Hi Cristian,
Thanks for your comments.
I'm glad that Chile is an example of a country with a strong net neutrality law that does not prohibit Wikipedia Zero. Generally, the principle of net neutrality is not that unequivocal that zero-rating can be said to clearly violate it. In fact, out of eight net neutrality laws and regulations worldwide, only one (if any) actually prohibits all zero-rating. Presumably, regulators recognize they have to review zero-rating practices on their merits and see if they pose any harm to the open internet. Otherwise, they will end up prohibiting free access to information for no apparent reason.
Wikipedia Zero, as structured, does not pose harm to the open internet. It promotes free speech and innovation, which are the two underlying purposes of net neutrality. It's structured around our ten operating principles that make sure that the initiative doesn't create a slippery slope towards other harmful services because it would immediately be obvious if they don't operate under similar principles.
With this position, SUBTEL hasn't articulated a Wikipedia Zero exception. He provided an informal clarification that his recent order only prohibited certain commercial bundles. The order didn't cover zero-rating initiatives like Wikipedia Zero. While we don't yet know the exact scope of what's allowed and are asking carriers to seek formal clarification from SUBTEL, I could imagine that this category may include initiatives like zero-rated lending of ebooks from public libraries and free access to non-profit healthcare apps.
We've seen support from net neutrality advocates who can see that a country can have both net neutrality and initiatives like Wikipedia Zero. Some of them helped us prepare our communication to SUBTEL. We are discussing broader policy on how the two could coexist and will report back as soon as we reach a common understanding. In the meantime, here is a summary that CDT prepared of a related panel discussion at IGF earlier this month: http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/wks2014/index.php/proposal/view_public/208
Best, Yana
On Mon, Sep 22, 2014 at 1:37 PM, Cristian Consonni kikkocristian@gmail.com wrote:
(probably this can be commented by more qualified people than myself)
TL;DR Chile's government (Subsecretaria de Telecomunicaciones, SUBTEL) has issued a circular (i.e. an explanation of the law), called circular n. 40[1], earlier in April this year stating that zero-rating go against the Chilean net neutrality law in force (spec. disposition n. 6 and 7. of law n. 18.168)[*]. Today SUBTEL has "confirmed to us [WMF and Wikimedia Chile] that the new order was not intended to prevent Wikipedia Zero and similar free knowledge initiatives"
http://blog.wikimedia.org/2014/09/22/chilean-regulator-welcomes-wikipedia-ze...
Well, in one word this is, for sure, "a thing".
Cristian
[1] http://www.subtel.gob.cl/transparencia/Perfiles/Transparencia20285/Normativa... [*] {{es}} (end of page 1) "La estructura de la oferta en comento, importan a juicio de esta autoridad una contravención a las normas que en la especie regulan y prohiben conductas discriminatorias de contenidos, aplicaciones o servicios, que integran el principio de Neutralidad de Red contenidas en la normativa sectorial, y en particular al texto del articulo 24o H letra a) de la Ley [dispuesto 6o y 7o de la Ley no. 18,168]" {{en}} "The structure of the offers under scrutiny, imply to the judjement of this authority an infringement of the norms ... which regulate and prohibit conduct of discrimination of contents, applications or services which constitute the principle of Net Neutrality contained in the sectorial norms, and in particular in the text of the article 24th H letter a) of the [aforementioned] law"
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