Free Basics: Old Fraud,New Name
Newsclick interviewed Prabir Purkayastha, Chairperson of the Society for Knowledge Commons, on Facebook's Free Basics and TRAI's Consultation Paper on Differential Pricing for Data Services. Prabir said that differentiating internet services in terms of content will be a violation of the basic principle of Network Neutrality. He added that zero rated services are but meant for 'walled gardens'. Internet Service Providers should not act as gatekeepers for content generators. Purkayastha said that the consultation paper by TRAI focuses on tariff issues rather than safeguarding the principles of Net Neutrality. 'Free Basics', the renamed package by Facebook would only lead to discrimination and will curb innovation and creativity.
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