Net Neutrality-What? Why? Raise your head and be heard

ImageCourtesy: www.netneutrality.in

Now, if you are someone who doesn’t live in a cave, or even if you do, you must have used the internet once in your life, and, if you are like the most, then as all of us, you feed of the internet. For a couple of weeks, we are waking up to a completely new term (to most), flashing through all newspapers. What is it? Yes, you guessed it right, the double N’s-NET NEUTRALITY. The question is-why should we care about it and why we should have an opinion about it? I will come to that, but before that for all the people who have found it incomprehensible, here it goes-it is the basic right of an internet user to get unrestricted, unhindered access to all websites, without being under the reins of ISP’s (Internet Service Provider).

The principle of Net Neutrality has generally been followed in India, by the virtue of which operators do not control the traffic that passes through its servers.

As a result of which, we get access to all legal websites at the same data speed without paying any extra money to the operator for providing access to any specific website. However, an important point to be noted is that, there is no law in India to enforce this principle. There has been a raging debate around the world on this issue. In India, this issue sprang up with the launch of Airtel Zero and Facebook’s internet.org, however, both later clarified their support of Net Neutrality.

You can be affected in two ways if the principle of Net Neutrality is not followed. Firstly, if you are just a user, to put it very simply, you will have to pay a lot more to enjoy the kind of web access you are enjoying at present, and you don’t want that, neither do I. Our internet bill will go up because the ISP’s will start to charge more for websites that require higher bandwidth for us to access, like YouTube. The real deal is that they will want a share of the revenue of bigger web players like Google for providing its high-end services (like video streaming) to users.

Secondly, due to Net Neutrality, the internet has been an open ground, which means if anyone can create a website and put it up, depending on its content and services, it can get users hooked. The person or the group of persons creating the website do not need to be a millionaire or sign a deal with different operators to ensure that his/her/their webpage reaches to all users. This benign nature of the internet can be completely reversed if the principle of Net Neutrality is not followed.

So my friends and foes, please join in the campaign to support Net Neutrality. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has clearly stated that it wants our voices, so let’s understand the importance of this principle and hope that the principle is enforced in India by strict laws. Raise your voice. Be heard.

• About the Author

About Rit Chattapadhyay

A student of literature, I was born in Kolkata, now, reside at Howrah. I completed my high school from St.Thomas' Church School Howrah,and then went on to study English Honours at Asutosh College. Presently, I am pursuing my Masters in English Literature from Calcutta University. Not an avid reader from childhood. My experience with literature intensified in high school and Asutosh College. I love reading works of literature and I am an amateur poet myself. My poems mainly highlight the agonies of modern existence and the complications of love. Being a very opinionated person, I bear distinct opinions about what I read.