Defending Net Neutrality

I truly believe that the Internet and the Open Web has played and will continue to play a massive role in my learning. That's why I had started MMC MedFox Club - to spread the Internet love to more medical students.

Today that Internet is about to be saved from being damaged by TRAI and Telecom companies. And the following letter to Mysore MP Pratap Simha is one of my contributions to the effort.

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Sub: Please come out in support of the Open Web and #NetNeutrality

Sir,
I'm a final year MBBS student of Mysore Medical College.

As a student, the Internet has vastly improved my life - learning from books not even available in India, talking to alumni who are mentoring me from abroad, communicating with professors, friends, taking open courses from foreign universities, watching disease symptoms, operations, examination, etc on YouTube, etc.

Recently TRAI has announced a consultation paper on regulating Over The Top services which will include YouTube, Gmail, and other such services which I mentioned above.

I have gone through the 118 page document myself and I find it heavily biased, insensitive towards Internet users like me, and blind towards the founding principles of the Internet. Reading between the lines makes me suspect an immoral association between TRAI and Telecom operators, for the paper is more concerned about protecting the profit margin of TSPs rather than defending the rights of the consumer.

With your experience in investigative journalism, you must be able to judge this situation better than me.

I urge you to come out in public support of net neutrality as a democratic representative. Also, if possible you should use all your reach and influence to make other MPs aware of this issue, and make journalists cover the same.

Attaching some links for your reference.

Expectant young social citizen,
Akshay S Dinesh

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Attachments:
* TRAI consultation paper: http://trai.gov.in/Content/ConDis/10743_23.aspx
* The Hindu editorial "The importance of net neutrality" : http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/the-importance-of-net-neutrality/article7065661.ece 
* Odisha MP ​Tathagata Satpathy​'s open letter to TRAI http://ibnlive.in.com/news/odisha-mp-earns-internet-points-by-writing-a-letter-to-the-trai-chairman-in-support-of-net-neutrality/538497-79.html