JOIN USInternet.org: Access champ, or gated community?
Facebook founder and Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg’s latest post justifying internet.org, a domain which the company owns, and its arrangement with Reliance Communications to bundle free services to the telecom’s users, has renewed the focus on Net Neutrality.
But even those who are willing to be persuaded by Zuckerberg’s arguments that internet.org increases accessibility to the Net wouldn’t deny that the service effectively creates a gated community on the World Wide Web (WWW). When a mobile or desktop user with any connection other than Reliance Communications tries to access internet.org, the page is diverted to a sub-domain with the URL http://0.internet.org/unavailable, and a message is displayed onscreen saying the site is accessible to only users of Reliance Communications.
This is something that would make Net Neutrality experts bristle. Research analyst and advocate Rishab Bailey of ThoughtWorks explained how internet service providers (ISPs) make certain URLs available exclusively for their users, “Internet.org is a platform provided by Facebook (FB) that provides zero-rating services for a limited array of websites/online services. Basically, the content provider (say BBC News) enters into an agreement with Facebook (which in turn pays Reliance). Reliance then offers this limited content to the users for free. The content is free, albeit limited, and available only to a gated-community of sorts, going against the basic principles of the Web.”
Information is transmitted through the internet in the form of data packets. Bailey explained how certain websites are isolated by the ISPs, “All data packets on the internet contain information on the source and the destination. Further, most, if not all ISPs, use deep packet inspection in order to read the content of the packets (so as to determine source/destination). Based on this, they can discriminate between different packets.”
He added, “All websites are accessed on a mobile through the telecom infrastructure provided by a telecom service provider and the ISPs controlled the pipe through which the data flows. This way, they can implement practices to identify the source/destination/content of the data packets, and hence the network, before it opens for the user.” Following the same process internet.org opens only for Reliance users.
The zero-rating plan by Reliance provides free access to around 31 websites that include news and information, entertainment, shopping, tourism and social networking sites. However, in support of Net Neutrality, some companies like Cleartrip and NDTV pulled out of the plan earlier this week. Reliance Communications was unavailable for comments despite repeated attempts to contact them.
A contrarian voice
Abhilekh Verma, partner, Khaitan and Co, has a different take. In his view, schemes like internet.org that encourage accessibility, if properly regulated, need not necessarily be detrimental to the interest of Net users in India. He said, “While the argument favouring Net Neutrality is an important one, it is also important to note that in India, internet penetration leaves a lot to be desired. The need of the hour is also to increase internet accessibility to the public at large so as to open up both economic and social avenues. TRAI must use this opportunity to enact regulations that balance the business interests of the telecom service providers which spend large amounts on infrastructure and operations, with the interests of users.”
The debate on Net Neutrality in India so far has only discussed the impact of zero-rating plans on websites and smartphone apps. But this debate can get complicated if you consider Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
The IoT is the network created when sensors on everyday consumer electronic devices and domestic appliances like televisions, toasters, refrigerators and cameras share data by connecting to the internet. Srinivas Prasad, CEO, Philips Innovation Campus, said: “IoT has remained on the periphery of this battle because it is primarily comprised of small, power-efficient devices that generate a small amount of traffic. However, this is changing as now there are multiple connected devices at home and this requires a higher bandwidth for them to communicate.
“This, combined with the explosion of connected devices, means IoT (and the companies/providers behind it) won’t be able to escape the implications of this Net Neutrality debate for much longer. But I do see innovations happening in this space in the future from device makers which could address this issue.”