Net Neutrality

          Internet is the largest and the most powerful entity present out there in today's date.But this very own entity is under threat. Telecom operators have wicked desires to control what we access on the internet,What speed do we get for a particular website or web applications etc. This brings into picture the concept of net neutrality. So now the question arises what is net neutrality and why should we care. Simple Net neutrality can be defined as authority and right  to access "EVERYTHING" available on the internet at a same speed. Every content on the internet is equal and should be treated equal.Net neutrality also means once you have an internet plan you should be allowed to access any website you want without discrimination. India's telecom operators are lobbying Telecom Regulatory Authority of India(TRAI) to enact a regulation in a way that will change the way Indians are using the internet forever.They want to carve up the internet in different sections and charge you independently for each section. 

           Assuming a Service provider is having a tie-up with say filpkart then the service provider will make the flipkart application work faster compared to the other E-commerce websites. So that customers will be forced to shop at flipkart and this in-turn will help flipkart making a fortune out of it.This will easily eliminate independent entrepreneurs who are willing to join-in the big race of E-commerce as any billion dollar company will approach telecom operators,pay them and ask to provide their services for free by which means only their application will be used by the consumers and new entrepreneurs won't stand any chance in the business.  As mentioned earlier separate charges will be imposed on consumers for everything they desire to use. WhatsApp pack for WhatsApp, Snapchat pack,Instagram pack, internet calling pack for skype etc respectively. Next thing telecom operators claim that they only make revenue out of the data usage and not by application bandwidth or carriage.Telecom operators demand a cut out of the bandwidth claiming that they invest huge amount of money in order to run and maintain infrastructures for data services to work smoothly. But the data usage is just making telecom operators enough money. 

          What do we lose if we lose the freedom over the internet?

1.  Well... we lose the independence of using XYZ websites and ABC apps of our choices and will be forced to use applications that favor your service providers.
2. Even though having a data plan we will have to pay extra for special services which means means basically  we lose the right of using every piece of data on the internet.Having a data plan will not be sufficient as we will be charged for all the other extra services like internet calling, video chatting, messenger services etc.
3. we lose equality as internet is the last frontier where everybody is equal. 

          So basically to put it short if we lose net neutrality we lose:-

• Freedom of association.
• Freedom of choice.
• Freedom to start and market a business.
• It will be very expensive and service will be worst unless you pay extra.

          We can stop this from happening to us by simply requesting our government before 15th August 2015. Commenting on mygov.in can help stopping TRAI to implement their plans against Net neutrality. #savetheinternet #freethenet.