Neither Etisalat nor Egyptian officials could immediately be reached for comment. He questioned his critics, saying that “instead of welcoming Free Basics as an open platform that will partner with any telco [telecommunications company], and allow any developer to offer services for free, they claim – falsely – that this will give people less choice”.
Advertisement
BBC websites knocked offline after NYE cyber attack
At midday on Thursday, the BBC said its websites were now “operating normally”, and apologised for any inconvenience caused. The cyberattack that shut down BBC websites is being claimed by a group that says it’s trying to fight ISIS.
Earlier this month, Trai had asked Reliance Communications to keep services of Facebook’s free Internet platform, Free Basics, in abeyance, till the issue on differential pricing is sorted out. Internet activists and experts flayed the operator for “Airtel Zero” service along with Facebook’s internet.org service, now renamed “Free Basics”. He called “Free Basics” a first step toward “digital equality”.
Trump calls Clinton ‘liar’ for Islamic State recruiting claim
“She comes off as more hawkish on some of her foreign policy ideas”, said Michael Briggs, a spokesman for Sanders. And look, the Hillary Clinton campaign still thinks this was a serious breach of their personal propriety data.
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”.
Saudi Arabia executes Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr along with 47 people
Sheikh Nimr’s supporters say he supported only peaceful demonstrations and eschewed all violent opposition to the government. The executions took place in the capital, Riyadh, and 12 other cities and towns, the Interior Ministry statement said.
Social media site Facebook says a program that had been giving free basic Internet services to over three million Egyptians has been shut down.
According to Facebook, it has been able to offer Free Basics services to a billion people across Asia, Africa and Latin America.
“Since Facebook can access un-encrypted contents of users” “basic’ services, either we get to consider health apps to be not basic, or risk revealing health records of all Indians to Facebook”.
Free Basics, which Facebook is promoting with newspaper ads for days as also through TV, billboards and online forums, is seen by many as being against the principles of net neutrality.
India’s Telecom Regulatory Authority has put the launch of Free Basics on hold for now while it accesses “all details and convey a specific approval”.
Advertisement
Several prominent Indian entrepreneurs and members of the tech community have spoken out against Free Basics, arguing that even for poor citizens, no Internet is better than a hand-picked and corporate-controlled web offering. “What reason is there for denying people free access to vital services for communication, education, healthcare, employment, farming and women’s rights?” he wrote. In a statement the agency says the comments do not in any way address specific questions raised by net neutrality advocates.
