Is the Internet at risk? Increasing ISPs' power could pose threats to open competition, free speech

NEWDELHI: A growing issue in the West is coming to India: the threat to netneutrality. The concept of net neutrality is based on the idea that companieswhich offer internet access should treat all internet content equally, in termsof speed, pricing, and access.

It is important to protect thisprinciple because if ISPs and telecom operators use their connectivity toinfluence how and what users consume, it can result in either censorship by aprivate company or anti-competitive practices. The internet was built as an opennetwork, where information could flow freely.

In this environment,innovation, entrepreneurship, and democracy have thrived all over the world.Governments, including that of India, have rightly limited its openness when itviolates laws, such as defamation or piracy, but such restrictions are imposedonly in public interest.

The challenge to net neutrality is that thedecisions of what content to censor or to give preference to, lies in the handsof ISPs, which are predominantly corporate entities. In other words, thegatekeepers of free speech and open competition are private companies, whose jobis to make profit.

Experts say net neutrality is essential forfreedom of speech, and that giving any power to an ISP or telco to limit orfavour certain content will violate this fundamental principle. Clear guidelinesshould be put in place to ensure network operators do not deprive citizens offree speech and choice.

“The moment an ISP or any other entitycontrols users’ access to internet, that entity infringes on the freedomof speech and freedom of choice. The recent Arab Spring and movements acrossLibya, Egypt and Syria show you cannot put curbs on freedom of people to accessand use internet to drive change,’’ said Ranbir Singh,vice-chancellor, National Law University.

“Net neutralityis essential for continued economic development of any country. ISPs shouldmanage internet traffic for operational reasons but should not discriminate onetype of content from another,” said Tony Hill, managing director, IPv6(Internet Protocol version 6).

The net neutrality debate firsterupted in the United States, when AT&T suggested it would like to chargesome web companies more for preferential treatment of their traffic. Consumeradvocates and web giants like Google and Amazon cried foul, saying it’s abedrock principle of the net that all traffic be treated equally.

Neutrality advocates say that global telecom companies and ISPs seekto be ‘internet gatekeepers’, and want to decide the speed of thewebsites and apps on their network. They want to charge content providers toprovide speedy delivery of their data, and give preference to their own servicesand content, at the expense of their competitors.

These activistsallege that phone and cable companies are spending hundreds of millions ofdollars in the US to lobby against net neutrality. The advocates of netneutrality have influential backers as well.

VintonCerf, considered as ‘father of Internet’, Tim Berners Lee, thecreator of the web, US President Barack Obama and others have spoken out infavour of net neutrality. A number of web sites, such as savetheinternet.com andothers serve as advocates of internet neutrality.

“Netneutrality is a must for the growth of internet in India as in the coming yearspeople will be using internet more and for multiple purposes than at any othertime in the past. As we become more dependant on the internet, the need forneutrality only goes up,” said National Law University’s Singh.

But as India’s internet subscriber base grows — thereare already more than 100 million users — and more people use the net tocomplete their transactions, like buying railway tickets, books, music, accessinformation or share files — there are concerns that if the principles ofnet neutrality are not followed, ISPs could control what you can and cannotsurf.

“India presents afertile ground for potential abuse of net neutrality given the growth potentialof m-commerce and e-commerce,” said Pavan Duggal, advocate, Supreme Courtof India and president, mobilelaw.net. Duggal said.

‘‘India is a unique market as most users will surf theinternet on smart phones rather than on fixed broadband. There are more than 900million mobile subscribers and “mobile internet is a reality today. Usersshould not be a hostage to service providers’ interests,” addedDuggal.

The issue is of crucial importance to India, where bandwidthallowances for consumers are among the lowest in the world. In the US, unlimitedbandwidth plans at high speeds are the norm, whereas in India, nearly all plansvia wired or wireless have limits on consumption.

ISPs and telecomoperators may use these restrictions as a reason why they don’t supportnet neutrality and why certain content should get preferential access over othercontent.

However, the solution should be to grow bandwidthconnectivity and allow for a wider, freer flow of information, so that consumershave access to the open internet without restriction and entrepreneurs do nothave to risk stifled competition by corporate powers. The Indian arms ofMicrosoft and Yahoo! are in favour of net neutrality.

“Microsoftbelieves widespread access to high-speed internet is a powerful force foreconomic and social progress and supports policies that expand access around theworld. In defining policies to promote broadband, the government and theindustry must strike the appropriate balance to enable end-users to freelyaccess the internet and use the devices and services they choose, while ensuringthat the network operators continue to have sufficient economic incentive tocontinue investing in their networks,” said a Microsoft spokesman. Yahoo!India’s vice-president (service engineering) Suresh Hosakoppal said hiscompany supported net neutrality and expressed concerns about ISPs having thepotential to block genuine sites.

“ISPscan use techniques including including Deep Packet Inspection (DPI), headeridentification or filtering packets. The reason could be to check viruses orcopy right violations (as in case of blocking pirated movies), but ISPs canblock or slow down genuine sites as well, impacting neutrality,” he said.

Local ISPs too say they back fair access to customers. “It isthe duty of the ISP to provide fair access. A services provider cannot decidewhat a user surfs, as long as it is legal,” said Jasjit Sawhney, founder& CMD, Net4U, an applications and network services provider.

Internet & Mobile Services Association of India president SubhoRay said as of now, there are more ‘pipes’ than content in India.“But when the network is congested, neutrality will be an issue. ISPsshould facilitate all legitimate internet traffic rather block it for commercialor other interests,” said Ray.