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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Citizens fight for net neutrality on mygov.in

Citizens fight for net neutrality on mygov.in

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published Published on Aug 20, 2015   modified Modified on Aug 20, 2015
-The Times of India

NEW DELHI: There is widespread support for net neutrality on the government's citizen engagement platform mygov.in where a majority of people have voiced their concerns against zero-rated plans.

There are nearly 70,000 comments on the website with just a day to go before the end of the participative process and most of these seek unfettered and non-discriminatory access to the internet. "Telecom should not define policy. Net neutrality is me being able to access anything on the internet without paying more or less for it. A byte of data should have the same price, regardless of whether it is a VoIP call, or a Youtube video," says Abhishek Ahuja.

Similar sentiments were echoed by Gaurav Nagar.

"Our government must implement TRUE net neutrality, not a PESUDO net neutrality as defined by telecom companies. All apps/websites should be treated equally and no preference should be given to any app/website. No privilege should be given to a website/app that pays Trai to have users browse its content for free. Citizens of India have already struggled a lot in the earlier Licence Raj. The government should not go back to the Licence Raj, by avoiding licensing for services like Whatsapp, Skype."

Since the time the government has invited comments on the subject, there are demands at various forums to maintain equality and non-discrimination over the internet, so that the spirit of entrepreneurship and start-ups is maintained and citizens continue to get unhindered access without any prioritization accorded to any website. Many of the comments are against moves by telecom operators to introduce zero-rated platforms, while also speaking against zero-rated offerings such as internet.org that was offered by social media giant Facebook, which had faced flak from a committee of the department of telecom (DoT).

"Net neutrality would be a true mirror of democracy. Let's not be forced by consumerism of corporate giants. It is our right as citizen of India," says Prashant Sunil Chaudhari.

Another citizen, Kaushlendra Pratap Singh, said, "It is right of citizens to access content provided on internet, without any restriction by telecom operators. It is citizens who have authority to choose which content they want to access. Net neutrality is must for bringing equality on digital platforms. I support net neutrality and it's our right."

DoT has already submitted a report on the subject where it has come out against any kind of paid prioritisation in traffic management by the telcos. Regulator Trai is also preparing a report on the subject, while a Parliamentary Standing Committee is also looking into it.

Amit Sharma, another user of mygov.in, made a case against zero-rated plans. "Zero rating allows large companies to act as gatekeepers of the internet and control which services Indians can access, (and so) must be prohibited. The DoT draft recommendations are too weak on this, and the government must take a strong stand to protect users."

The government has said that it will take a final view after taking into consideration the findings of the various committees as well as going through the opinions voiced by citizens.

The Times of India, 20 August, 2015, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/tech-news/Citizens-fight-for-net-neutrality-on-mygov-in/articleshow/48549608.cms


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