Net neutrality, zero rating and the Minitelisation of the internet

Luca Belli

Journal of Cyber Policy, 2017, vol. 2, issue 1, 96-122

Abstract: The internet is a general-purpose network grounded on openness, decentralisation and interoperability. Such features have allowed innovation to flourish, lowering barriers to communication, participation and cooperation, thus empowering end-users. ‘General purpose’ means that the purpose for which the internet is used is not predefined by the operator but can be autonomously decided by the end-user. Accordingly, the network neutrality (NN) principle mandates non-discriminatory treatment of internet traffic to preserve the general-purpose nature of the internet, unleashing end-users’ creativity. This paper starts by exploring the NN debate, stressing that the NN rationale is to preserve an open and decentralised internet architecture, empowering end-users and protecting their rights. Subsequently, it argues that the combination of reduced data caps and zero-rating (ZR) schemes may create artificial scarcity, raise the price of the open internet and jeopardise the achievement of the NN rationale. It provides a taxonomy of ZR models and emphasises that several ZR practices might impose on the internet a centralised configuration that characterises less innovative networks, such as the Minitel. The phenomenon that I define as ‘Minitelisation’ of the internet consists of the shift from a user-centric, general-purpose network to one with predefined purposes, thereby creating passive consumers of predetermined services, rather than active internet users.

Date: 2017
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/23738871.2016.1238954 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:rcybxx:v:2:y:2017:i:1:p:96-122

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/rcyb20

DOI: 10.1080/23738871.2016.1238954

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Cyber Policy is currently edited by Emily Taylor

More articles in Journal of Cyber Policy from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().