3 ms·

Although I think you may be right in your interpretation how is maintaining net neutrality by India 'anti-colonialist'?

jccc 11y ago
I have no position on this. Please disagree with Andreessen about that, not with my objection to wild misinterpretation of him. I have zero qualifications to have an opinion on the question you raise.
- k-mcgrady 11y ago
  Yeah sorry the question wasn't supposed to be directed at you, more rhetorical in nature.
- metaphorm 11y ago
  people often claim that they "misspoke" or "my words are being misinterpreted" as a way of attempting to save face when they actually said what they meant.
fennecfoxen 11y ago
For better or worse, I suspect a large part of recent developments in India regarding zero-rating services were supported as "let's deal a blow to the big bad corporations affiliated with the western civilization that colonized us! we don't like them!" rather than a matter of intrinsic merit. It's a common motive in a variety of nations. (edit: in this case, I suspect it might be "for better" and not "for worse" in effect, but I still suspect the ulterior motive.)
- nileshtrivedi 11y ago
  The whole movement started with opposition to Airtel Zero (an Indian company) and Flipkart (again, an Indian company). People have lauded Google for respecting net neutrality in Project Loon. I don't know where this perception of an anti-west sentiments is coming from.
wdmeldon 11y ago
It isn't. But ignoring the NN aspect of this discussion, the sentiment I got from the tweet was that the "anti-colonial" mindset was to drive out foreign influence, both positive and negative. The idea that the tweet was pro-colonial I believe is incorrect. Once again, Twitter shows us why it shouldn't be used for nuanced conversation.
morgante 11y ago
As a policy position, I don't think it is. However, if you look at a lot of the rhetoric that has been used it is heavily influenced by anti-colonialism. (Don't let this Western company come in and colonize our Internet.) I suspect the debate would have been quite different if it were ex. Flipkart offering Free Basics.
- nileshtrivedi 11y ago
  Funny. First the net neutrality activists were accused of being soft on foreign companies: https://twitter.com/_sachinbansal/status/585770383682375680 https://twitter.com/_sachinbansal/status/585770383682375680 (This was by Flipkart CEO, Sachin Bansal) And now they're being called "anti-west". In case you don't know, the whole movement started as opposition to Airtel Zero and people downvoted en-masse Flipkart's app on Play Store because it was participating in Airtel Zero. Facebook brought attention to itself by a 40m$ ad-campaign, demonizing and slandering the activists AND DDoSing the regulator.
  - morgante 11y ago
    To be honest, I'm not interested enough in this debate to argue over it. But you can certainly find plenty of people who equated Free Basics with digital colonialism. [1] Whether it is I don't have an opinion on. Of course, anti-colonialism is not the only reason to support net neutrality (nor do I think it's the best one). [1] http://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/fear-of-facebook-colonising-digital-space-looms-over-it-capital/article8042385.ece http://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/fear-of-facebook-c...

jccc 11y ago

I have no position on this. Please disagree with Andreessen about that, not with my objection to wild misinterpretation of him. I have zero qualifications to have an opinion on the question you raise.

k-mcgrady 11y ago
Yeah sorry the question wasn't supposed to be directed at you, more rhetorical in nature.
metaphorm 11y ago
people often claim that they "misspoke" or "my words are being misinterpreted" as a way of attempting to save face when they actually said what they meant.

fennecfoxen 11y ago

For better or worse, I suspect a large part of recent developments in India regarding zero-rating services were supported as "let's deal a blow to the big bad corporations affiliated with the western civilization that colonized us! we don't like them!" rather than a matter of intrinsic merit. It's a common motive in a variety of nations. (edit: in this case, I suspect it might be "for better" and not "for worse" in effect, but I still suspect the ulterior motive.)

nileshtrivedi 11y ago
The whole movement started with opposition to Airtel Zero (an Indian company) and Flipkart (again, an Indian company). People have lauded Google for respecting net neutrality in Project Loon. I don't know where this perception of an anti-west sentiments is coming from.

wdmeldon 11y ago

It isn't. But ignoring the NN aspect of this discussion, the sentiment I got from the tweet was that the "anti-colonial" mindset was to drive out foreign influence, both positive and negative. The idea that the tweet was pro-colonial I believe is incorrect. Once again, Twitter shows us why it shouldn't be used for nuanced conversation.

morgante 11y ago

As a policy position, I don't think it is. However, if you look at a lot of the rhetoric that has been used it is heavily influenced by anti-colonialism. (Don't let this Western company come in and colonize our Internet.) I suspect the debate would have been quite different if it were ex. Flipkart offering Free Basics.

nileshtrivedi 11y ago
Funny. First the net neutrality activists were accused of being soft on foreign companies: https://twitter.com/_sachinbansal/status/585770383682375680 https://twitter.com/_sachinbansal/status/585770383682375680 (This was by Flipkart CEO, Sachin Bansal) And now they're being called "anti-west". In case you don't know, the whole movement started as opposition to Airtel Zero and people downvoted en-masse Flipkart's app on Play Store because it was participating in Airtel Zero. Facebook brought attention to itself by a 40m$ ad-campaign, demonizing and slandering the activists AND DDoSing the regulator.
- morgante 11y ago
  To be honest, I'm not interested enough in this debate to argue over it. But you can certainly find plenty of people who equated Free Basics with digital colonialism. [1] Whether it is I don't have an opinion on. Of course, anti-colonialism is not the only reason to support net neutrality (nor do I think it's the best one). [1] http://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/fear-of-facebook-colonising-digital-space-looms-over-it-capital/article8042385.ece http://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/fear-of-facebook-c...