I'm told that Telecom Commission has accepted @TRAI 's recommendations on #NetNeutrality. Thank you TRAI& @rssharma3 for giving India the strongest Net Neutrality regulations in the world,covering both throttling of Internet access & prevention of discriminatory pricing
As per the @trai recommendations, ISP and Telco license conditions will be amended to enforce net neutrality principles. This means that if the telecom operators violate net neutrality, then they will be violating their license conditions, risking license cancellation
Apart from a #NetNeutrality law, this was the most effective way of ensuring non-discrimination by ISPs in India. My story on India's Net Neutrality rules here: medianama.com/2017/11/223-tr…
There are some key exceptions to #NetNeutrality (throttling): 1. Critical IoT services will be exempt. These will be defined by DoT. We have to ensure that all IoT isn't governed by this, and DoT doesn't allow a free-for-all
2. Specialised services are exempt. This is tricky.
. @TRAI says Specialised Services can't be a replacement for Internet Access Services, and their provisioning shouldn't be detrimental to Internet Access. To a TV channel last year, @rssharma3 said that these may include autonomous cars, remote access surgery.
What is problematic is that @trai recommendations, in comments, say"the provision of VoIP and IPTV services, which may also qualify as specialised services under the suggested definition." Would appreciate clarity on this @trai@rssharma3 . Might enable paid prioritisation.
All said and done, it is still a very positive development, and a culmination of a process that began with this story (medianama.com/2014/08/223-tr… ), and led to the #savetheinternet campaign so many of us participated in.
Whatever the verdict, remember that there are many people who have been party to pushing back against this abomination.
First and foremost, we must thank Usha ramanathan for her leadership. She has led this pushback.
Also thank the great folks at @no2uid , @gautambhatia88@prasanna_s@Kritika12@SFLCin who kept us updated & pushed back when all seemed lost. Many of you also supported @SpeakForMe campaign, and many of us who participated in it should remember we should speak up when it matters
2018=crazy year in internet policy. Wondering whether Indian govt is fit to govern, re Internet: 1. A terrible data protection bill with an opaque process 2. draft e-commerce policy that will kill investment in India. Opaque process 3. Nearly 100 internet shutdowns. 79 last year.
4. Knee-jerk data localisation from RBI 5. Threats to citizens regarding Aadhaar (tax filing, banks, mobile,DIN number) 6. Data leakages+unauthorised access of Aadhaar data
7.Threats to amend section 79 to remove safe harbour for platforms = destroys how internet works
The list can go on. And this is just till August.
Problem lies in govt approach that is reactive, isn't open, transparent, consultative+ with committees not being multistakeholder. If you limit who you take inputs from, stack your committees with similar people +
It's important for us in India to track what happened with Cambridge Analytica and Facebook for multiple reasons. Here's how I'm thinking about it.
If data is the new oil, then it just caught fire and is polluting democracies.
Firstly, we need to realise that making personal data public has severe consequences. Both for individuals as well as for democracies. Harvesting this data and using it is no longer complex.
We also need to realise that the amount of data that is already public, both with private parties and political entities is already enough to compromise us. The compromise might not happen from them directly