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Here's a screenshot of what's the permanent top-notification if you're an Indian and on Facebook- http://imgur.com/uykRY8G http://imgur.com/uykRY8G

by erbdex 11y ago

djsumdog 11y ago
WTF. "Free basic" .. It's two way communication. It's not like fucking 1994 where free TV involved four neighbours going on a satellite dish so you could get 6 channels. Free Basic....get only the limited things we want you to have and the companies who are willing to pay for it. Fuck. That. Shit. Want to do something that will actually help people; what about Free 1GB. Ensure every person gets 1GB of mobile data a month. Then they can go anywhere...use healthcare, government, facebook or....porn. or whatever the fuck they want. I agree, Free Basic is total bullshit.
- minusSeven 11y ago
  you don't even have to go that far just offer free free 2g (without edge internet). It the slowest speed possible but sites like wikipedia will work well on them. It will help people to know important stuff without wasting time on facebook.
  - gcb0 11y ago
    but then Facebook experience may be affected. when was the last time someone in the valley/sf even tested their sites/apps on 3g? let alone 2g...
    - deleted 11y ago
      [deleted]
    - stryju 11y ago
      FB does that - http://www.computerworld.com/article/2998923/internet/facebook-aims-for-slow-download-empathy-with-2g-tuesdays.html http://www.computerworld.com/article/2998923/internet/facebo...
    - tzakrajs 11y ago
      Google does this and is focused on optimizing their products for 2G. It's the kind of behavior a company will exhibit when they focus on the user first.
Avshalom 11y ago
Wait... "internet services like ... farming"?
petke 11y ago
I agree Facebook is doing this for their own greedy reasons, but they make one very good point: "Banning free basics on the basis of net neutrality [...] means 1 billion people cant afford to access any services." It isn't a choice between having facebook, or having the full internet. Its a choice between having facebook, or having no internet at all. Surely no internet at all, is the worst option. Nobody else is going to give full internet to them for free. They will be stuck with nothing.
- sa1 11y ago
  One issue is that it won't be possible to have regulation that doesn't prevent Free Basics, but prevents other abuses of not having net neutrality. Such as having lots of subsets of the internet being offered for free or cheap, and the real internet being gradually priced out of the range of most people(citing 'infrastructure costs" of course). This can't be prevented as long as there's a loophole for Free Basics in the net neutrality regulation.
- quadrangle 11y ago
  Nonsense. Facebook is rich enough and powerful enough to MAKE the choice be full-internet or nothing. They and other powerful entities can provide full internet. It is THEIR fault that the choice is FaceBook or nothing because they want that to be the choice. FaceBook is not some savior here. The ramifications of pushing everyone to FB are also devastating because they would force everyone to get locked in to using FB for everything and then the power imbalance will be extremely serious in the long-term. Even a delay in getting people online is better for the people's interests than locking them into a shitty closed system for the long-term.
  - prostoalex 11y ago
    Facebook is not a carrier. If any carrier chooses to provide full Internet access for free, they may do so. So far they haven't, though. Which is why company-sponsored basic service that's free to the users emerged in the first place.
    - 11y ago
goodJobWalrus 11y ago
This is just gross.
aws_ls 11y ago
This seems to be a upping the ante from Facebook, as a response to the earlier petitions against internet.org and zero-rated apps. I feel so angry at their persistence in this case. My feeling at this time is for the SaveTheInternet petitioners to also up the ante in return, by starting a movement to get people off Facebook. As such it was lucky that WhatsApp founders did not have the bxxls to wait another year, when they could have acquired FB instead. All my school friends use WhatsApp more over here. And recently I am seeing increasing no. of people sign up on Telegram. (WhatsApp groups suck, that's another story, but kind of suggest that social networks are far from done. FB is perhaps the version 0.1 in social network maturity) We should convey a clear message to Facebook, play fair or pack up. Early. I am glad I did not login to that stupid thing for over 3 months now. PS: I have signed this petition as well as at least one earlier. I request other people based in India to do the same. edit: minor
- thecrazyone 11y ago
  Indian here. I feel so enraged that they're doing this right in our face! The messaging is extremely misleading. How do we up the ante against Facebook? This is just not done.
  - aws_ls 11y ago
    >How do we up the ante against Facebook? This is just not done. One way, I can think of is to quit Facebook altogether[1], if Free basics is passed by TRAI. Yesterday I saw a bit of momentum on Indian twitter, and last date is 30th, so hopefully even this 3rd attempt now, can be defeated. Lets see. Good to see more of my fellow country mates feel the same way. To Downvoters: Can you please allow us to have a civil discussion. See we are determining the future of our country. If you must do so, do. But please also explain, why you don't like what we are talking. Please. edit: minor edit 2: [1] Should have explained that this quitting should be en masse. Ideally, all the folks who signed the SaveTheInternet.in petition should quit, and urge their friends also to quit. It will be noticed by media for sure. Already AIB has a nice video ('aib save the internet part 3' on YouTube). Vishal Dadlani has a nice 2 minutes video in Hindi, calling out Facebook's fraud on this. I don't think people will take this lying down, if free basics is allowed. Or that's what I hope for, and I am willing to make my small contribution of quitting FB, and urging my friends to do so. If SaveTheInternet folks decide for it, should it be needed.

Here's a screenshot of what's the permanent top-notification if you're an Indian and on Facebook- http://imgur.com/uykRY8G http://imgur.com/uykRY8G

by erbdex 11y ago

Here's a screenshot of what's the permanent top-notification if you're an Indian and on Facebook- http://imgur.com/uykRY8G http://imgur.com/uykRY8G

djsumdog 11y ago

WTF. "Free basic" .. It's two way communication. It's not like fucking 1994 where free TV involved four neighbours going on a satellite dish so you could get 6 channels. Free Basic....get only the limited things we want you to have and the companies who are willing to pay for it. Fuck. That. Shit. Want to do something that will actually help people; what about Free 1GB. Ensure every person gets 1GB of mobile data a month. Then they can go anywhere...use healthcare, government, facebook or....porn. or whatever the fuck they want. I agree, Free Basic is total bullshit.

minusSeven 11y ago
you don't even have to go that far just offer free free 2g (without edge internet). It the slowest speed possible but sites like wikipedia will work well on them. It will help people to know important stuff without wasting time on facebook.
- gcb0 11y ago
  but then Facebook experience may be affected. when was the last time someone in the valley/sf even tested their sites/apps on 3g? let alone 2g...
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
  - stryju 11y ago
    FB does that - http://www.computerworld.com/article/2998923/internet/facebook-aims-for-slow-download-empathy-with-2g-tuesdays.html http://www.computerworld.com/article/2998923/internet/facebo...
  - tzakrajs 11y ago
    Google does this and is focused on optimizing their products for 2G. It's the kind of behavior a company will exhibit when they focus on the user first.

Avshalom 11y ago

Wait... "internet services like ... farming"?

petke 11y ago

I agree Facebook is doing this for their own greedy reasons, but they make one very good point: "Banning free basics on the basis of net neutrality [...] means 1 billion people cant afford to access any services." It isn't a choice between having facebook, or having the full internet. Its a choice between having facebook, or having no internet at all. Surely no internet at all, is the worst option. Nobody else is going to give full internet to them for free. They will be stuck with nothing.

sa1 11y ago
One issue is that it won't be possible to have regulation that doesn't prevent Free Basics, but prevents other abuses of not having net neutrality. Such as having lots of subsets of the internet being offered for free or cheap, and the real internet being gradually priced out of the range of most people(citing 'infrastructure costs" of course). This can't be prevented as long as there's a loophole for Free Basics in the net neutrality regulation.
quadrangle 11y ago
Nonsense. Facebook is rich enough and powerful enough to MAKE the choice be full-internet or nothing. They and other powerful entities can provide full internet. It is THEIR fault that the choice is FaceBook or nothing because they want that to be the choice. FaceBook is not some savior here. The ramifications of pushing everyone to FB are also devastating because they would force everyone to get locked in to using FB for everything and then the power imbalance will be extremely serious in the long-term. Even a delay in getting people online is better for the people's interests than locking them into a shitty closed system for the long-term.
- prostoalex 11y ago
  Facebook is not a carrier. If any carrier chooses to provide full Internet access for free, they may do so. So far they haven't, though. Which is why company-sponsored basic service that's free to the users emerged in the first place.
  - 11y ago

goodJobWalrus 11y ago

This is just gross.

aws_ls 11y ago

This seems to be a upping the ante from Facebook, as a response to the earlier petitions against internet.org and zero-rated apps. I feel so angry at their persistence in this case. My feeling at this time is for the SaveTheInternet petitioners to also up the ante in return, by starting a movement to get people off Facebook. As such it was lucky that WhatsApp founders did not have the bxxls to wait another year, when they could have acquired FB instead. All my school friends use WhatsApp more over here. And recently I am seeing increasing no. of people sign up on Telegram. (WhatsApp groups suck, that's another story, but kind of suggest that social networks are far from done. FB is perhaps the version 0.1 in social network maturity) We should convey a clear message to Facebook, play fair or pack up. Early. I am glad I did not login to that stupid thing for over 3 months now. PS: I have signed this petition as well as at least one earlier. I request other people based in India to do the same. edit: minor

thecrazyone 11y ago
Indian here. I feel so enraged that they're doing this right in our face! The messaging is extremely misleading. How do we up the ante against Facebook? This is just not done.
- aws_ls 11y ago
  >How do we up the ante against Facebook? This is just not done. One way, I can think of is to quit Facebook altogether[1], if Free basics is passed by TRAI. Yesterday I saw a bit of momentum on Indian twitter, and last date is 30th, so hopefully even this 3rd attempt now, can be defeated. Lets see. Good to see more of my fellow country mates feel the same way. To Downvoters: Can you please allow us to have a civil discussion. See we are determining the future of our country. If you must do so, do. But please also explain, why you don't like what we are talking. Please. edit: minor edit 2: [1] Should have explained that this quitting should be en masse. Ideally, all the folks who signed the SaveTheInternet.in petition should quit, and urge their friends also to quit. It will be noticed by media for sure. Already AIB has a nice video ('aib save the internet part 3' on YouTube). Vishal Dadlani has a nice 2 minutes video in Hindi, calling out Facebook's fraud on this. I don't think people will take this lying down, if free basics is allowed. Or that's what I hope for, and I am willing to make my small contribution of quitting FB, and urging my friends to do so. If SaveTheInternet folks decide for it, should it be needed.