<nettime> Mark Zuckerberg on "Net Neutrality" ... and Facebook's approach to it

[Frederick FN Noronha ààààààààà à@mx.kein.org]

   https://www.facebook.com/zuck/posts/10102033678947881?__fns&hash=Ac0nkCFWwnxQbSxH

   Mark Zuckerberg

   1 hr · Palo Alto, CA, United States ·

   Over the past week in India, there has been a lot written about
   Internet.org and net neutrality. I'd like to share my position on these
   topics here for everyone to see.

   First, I'll share a quick story. Last year I visited Chandauli, a small
   village in northern India that had just been connected to the internet.
   In a classroom in the village, I had the chance to talk to a group of
   students who were learning to use the internet. It was an incredible
   experience to think that right there in that room might be a student
   with a big idea that could change the world ' and now they could
   actually make that happen through the internet.

   The internet is one of the most powerful tools for economic and social
   progress. It gives people access to jobs, knowledge and opportunities.
   It gives voice to the voiceless in our society, and it connects people
   with vital resources for health and education.

   I believe everyone in the world deserves access to these opportunities.
   In many countries, however, there are big social and economic obstacles
   to connectivity. The internet isn't affordable to everyone, and in many
   places awareness of its value remains low. Women and the poor are most
   likely to be excluded and further disempowered by lack of connectivity.
   This is why we created Internet.org, our effort to connect the whole
   world. By partnering with mobile operators and governments in different
   countries, Internet.org offers free access in local languages to basic
   internet services in areas like jobs, health, education and messaging.
   Internet.org lowers the cost of accessing the internet and raises the
   awareness of the internet's value. It helps include everyone in the
   world's opportunities.

   We've made some great progress, and already more than 800 million
   people in 9 countries can now access free basic services through
   Internet.org. In India, we've already rolled out free basic services on
   the Reliance network to millions of people in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra,
   Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala and Telangana. And we just launched in
   Indonesia on the Indosat network today.

   We're proud of this progress. But some people have criticized the
   concept of zero-rating that allows Internet.org to deliver free basic
   internet services, saying that offering some services for free goes
   against the spirit of net neutrality. I strongly disagree with this.
   We fully support net neutrality. We want to keep the internet open. Net
   neutrality ensures network operators don't discriminate by limiting
   access to services you want to use. It's an essential part of the open
   internet, and we are fully committed to it.

   But net neutrality is not in conflict with working to get more people
   connected. These two principles ' universal connectivity and net
   neutrality ' can and must coexist.

   To give more people access to the internet, it is useful to offer some
   service for free. If someone can't afford to pay for connectivity, it
   is always better to have some access than none at all.

   Internet.org doesn't block or throttle any other services or create
   fast lanes -- and it never will. We're open for all mobile operators
   and we're not stopping anyone from joining. We want as many internet
   providers to join so as many people as possible can be connected.
   Arguments about net neutrality shouldn't be used to prevent the most
   disadvantaged people in society from gaining access or to deprive
   people of opportunity. Eliminating programs that bring more people
   online won't increase social inclusion or close the digital divide. It
   will only deprive all of us of the ideas and contributions of the two
   thirds of the world who are not connected.

   Every person in the world deserves access to the opportunities the
   internet provides. And we can all benefit from the perspectives,
   creativity and talent of the people not yet connected.

   We have a historic opportunity to connect billions of more people
   worldwide for the first time. We should work together to make that
   happen now.

   [Footnote: This view has been challenged by techies and others. --FN]

   --

   P +91-832-2409490 M 9822122436 Twitter: @fn Facebook: fredericknoronha
   Goa,1556 Shared Content at archive.org
   [3]https://archive.org/details/goa1556


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