What is Net Neutrality?

Internet is inherently neutral (more or less). The father of the world wide web, Tim Berners-Lee himself revealed that it was designed as neutral medium. "My vision was that anyone, anywhere in the world could share knowledge and ideas without needing to buy a license or ask permission from myself or any CEO, government department or committee. This openness unleashed a tidal wave of innovation, and it is still powering new breakthroughs in science, commerce, culture and much more besides." This neutral character of internet comes from the concept of net neutrality that is at the centre of it.

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 — not giving priority to any website over another.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. TRAI has released a consultation paper and wants Indians to send them an e-mail by 24th of April, 2015.

There is a strong demand to remind TRAI that their job is to protect the rights of consumers, not the profit margins of telcos. 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); and 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), censorshipor selection; No speeding up of specific websites (that may or may not pay telcos); and No “zero rating” or making some sites free over others (and that goes for you too, Wikipedia and twitter).Although TRAI guidelines for the Unified Access Service license promotes net neutrality, it does not enforce it. The Information Technology Act, 2000 also does not prohibit companies from throttling their service in accordance with their business interests.