India Says 'Yes' to Net Neutrality
Source: the next web
Its official: at long last, the Indian government has approved net neutrality to ensure that all web traffic is treated fairly, and that internet service providers wont block, throttle, or favor any content or services (with a few reasonable exceptions).
Thats a result of the Telecom Commission (a group within Indias Department of Telecom) approving recommendations made by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) last November. TRAIs guidelines were compiled after months of deliberation and seeking inputs from the public.
Its a huge win for those who favor free and fair internet access in the country. Net neutrality allows companies to compete on a level playing field; for example, Netflix cant have a mobile carrier favor its video streams and offer them at faster speeds than rival services for a fee. Similarly, carriers and ISPs are barred from charging customers more for access to popular services, like social networks or streaming music apps.
It also prevents programs like Facebooks Free Basics, which granted free access to mobile sites on the zero-rated platform that were allowed in by the company. While it sounds like a good idea for those who cant afford data plans, it allows Facebook to control what sort of content and services people can access, and to shape their idea of what the internet has to offer.
The Telecom Commission noted that certain kinds of traffic, like communications for autonomous vehicles, and tele-medicine or remote-diagnostic services, could be prioritized for higher data transfer speeds. It also said that itll keep an eye on carriers internet traffic management methods to ensure that they play fair.
Read more: https://thenextweb.com/in/2018/07/12/india-says-yes-to-net-neutrality/
Anyone know about Faceboo's Free Basics and whether not allowing it will hurt those in poor areas from getting access ?
sakabatou
(42,083 posts)truthisfreedom
(23,113 posts)zentrum
(9,865 posts)..countries will surge ahead as we sink into being second rate. In education, the environment, health, and upward mobility.
pazzyanne
(6,518 posts)innovative and forward thinking stands. Too bad the United States is on the downward slide. tRump's back to the '50s push is pushing us to the back of the world stage in very quick order. Too bad 35% of the population is too dumb to know they are destroying the US and sinking into a quagmire. But you know MAGA