In what is the significant backlash against Facebook's Internet.org, Tim Berners-Lee - the inventor of the World Wide Web , has said that developing nations should “just say no” to it, and other such initiatives.
Just say no
When it comes to compromising on net neutrality, I tend to say just say no" he said in a report published in The Guardian. This was part of his statement on dangers of government snooping, speaking at the the 800th anniversary of the signing of Magna Carta.
Berners-Lee and his initiative, the World Wide Web Foundation have launched a Web We Want campaign to promote five key principles for the web:
Freedom of expression online and offline
Affordable access to the net
Protection of user data and privacy
A decentralised and open infrastructure
Net neutrality.
Affordable access to the net
Protection of user data and privacy
A decentralised and open infrastructure
Net neutrality.
"In the particular case of somebody who's offering ... something which is branded internet, it's not internet, then you just say no. No it isn't free, no it isn't in the public domain, there are other ways of reducing the price of internet connectivity and giving something ... [only] giving people data connectivity to part of the network deliberately, I think is a step backwards." he said.
While Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg had appeared to be a net neutrality supporter, he has pitched his Internet.Org (now rebranded to Free Basics), as critical to getting India online.
Free Basics, as the name suggests, offers free access to Reliance users to some applications and websites (including Facebook) to India's poorest. However, it does so at the cost of creating a precedent that Internet access can be twisted and remodeled based on how a company sees it.
Since India has not formally established a stance on net neutrality, this can be a milestone for companies like Airtel, which can in the future "break the internet'' - by offering people products like Whatsapp packs, YouTube packs and email packs, without letting them freely use the data they've paid for.
"There is this big struggle, debate in India now on how you balance these two things and this is an incredibly important debate because India is the country in the world with the most unconnected people," had had said.