Net neutrality is the principle that Internet service providers and governments should treat all data on the Internet equally, not discriminating or charging differentially by user, content, site, platform, application, type of attached equipment, or mode of communication - Well this principle is now getting challenged by ISP's. This article is basically my views on the topic. have fun reading

1. I

2. -WELCOMETOTHE DEBATE
OF NET NEUTRALITY
he Internet ... today's bloodline for millions...
something which we've taken for granted... a
right of sorts - well might just not remain
the same anymore...
Welcome to the debate on Net Neutrality!
Well I am sure by now we are aware about this
nuisance of a situation - will the Net be neutral or
won't it? Enough and more discussions are happen-
ing all over the globe. Might not be that mainstream
in India, but then soon than later it is bound to hap-
pen here too. After all we do have a way of adopting
to global trends set by Big Brother.
So getting on to it:
The Internet's fundamental and most unique fea-
ture has been that of openness. This is definitely one
of primary reasons why the medium has grovm faster
than any other till date. It has shaped economies,
built brands, created jobs, brought down govern-
ments and inspired and nurtured our creativity - and
made our cats famous!
It's not just another medium - it's THE medium of
connectivity across the globe.
Because of this nature of the medium - innova-
tion and creativity has thrived and not been the sole
privilege of a few - no longer do we need to wait for
that one break that could be achieved only by "know-
ing someone in the industry" - YouTube, Facebook
and blogs have changed that. Countless services
like these have flourished with the Internet and all
of these serwices had very modest beginnings. They
starled as basic websites with minimal resources. But
they succeeded why? Because they had the Internet
on their side (ok, the business ideas were also great)
- but mostly because it was available at ehse.
Location-Location-Location - the primary need
for any business to flourish. The internet provided
these start-ups with this ingredient at marginal costs
and hence they could become giants today. A free and
open internet is the single greatest technology of our
time, and control.should not be at the mercy of a few.
In essence, Net neutrality
- Stimulates competition among service providers
(ISPs)
- Helps prevent unfair pricing practices
- Promotes innovation
- Promotes the spread of ideas
- Drives entrepreneurship
- Protects freedom of speech
Without an open internet, big corporations (read
ISP's) would have.a tight control over how we ac-
cess websites and serwices. They would decide if we
should watch that annoying cat dance on YouTube
or find out Which Mahabharata character are you or
read a financial blog. All of it controlled by one guid-
ing principle: Make the moolahl
So now even though you're paying INR r5oo for
that SMbps connection - you would end up pa)4ng
even more to access particular tlpes of content. After
all, its simple economics - if the cost of raw material
or distribution increases, it is inadvertently passed
on the product in order to maintain profitability.
But is that all there is to Net Neutrality - we pay-
ing more?
No!
The significance is far greater. The absence of an
open internet means that the power to control in-
formation is going to lie with some s-elect.pgglle -
something which is in the DNA of Internet - easy ac-
cess no longer remains so.
In a sense the ISP's could become the biggest con-
trollers of almost every.thing tomorrow - Not only
they could control the fate of businesses but could
also begin to control the kind of information avail-
able - all made available to those with deeper pock-
ets. They could have the Gor,'t in their pockets - shape
policies- control the economy - create laws - control
taxes - control people...become dictators...phew... ok
this is me getting paranoid...in truth not so much.
iANUARY z0l5 / thinking aloud! // 19

3. So what haPPens? Businesses have
ISP's to get the best distribution pipes
business arrangements. Now if You
would be apPlicable onlY to ISPs
and large Internet comPanies -
think again. To Put this into con-
text: what about those serwices
that don't do these PartnershiPs
with operators? In the end theY
will be forced to, because the
Data/VAS dePartments of ISPs
will start discriminating and
clearing piPes to the highest
bidder. Can a start-uP get such
a deal without such PaYments?
India does not have a law re-
garding net neutralitY and till
date it hasn't moved towards
creating one. TRAI again is
more of a guideline setter and
less of an enforcer - it has cre-
feeding the beast that will turn around and bite
them iomorrow. Social Network sites have been
trying to push to get mobile usage increased of
their services bY q'ing uP with
to flock to
- via said
think this
ated guidelines (while issuing li-
cences) for providing Unified Access Service, even
promotes the principle of non-discrimination, but
does not enforce it.
Many Internet companies have already been
telecom operators and most of
the times getting users unlimited
bandwidth for that service. No-
ticed that small ticker on Airtel
- Facebook free for a month.
Bundled Mobile handset of-
fers have the same PrinciPle.
Some of these deals are in the
form of barter arrangements
masked as content services, but
that's the first steP towards Po-
tential monetization for ISPs and
there is no turning back.
Finally, we can hoPe that the
new Government (which is Pro
Digitization) sees this for what
it is and upholds Net Neutral-
ity should such a situation arise
here. Whatever happens my friend, you and me as
consumers will ultimately pay the price (literally)'
a
Views exPressedhere are Personal
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