What would you choose? Which is a lesser evil ?

 

Some form of internet access with Facebook pumping in funds and sacrifice some amounts of net neutrality

or

Have difficulty getting access to the internet with no large organization like Facebook pumping in funds and getting it right from the beginning ?
 

How Facebook stumbled into India's fight for net neutrality


The fight for net neutrality has come to India. Last week, two companies withdrew from Facebook's Internet.org project, citing neutrality concerns, and the remaining companies are facing mounting pressure to bail out. But while Internet.org has drawn most of the headlines in the US, it's just one part of a much larger struggle in India, and one that could have serious consequences for the developing world at large.

"MY FIRST REACTION WHEN I SAW THE CONSULTATION PAPER WAS, WE'RE FUCKED."

The most recent outcry started not with Facebook, but with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (also known as TRAI). On March 30th, TRAI issued a white paper on internet regulation and asked for reactions from the public. The call for responses is part of the process for new telecom rules in India, akin tothe FCC's calls for comment, but this paper seemed designed to scare people off, stretching over 118 pages with confusing language and ominous suggestions for how telecoms might tame the web. The backlash was immediate. "The TRAI paper is suggesting that each and every one of [the apps on your phone] needs to get a license to be used in India," one site wrote, as part of a summary of the paper.

For others, like Nikhil Pahwa, the message was even worse: "My first reaction when I saw the consultation paper was, we're fucked." Pahwa helps run a website covering Indian startups, and he’s now a volunteer organizer with Savetheinternet.in, one of the central hubs for the latest surge of net neutrality organizing. The first thing he did was put out a call for volunteers on Twitter. Together, Pahwa and the volunteers worked to simplify the paper, boiling it down to a few key points that casual readers could understand, and providing an easy portal for citizens who wanted to respond. The site started climbing /r/india and circulating in other forums. The popular YouTube comedy group All India Bakchod made a video called "Save The Internet," which racked up 2.5 million views in less than a week, driving even more people to the site.

BEFORE THE TRAI PAPER, THE NEUTRALITY ISSUE HADN’T HIT HOME

Indian blogs had raised similar concerns whenInternet.org launched in India back in February, but before the TRAI paper, the issue hadn’t fully hit home. Internet.org was pitched as an accessibility effort, connecting the vast portions of the Indian population that still can’t afford web access. Internet.org offers free access to specific sites, including Facebook and specific partners for weather and news. The hope is that Internet.org'sited web will be better than nothing, but startups are already worried about the program setting up an uneven playing field. Mark Zuckerberg still denies that the program violates net neutrality, but most observers say that it does. If Indians can access certain apps without paying for a data plan — also known as "zero-rating" — it will make it hard for apps and service outside of Internet.org to break into the market, particularly when those decisions are being made a continent away.

 

Source: http://www.theverge.com/2015/4/20/8456943/india-net-neutrality-facebook-internet-org-zero-rating

[TheSLSAMG]

Hey Rohith_Kumar_Sp, I thought you would want to see this.

[Sunako]

There was another post about this about 3 weeks ago. and as far as this goes it it not about net neutrality

the India people have a misunderstanding of that NN means. Getting free services from telecoms

for Facebook using internet.org because it disables all VIOP. You can buy data plans there that allow 

you to use VIOP services but they cost much more then the plans for free facebook  and exc. People

argued because the normal facebook has builtin calling and messaging.  The reason for viop  and video

data plan costing a arm and a leg more in India  is that the vast majority of all users on the internet

are connecting via  mobile. In a country of One Billion people even if only 35% are using the internet 

that is more then all of the US combined. They have to manage their networks and to do so they limit

services that take up a'lot of bandwidth. Lan lines in India are great they are always upgrading.  People

in India are upset over managed networks that HAVE  TO BE and prices for Mobile data without being 

educated on the limitations of the system.

[Rohith_Kumar_Sp]

There was another post about this about 3 weeks ago. and as far as this goes it it not about net neutrality

the India people have a misunderstanding of that NN means. Getting free services from telecoms

for Facebook using internet.org because it disables all VIOP. You can buy data plans there that allow 

you to use VIOP services but they cost much more then the plans for free facebook  and exc. People

argued because the normal facebook has builtin calling and messaging.  The reason for viop  and video

data plan costing a arm and a leg more in India  is that the vast majority of all users on the internet

are connecting via  mobile. In a country of One Billion people even if only 35% are using the internet 

that is more then all of the US combined. They have to manage their networks and to do so they limit

services that take up a'lot of bandwidth. Lan lines in India are great they are always upgrading.  People

in India are upset over managed networks that HAVE  TO BE and prices for Mobile data without being 

educated on the limitations of the system.

Ya that would be me

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/343128-double-standards-by-facbook-and-google-net-neutrality-in-india/

and 

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/346706-you-can-help-india-win-net-neutrality-heres-how-ltt-can-help/

[ChineseChef]

I think people are deluded on the time frames for delivery here.  From what I have read, it's either Facebook internet now, or no internet for a long long time (i.e. years).  It is great that we think they should have the full internet, unrestricted, right from the get go.  But in reality land, that isn't going to happen.  India has a lot of corruption in general, and these people are too poor to afford anything.  Look at the major nations, still fighting over whether or not consumers/customers should even be allowed to have choice or even voice their dissent.  And people think that an openly corrupt system will be better somehow? 

 

Don't get me wrong, I think it is something to strive for, but it has to be wanted by the people getting it.  And at the moment, they are getting nothing.  So, if they get Facebook internet, they can at least see enough to know there is more out there, and they can talk with other people.  They can get inspiration and guidance from those with more freedom, and demand that same thing from their government.  

 

But for now, the key is to simply give them something, to give them a taste, so they can even know there is more to be had.