What are your comments on Free Basics?
Advertisement
Iraq forces extend Ramadi control, rescue civilians
Warplanes carried out nine air strikes near Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, which fell to Islamic State fighters in 2014. Police chief Hadi Irzayij said the suspected militants “were attempting to flee Ramadi by blending in with civilians”.
“We’re disappointed that Free Basics will no longer be available in Egypt”, it said.
Gunmen attack Indian air force base near Pakistan border
One Indian security source blamed the attack on a Pakistan-based militant group, but said it posed no threat to civilians. The Western Air Command chief, Air Marshal S.B.
Free Basics was banned just before Christmas in India, with the local regulatory authority seeking more details about the service’s terms and conditions and, more importantly, how they relate to net neutrality.
Funerals held for Palestinians killed in months of violence
During that same period more than 15,000 Palestinians and 350 Israelis were wounded, the United Nations said on Wednesday. Police said the motive for the attack remained unclear, and little was known about the attacker who had his face covered.
Free Basics, the increasingly controversial Facebook service that provides users in the developing world with free access to select websites on mobile devices, has been shut down in Egypt.
Commenting on the paper, IAMAI president, Dr Subho Ray, stated, “In addition to being against net neutrality, the differential pricing models suggested by TRAI prima facie also violate the regulators own stated principles of intervening in pricing”.
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s CEO, is continuing to advocate for his company’s plan to offer free but limited Internet access in India. “If people lose access to free basic services they will simply lose access to the opportunities offered by the Internet today”. “How supporting Free Basics help me (TRAI) in answering the questions which we had asked for ‘whether differential pricing should be permitted or not”, Sharma said.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said it had received record submissions on a consultation paper for framing differential pricing rules that will decide the fate of Facebook Inc’s free Internet in India. The social networking giant contests the argument and says instead that its aim is to expand the reach of the internet for everyone and promote “digital equality”.
The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) has opposed differential pricing for data services on the grounds that it violates the principles of net neutrality.
“While the internet is being closed down slowly, the current approach by Facebook, related to Free Basics, Google and their intervention in RailTel will definitely kill the openness of the internet”.
Advertisement
TRAI, which has already ordered Free Basics to be put on hold, is now likely to finalise views on the issue of net neutrality by January-end. “Furthermore, while Facebook can add more telecom partners, which would theoretically open up the number of sites and services Internet.org users could access for free, it now has only one partner in India, Reliance”.
