Net Neutrality: What You Need to Know

#NetNeutrality

Net Neutrality: What You Need to Know

The internet's success in fostering innovation, access to knowledge and freedom of speech is in large part due to the principle of net neutrality — the idea that internet service providers give their customers equal access to all lawful websites and services on the internet, without giving priority to any website over another.

Due to intense lobbying by telecom operators, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is planning to allow them to block apps and websites to extort more money from consumers and businesses — an extreme violation of net neutrality.

What is Net Neutrality?

Net Neutrality is the Internet’s guiding principle: It preserves our right to communicate freely online. This is the definition of an open Internet.

Net Neutrality means an Internet that enables and protects free speech. It means that Internet service providers should provide us with open networks — and should not block or discriminate against any applications or content that ride over those networks. Just as your phone company shouldn't decide who you can call and what you say on that call, your ISP shouldn't be concerned with the content you view or post online.

Without Net Neutrality, cable and phone companies could carve the Internet into fast and slow lanes. An ISP could slow down its competitors' content or block political opinions it disagreed with. ISPs could charge extra fees to the few content companies that could afford to pay for preferential treatment — relegating everyone else to a slower tier of service. This would destroy the open Internet.

It’s important for access to knowledge, services and free speech, as well as freedom and ease of doing business online, for this access to be neutral:

– All sites must be equally accessible
- The same access speed at the telco/ISP level for each (independent of telco selection)
– The same data cost for access to each site (per KB/MB).

This means, Net Neutrality is about:
– No telecom-style licensing of Internet companies
– No gateways (Internet.org, Airtel OneTouch Internet, Data VAS), censorship or selection;
– No speeding up of specific websites (that may or may not pay telcos)
– No “zero rating” or making some sites free over others

Is Net Neutrality important for businesses?

Net Neutrality is crucial for small business owners, startups and entrepreneurs, who rely on the open Internet to launch their businesses, create a market, advertise their products and services, and distribute products to customers. We need the open Internet to foster job growth, competition and innovation.

Net Neutrality lowers the barriers of entry for entrepreneurs, startups and small businesses by ensuring the Web is a fair and level playing field. It’s because of Net Neutrality that small businesses and entrepreneurs have been able to thrive on the Internet. They use the Internet to reach new customers and showcase their goods, applications and services.

No company should be able to interfere with this open marketplace. ISPs are by definition the gatekeepers to the Internet, and without Net Neutrality, they would seize every possible opportunity to profit from that gatekeeper control.

By allowing the telcos to tier the internet, consumers will be forced to pay multiple times for the same service.  On top of that, tiering could result in telcos becoming an internet “gatekeeper” that could greatly influence what stays and goes on the internet. 

Even still, the cases against net neutrality and for tiering are weak at best.  Their arguments that content providers are receiving a “free lunch” are unsubstantiated and, in fact, the telcos are paid twice already.  There should be no need for them to be paid a third time.  Worse of all is their misleading view that the free market will even out any inequities of their plans when they should clearly know that their industry is anything but a free market. 
If the internet is tiered, the greatest losses will be to the consumers.

Mohit Manke