The campaign to safeguard net neutrality in India gathers momentum with several activists and celebs taking to the internet with videos that raise public awareness about the issue
The internet's afire with public support for net neutrality in India, and videos either explaining the concept or discussing it have played a large part in raising public awareness of the issue.
Mumbai-based standup comedy group All India Bakchod (AIB), who were in the spotlight after their controversial AIB Roast video in January, has come up with a new video asking people to "save the internet".
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"The new AIB video is out. This time, we want you to #SaveTheInternet. Share this video and spread the message to everyone you know who uses the Internet. Please, log onto www.savetheinternet.in," read a post shared by AIB on their official Facebook page.
Video courtesy: All India Bakchod
The video shows AIB lending support to net neutrality.
In the video, AIB states that "all content is equal, and all sites must be equally accessible".
AIB is not the only one to have released a video on the issue. There are videos in which Mumbaikars and Bengaluru residents express their views on net neutrality and others which explain what all the buzz is all about.
There is a parody video that is attracting a lot of eyeballs despite being from 2009, when it was first uploaded on YouTube.
This video has a group of "wannabe-superstars" from the tech world pleading for net neutrality. Titled “Bits Don’t Lie”, it's based on Shakira's famous song 'Hips Don’t Lie'.
Video courtesy: CultureLick
“Bits Don’t Lie” also has Facebook’s Randi Zuckerberg and venture capitalist Tim Draper and is described as a "celebration of keeping the Internet free, non-corporate and crazy".
Net Neutrality
Due to intense lobbying by telecom operators like Airtel and Vodafone, India's telecom regulator, Telecom Authority of India (TRAI), is planning to allow them to block apps and websites to extort more money from consumers and businesses - an extreme violation of net neutrality.
TRAI has released a consultation paper with 20 questions spread across 118 pages and wants people to send them an e-mail by April 24.
Video courtesy: BeingIndian
The campaign Savetheinternet.in was in response to TRAI soliciting public opinion on whether these firms should be allowed to charge different rates for different uses of internet data – for instance, email usage or internet browsing charged differently from usage of apps like Whatsapp, Viber and Skype.
No law for Net Neutrality in India
Video courtesy: yourstorytv
There are no laws enforcing net neutrality in India. Although TRAI guidelines for the Unified Access Service license promotes net neutrality, it does not enforce it. The Information Technology Act, 2000 also does not prohibit companies from throttling their service in accordance with their business interests. In India, telecom operators and ISPs offering VoIP services have to pay a part of their revenues to the government.
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