Indian telcos ask for details of Facebook-flaying neutrality law

Hard on the heels of India implementing a net-neutrality regulation, its telecommunications carriers have asked the country's regulator to clarify its impact on them. The regulation was part of a big Zuck-off to Facebook. The regulator said its walled-garden free Internet, “Free Basics”, violated net-neutrality principles by …

[Anonymous Coward]

I hate that arrogant rule-dodging attitude. "If we could just slip one past the regulators on a technicality", as if the rules are not there for a reason.

I hope they just keep tightening the noose on Facebook.

[Destroy All Monsters]

They are there for a "reason", all right.

Though what that reason is is very unclear. It might involve brown envelopes.

[frank ly]

It can be tricky to decide

Suppose an ISP/telco had a background music streaming service hosted internally, containing a selection of old instrumental tracks for which they'd paid a one-off licensing fee for that purpose. They could offer that as a zero-rated data service. Many people enjoy background music at home and barely notice what they're hearing.

They could set up a simple weather forecast website (internally) for farmers etc. that was updated regularly and was zero-rated.

On simple consideration, these seem harmless and useful. But are they harmless? I'm not sure.

[Destroy All Monsters]

Re: It can be tricky to decide

Nothing is harmless that allows people to look beyond their humble hamlet.

They might become uppity at some point in time, then you have to use artillery on them, ask the US to provide military goods for "pacification" on the cheap and suffer the morally rending feeling of having to set up torture dungeons.

It's ugly.

[Ole Juul]

Makes me uncomfortable

Mark Zuckerberg has pledged to keep trying to get free services to India somehow.

Like a dog humping your leg.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Makes me uncomfortable

LoL!

[Destroy All Monsters]

The problem with "laws" meant to enforce a tailored outcome

You will probably take a fat part of the economy out "by accident".