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Brian Fung writes in the Washington Post that Wikipedia has been a little hesitant to weigh in on net neutrality, the idea that all Web traffic should be treated equally by Internet service providers such as Comcast or Time Warner Cable. That's because the folks behind Wikipedia actually see a non-neutral Internet as one way to spread information cheaply to users in developing countries. With Wikipedia Zero, users in places like Pakistan and Malaysia can browse the site without it counting it counting against the data caps on their cellphones or tablets. This preferential treatment for Wikipedia's site helps those who can't afford to pay for pricey data — but it sets the precedent for deals that cut against the net neutrality principle. "We believe in net neutrality in America," says Gayle Karen Young adding that Wikipedia Zero requires a different perspective elsewhere. "Partnering with telecom companies in the near term, it blurs the net neutrality line in those areas. It fulfils our overall mission, though, which is providing free knowledge."
Facebook and Google also operate programs internationally that are exempted from users' data caps — a tactic known somewhat cryptically as "zero rating". Facebook in particular has made “Facebook Zero” not just a sales pitch in developing markets but also part of an Internet.org initiative to expand access “to the two thirds of the world’s population that doesn’t have it.” But a surprising decision in Chile shows what happens when policies of neutrality are applied without nuance. Chile recently put an end to the practice, widespread in developing countries, of big companies “zero-rating” access to their services. "That might seem perverse," says Glyn Moody, "since it means that Chilean mobile users must now pay to access those services, but it is nonetheless exactly what governments that have mandated net neutrality need to do."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 27 2014, @09:06PM
I see your points. I agree somewhat but I have a slightly different opinion.
I remember the day commercials came to cable TV. It was only supposed to be on 'special' occasions and then only 2-3 mins an hour (on the top of the hour). Fair enough. But then it expanded more and more. Eventually to run these stations they needed that extra cash flow. Now it is a cesspool of tabloid journalism and reality shows with the occasional diamond in the rough. Whos only purpose is to sell you that 17-25 mins of commercials per hour.
If you allow these guys to get used to the cash flow and not grow their business in a proper ways other than subsidies it will become crap requiring more and more money (there is never enough). The companies will not treat their real customers as customers but the people who pay the subsidies as their 'real customers'. They will treat their customer base as product to be sold. Which is what we have become.
However, the ISPs that are pushing for this are looking for 10-20% YOY growth (i listen to the quarterly broadcasts from these guys). You only get that by raising bills in a monopoly state. In a competitive one you need to earn that extra pay. I work in one of the monopoly ISPs (why I post AC on this). They have 0 connection to their customers, none. They only care about what their bosses care about. The top guy thinks wireless can serve 20mb connections to everyone and then charge 150 a month for it and thats fine. Then turn around and squeeze the people giving them content (the reason we buy that 150 dollar connection) for more. The couldnt even settle for *free* content. They want to charge to receive the free content which me as the real customer requested. These multi millionaires are so fng wildly out of touch it sickens me. They think a 200+ dollar per month bill is just fine and dandy. Why not they can easily afford it?! All you have to do is get a job for millions a year they are everywhere... These guys make me sick. They have product that sells itself and will not add to it. It is really sad. I saw a video of a guy crying because google fiber was coming to his neighborhood. There is a reason for that which totally flies over the heads of these guys. I saw my company waste 130 billion dollars. That could have pretty much wired up millions of homes and created a steady 40-60 per month revenue off each. All for possible paper profit in 20 years instead of real profit in 20.