On March 27, 2015, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) published a consultation paper on “Regulatory Framework for Over-the-Top (OTT) Services”, and invited stakeholders to submit their comments. The paper raised several questions with great bearing on the future of the Internet and its underlying principle of net-neutrality, and attracted over a million comments following one of the most extensive public campaigns in recent Indian history. SFLC.in submitted its own set of comments to the consultation paper, in which we argued against needless regulation of on-line content and applications providers and recommended legal embodiment of the principles of net-neutrality. The full text of our comments can be accessed here, and a concept note submitted in support of our comments can be accessed here.
UPDATE: SFLC.in had also submitted counter-comments to the comments on TRAI’s consultation paper, addressing the following broad areas: regulation of OTT services, security obligations on OTTs, net-neutrality, zero-rated services and revenue impact of OTT services. The counter-comments can be accessed here.
