By Syed Ali Mujtaba,
The internet’s privatization debate has intensified in India. It is hogging limelight because government is kite flying the idea to privatize the internet and allow the telecom companies to make money on customized services.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi has leveled the charge that Modi government that has come to power with the help of corporate money is now trying to pay them back their money by privatizing the internet.
The move is to allow telecom companies providing Internet services to create a VIP culture online by breaking the web into fast and slow lanes. They want to offer faster download speeds to rich companies who pay them and choke those who can’t.
The second thing is to allow telecom companies to have pay service for access to websites like WhatsApp, Youtube and Skype etc. This revenue model kills net neutrality, where all websites are treated equal.
Without net neutrality the richest 1% will control what we see online. Download speeds for sites that don’t pay the telecom companies will become so slow that it will be given up in frustration and any dynamic start-ups will be killed off trying to compete with giants with deep pockets.
Some argue that telecom companies are after all profit-making businesses so they should be allowed to charge what they like. But a free and open Internet is a public utility and a global consensus is emerging to keep it that way.
Remember, in the year 2000 it was contemplated to make the e mails a paid service. A huge public pressure was but that allowed this service remain unchanged.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has strongly aired his views in the Parliament. He has accused the government being anti-youth and trying to give away Internet space to corporates.
Rahul questioned, if the government favors net neutrality why it is holding consultation with Telecom Regularity Authority of India (TRAI). He linked the issue of net neutrality to the land acquisition law and accused the government of trying to hand over another resource to corporates.
Rahul Gandi demanded that the government should work out a law for net neutrality as over one million people are fighting for net neutrality.
Net neutrality is a principle that says Internet Service Providers (ISPs) should treat all traffic and content on their networks equally.
The internet is now a level-playing field. Anybody can start up a website, stream music or use social media with the same amount of data that they have purchased with a particular ISP.
But in the absence of neutrality, the particular ISP might favour certain websites over others for which extra payment is not made.
For example; Website A might load at a faster speed than Website B because the ISP has a deal with Website A that Website B cannot afford.
It’s like Electricity Company charging you extra for using the washing machine, television and microwave oven above and beyond what is already being paid.
The controversy erupted when in March 2015; TRI released a draft consultation paper seeking views from the industry and the general public on the need for regulations for over-the-top (OTT) players such as Whatsapp, Skype, Viber etc, security concerns and net neutrality.
The objective of this consultation paper, the regulator said, was to analyze the implications of the growth of OTTs and consider whether or not changes were required in the current regulatory framework.
OTT or over-the-top refers to applications and services which are accessible over the internet and ride on operators’ networks offering internet access services.
The best known examples of OTT are Skype, Viber, WhatsApp, e-commerce sites, Ola, Facebook messenger etc. The OTTs are not bound by any regulations.
The TRAI is of the view that the lack of regulations poses a threat to security and there’s a need for government’s intervention to ensure a level playing field in terms of regulatory compliance.
The sort of closed Internet that TRAI is proposing, in defiance of the principle of net neutrality, is no longer on the discussion agenda in any country. They all have dumped such ideas in the garbage bin.
It’s the apocalypse of the Internet that offers democratic promise of the information highway to everyone. So there should be no discrimination in terms of speed, access, cost or any such criteria.
Net is basic requirement for human survival like food water and shelter. It can be used to build powerful global vision, it can be used to fight corruption, save lives, and bring people-powered aid to countries in crisis. Any demand that goes against the grain of net neutrality should be outlawed.
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Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at [email protected])