Look around social media,tech sites/blogs and forums and you will come across pages talking about the latest problem about Net Neutrality in India.Here in this post,Bunny will tell you about Net Neutrality,how it affects you and how you can raise you voice for it.
What is Net Neutrality?
Its nothing but a principle that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) should treat all Internet data equally and should not charge you for using some particular website or application.In more simple words,if you ISP is charging you extra fees for visiting any particular site such as facebook or twitter,then it is violating Net Neutrality.
Does it affect me?Should I care about it?
If you in any how or via any means,use the Internet,then yes it definitely matters to you.
Lets say,the present situation is,you pay the internet fee to get some amount of data which you can spend by doing things on the internet.Suppose you get 1GB of data from your ISP,then you can use it as the way you like.You can visit any website or use any online software.But will it be great if your ISP does not allow you to use the 1GB on a particular site like google?
Whats the big deal?Is it really a big problem?
Yes it is.Giving your ISP the right to avoid Net Neutrality will really harm you and your spendings on Internet can go damn high.Your ISP can set prices for each status on facebook you post or each Whatsapp message you send or receive!! That is really horrifying...
So finally,What is the chaos about Net Neutrality in India?
Well Airtel Zero,a new platform is going to launch which will claim to give you free data to download apps like the Flipkart App,Skype App etc.Well it sound good that you can download them for free,but now comes the master plan,or you can say the Monster Plan. You will not get charged while you download the apps,but when you will use the apps,you will see money slipping from your pockets.That is my friend,a virtual-life nightmare.
OMG,then how can we protest against it?
Social Media is a great way to raise your voice and we have often seen, that to protest against wrongs,social media has often turned to brutal media.And that is what we need right now.
Here are some ways you can contribute in the fight for Net Neutrality in India:
1)Most Important,sign the petition in Change.org
Well,it will take hardly 2 mins for you,but can lead to a successful change
Click here to go to the petition page
As of now(11th April,2014), more than 130,000 people have signed
2)Visit savetheinternet.in Its a site specially made to protest for net neutrality.Visit the site to show your support.
3)Post on your social media accounts or on your site/blog if you have any. Use hashtags like #savetheinternet #netneutrality. Remember that your small contribution will help to bring a big change :)
Its high time we should stand up to ensure Net Neutrality in India otherwise we will end up getting lengthy bills for our Internet usage. Afterall,it should be our choice what we would do with the Internet data the ISP provides us and they should not control or set barriers on data usage.
Thanks for reading.Bunny thought this article is really important and he would consider it great if you share it with your friends as its the duty of us,the Internet users to save the internet.