Hi,

This is response to the he Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) invitation on views of Indian citizens on the future of the Internet in the country. 

Being a citizen of India I would like to register strong protest against the proposal to allow internet service providers to selectively charge users based on the type of data the users are sending over the internet connection.

Firstly I would like to put forth the point that in order to selectively price VoIP data sent by users the internet service provider has to look into the data. That notion is against the right to privacy of the citizen.

Secondly the ethicality of selectively price data to increase revenue citing reasons like big investment the telecom/internet providers have made in the past can't be justified, if you look into the issue carefully. Is it ethically right to allow electricity providers to charge separate for eg TV and Lights at home assuming the technology to meter them separately exist. While this logic can made to look useful to humanity it is infact exploitive in mannerism.

Thirdly , let's assume this selective charging theory goes lawfull. This will allow telecom internet companies to lawfully prioritize data to specific websites and lawfully stiffle data to 'all other' websites over the internet who are not willing to have exclusive deals with them or pay up glorified ransoms. This will be the end competition in internet.

Finally there is no logic in telecom companies telling that due to growth of internet has reduced their bread and butter voice and sms revenues. In fact the advances in internet and infrastructure has made their voice calls more cost effective. The voice calls and sms today goes more cheaply through the same internet infrastructure that they lament upon.

I hope that I have made my protest clear not just with protest but also some logic. I wish to see an open internet. Open internet will assure a golden age of knowledge and prosperity. Open free internet will be a better investment in the long run, not just for the Indian citizens but also for the companies who has invested in internet infrastructures.

Regards
Ajit