Sunday, April 30, 2017

What killing Net Neutrality means for Internet in Pakistan

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai on Tuesday unveiled his plan for rolling back net neutrality rules in the US.

His proposal would let internet service providers voluntarily promise to uphold net neutrality principles by including them in their terms of service with customers. The FCC would also hand oversight of those companies to another agency: the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Undoing net neutrality would mean big changes for how customers access the internet not just only in the US but globally as well. The undoing of net neutrality rules in the US is set to again restart the debate over global Internet regulations as some major world powers near fork-in-the-road decisions about how they'll govern their own stretch of cyberspace.

The undoing on net neutrality rules in the US will have serious repressions for internet development globally and in Pakistan as well said, Founder Internet Policy Observatory Pakistan. Local startups in Pakistan that have the potential to become the next Facebook or Google may not be able to reach customers in the US, if an ISP decides to block them or charge them extra.

One of the more worrying scenarios in the post net neutrality arena is the desire for paid prioritization by broadband service providers. Broadband companies will have the legalized advantage to ask IOT service providers to pay big bucks to ensure that their content reaches customers without any interferences.

Life will be becoming tougher for smaller internet service providers and internet startups as abolishing FCC plans to roll back net neutrality rules in the US.

Experts believe the lack of net neutrality in the U.S. will set examples for other countries to follow that have primarily looked at US for internet regulation and digital freedoms. This will decrease internet freedoms and promote censorship of internet. US has been a role model for internet policy and it should try to remain the same and impede models proposed by Russia and China to the developing world.