Hi Milos,
Happy new year to you!
I thought your mail to the list was very thoughtful.
I've replied inline below.
On Fri, Jan 01, 2016 at 06:50:16AM +0100, Milos Rancic wrote:
I don't think the pure form of net-neutrality is
sustainable. Many
businesses already have deals with other businesses to provide
something for free or "for free" or for reduced price via their
infrastructure.
Hmm, this example has little to do with net neutrality as I understand
it though.
Net neutrality means that you pay your ISP to allow you to send and
receive packets to/from anyone without discrimination to source or
destination. (In other words you're paying for actual internet access
without let or hindrance).
Previously this is how the market worked.
Without going into details here, many sources tell us that the
market is now threatening to shift towards a winner-takes-all walled
garden model. (if not already there)
It's going to be a challenge to keep open source and open content
operating and relevant in such an increasingly hostile environment this
coming decade.
Neither I think the initiative will really create a
permanent
underclass. People in underdeveloped regions will eventually become
richer and they won't need this kind of service.
We can ask them whether they want to continue having such a service at
any time. Or we can set some participation threshold above which we
would accept a petition to stop. (It is always wise to have
pre-prepared go/no-go safety checks at particular points in time)
* Finally, we belong to the movement which promotes
net neutrality as
one of the core values. No matter how realistic it is, we should
support it. Wikipedia Zero is not net-neutral, but Wikimedia projects
are of such significance that it could be tolerated. Going further
into abandoning that principle would create definite divide between us
and the rest of our global super-movement.
*Nod* We have to beware of fouling our own nest. Even though Wikipedia
zero appears to help our own cause now, we need to be careful we don't
hurt the people we depend on in turn.
People such as the open source community and internet standards
organisations might prove quite sensitive to changing Internet rules.
We should put our ears to the ground and listen carefully to what
representatives of these groups may be saying to us.
sincerely,
Kim Bruning