The Panel, led by AK Bhargava, said, "India is the land of Buddha who preached the Middle Path. Some tenets of His Eightfold Middle Path are important - right understanding, right thought, right speech, right action, right mindfulness and right efforts."
The Department of Telecom (DoT) has made public its report on Net Neutrality upholding the rights of citizens to access free and fair internet.
The Panel, led by AK Bhargava, said, "India is the land of Buddha who preached the Middle Path. Some tenets of His Eightfold Middle Path are important - right understanding, right thought, right speech, right action, right mindfulness and right efforts."
In the context of Net Neutrality, the approach of the Committee has been as follows:
i. Right Understanding – Understanding needs of all stakeholders, their views and concerns, participative policy formulation
ii. Right Thought – Build and support an open, free, innovative, nondiscriminatory and inclusive Internet
iii. Right Speech – No throttling and blocking of the lawful content on the net. Support freedom on the Internet with reasonable safeguards within constitutional parameters.
iv. Right Action – Enshrine core principles of Net Neutrality in current operable mechanism. Use well established processes for implementation, enforcement and oversight
v. Right Mindfulness – Provide for reasonable and legitimate traffic management but disallow paid prioritisation. Prescribe and ensure right QOS and transparency requirements
vi. Right Livelihood – Promote innovation as well as investment. User rights and business models align to deliver progress. Test tariffs against core principles of Net Neutrality
vii. Right Concentration – Keep watch on disruptive changes that technology brings and adapt. Level playing issues need level headed approach
The report, citing 'Dharma', said, "In order to follow this Middle Path, in order to explore the best possible options to create a virtuous cycle, we must embrace change and move forward and towards Dharma i.e. maintaining transparency, neutrality, privacy, security and the democratic fabric of the Internet. At times, philosophy provides answers to the larger questions of freedoms, equality and choice raised by disruptions through advancements in technology and commerce. The Committee hopes that this philosophy has imbued its approach to its recommendations on the issue of neutrality of the Internet."
Read full recommendations here.
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