Barbadians
awoke to news that its telecommunication provider, (FLOW Barbados) is
threatening to block contents on its network that would affect set-top boxes
that access off-market television and/or movie streams.
The
telecommunication giant stated “we wish to reiterate that C&W does not
monitor what a customer accesses on the internet, nor do we know what they are
watching. We are simply preventing unauthorized contents from entering the
region on our networks.”
In
my opinion, this smacks in the face of a monopoly. And, the questions beg to be asked; where are
the net neutrality laws envisioned to protect the Barbadians rights to their choice
of network viewing? Where are those individuals, vested with the power to
ensure that there are no arbitrary changes to Internet-based Over-The-Top (OTT)
applications that would put the common man at a disadvantage? Has FLOW Barbados
gone through due process in arriving at this decision?
I
firmly believe that this decision was made solely for the purpose of destroying
the growing market for the alternative choice of live streaming of
Internet-based Over-The-Top (OTT) applications.
Additionally,
I believe that FLOW Barbados is afraid of the challenges these set-top boxes
and their providers would pose to FLOW and its profits margin.
The
nation of Barbados should realize that this is unfair on their path and that
they should fight for net neutrality laws to be implemented to prevent this
from happening.
Reference:
You have made some good points but i believe that the net neutrality laws obviously do not apply to us in the Caribbean, but that will not be fair and it goes back to net neutrality again what we view and what we do on the internet is our business and an invasion of privacy.
ReplyDeleteExactly, that is why we should take a stance as a collective body in the Caribbean and ensure that the laws are also implemented to protect us the users of the Internet.
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