Sir/Madam,
I am writing to express my concern against the actions telecom carriers
are taking to restrict fair access to the internet. As a thriving and growing nation, the internet is a vital
resource - it helps me communicate, work, and thrive as a citizen. If
telecom operators are allowed to discriminate the flow of internet
traffic solely on the basis of which services pay the most, we are
allowing telecoms control over a vital and necessary technological
resource. We allow them to define what information we can view; what
entertainment we can access; and what companies can innovate. This is
completely unfair and harms India's long term role as major player in
the global market.
The recent ruling on Net Neutrality in the US shows that the people and the legal system rejected measures to discriminate on the basis of which services are the most profitable. As we are a democracy and pride ourselves on that fact, we should follow their example.
I am not against regulations wholesale, but I believe that restricting access to services on the basis of profitability goes against the spirit of free speech and democracy, two things which the internet is the biggest global symbol of.