Facebook is asking you to act now and save the "free" Internet; but so are activists!

December 17, 2015

Dec 17: Many of us woke up today to notifications on our Facebook timeline where our friends showed their support for the free internet. In India, free means a lot.

fbSo if Facebook and activists both expect you to act to save the free Internet, who do you trust? Although the world also has two distinct meanings for the word free, in India both meanings matter a lot. In 1947, we got to know one side of the word free! Free as in freedom. The open source movement thrives on this idea of freedom, which emphasises on the liberty to make a choice. Even if it may be convoluted, or take an extra while to accomplish a simple task; it is, nonetheless, a privilege to be able to decide for oneself.

On a similar front, free has another meaning. Where free comes with no charge. It"s the best thing to happen during the year end. Obviously nothing is every given for free! It"s usually a bundle. For instance, you buy a shirt and get another free. What it usually comes down to is you get 2 shirts for the price of one. Or one shirt at half the price. In effect, you paid for one shirt, but end up getting two.

Clearly free is the most exciting word we can hear of. It excites us, and we look forward to free around any deal we may get.

So essentially, what is it with Faceb

ook that it has managed to put off so many people and get them to vociferously oppose its Free Basic package.

It"s interesting how the debate to net neutrality began with activists setting up a website (savetheinternet.in). And now Facebook is taking the same route, but countering the Net Neutrality camp by influencing its user base to send emails to Trai that renders their support for Free Basics in India.

The user clicking on the Send Email button is showing support for Digital Equality, which is a good term for free as in free of charge. But that free, hinders the basic aspect of freedom, of choice, that many more want to defend with all might!

The email that is drafted by Facebook on your behalf reads:

To the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, I support digital equality for India. Free Basics provides free access to essential Internet services, such as communication, education, healthcare, employment, farming information and more. It helps those who can"t afford to pay for data, or who need a little help with getting started online. And it"s open to all people, developers and mobile networks. With 1 billion Indian people not yet connected, shutting down Free Basics would hurt our country"s most vulnerable people. I support Free Basics and digital equality for India. Thank you.

Over the series of meetings that Mark Zuckerberg has had with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and his subsequent interest in India, there has been some key messages that have stood out. And that is the need to get more Indians on the Internet. In reality, Facebook. We"ve seen Sundar Pichai also take an active interest to push for Wi-Fi, which is good. But we believe, there"s much more that needs to be done!

You"d probably agree, there"s a strong business case to focus on India. Over the years, our sheer population has moved from being a liability to being our greatest asset. For we"ve created a huge internet hungry audience. The best thing for companies such as Google and Facebook.

However, there"s a key difference in the approach taken by Google and Facebook. While Google is enabling free internet through Wi-Fi networks, Facebook is riding on a fine line, between what is noble and what isn"t. Free internet would eventually come at a price. And that price is freedom itself. Strong activists who have been fighting for net neutrality, or the objective independence of data packets we access online have vehemently opposed Facebook"s Free Basics plan. Some of these individuals include Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of the modern web.

In addition, Google is also working towards speeding up the mobile internet experience by delivering lighter, leaner web pages, which is quite similar to Opera Turbo that enabled closer delivery of web content, through more optimised and compressed data packets.

Update: In response to this story, Facebook has issued an official statement, attributed to its spokesperson: “Hundreds of millions of people in India use the Internet every day and understand the benefits it can bring. This campaign gives people the opportunity to support digital equality in India. It lets people speak in support of the one billion people in India who remain unconnected, and lets them participate in the public debate that is being held by The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on differential pricing for data services. And it gives them the opportunity to support Free Basics, which is proven to bring more people online and accelerate full internet adoption.”

Effectively, you are expected to take a stand. Which side of free are you on? If you"re undecided, then the basic rule may help – there"s nothing like a free beer!

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Agencies
January 20,2020

Washington D.C., Jan 20: An American bride asked for money from her invitees so that they can be on the 'exclusive guest list'.

Weddings can be surely expensive. But is it feasible for one to charge the guests to make up for the expenses?

According to Fox News, that is exactly what happened in a recent American wedding. A 19-year-old shared on Reddit that her cousin was getting married on Sunday and announced that she would charge 50 dollars to those who wanted to attend her wedding.

"She said that they can Venmo her money so there won't be no [sic] problems and everyone who paid will be added onto the 'exclusive guest list' which basically means you won't have to wait in line while other guests pay," wrote the user named DaintySheep.

While she refused to pay for entry into her cousin's wedding the bride-to-be contacted the elders in the family which ended up in an embarrassing situation.

"She wanted to get the money she spent on her special day back. I told her I wouldn't be able to come because this was outrageous and that I wish her well on her special day. She contacted my aunt and my aunt called me cheap and rude. My parents offered to pay for my entry, but I refused," continued the disheartened girl.

While in almost every nook and cranny of the world gifting the bride-groom with money is a tradition, asking for money from friends and family to replenish the money spent on a wedding is can be said to be a rare scenario.

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Agencies
February 23,2020

Google has indexed invite links to private WhatsApp group chats, meaning anyone can join various private chat groups (including several porn-sharing groups) with a simple search.

According to a report in Motherboard, invitations to WhatsApp group chats were being indexed by Google.

The team found private groups using specific Google searches and even joined a group intended for NGOs accredited by the UN and had access to all the participants and their phone numbers.

Journalist Jordan Wildon said on Twitter that he discovered that WhatsApp's "Invite to Group Link" feature lets Google index groups, making them available across the internet since the links are being shared outside of WhatsApp's secure private messaging service.

"Your WhatsApp groups may not be as secure as you think they are," Wildon tweeted on Friday, adding that using particular Google searches, people can discover links to the chats.

According to app reverse-engineer Jane Wong, Google has around 470,000 results for a simple search of "chat.whatsapp.com", part of the URL that makes up invites to WhatsApp groups.

WhatsApp spokesperson Alison Bonny said: "Like all content that is shared in searchable public channels, invite links that are posted publicly on the internet can be found by other WhatsApp users."

"The links that users wish to share privately with people they know and trust should not be posted on a publicly accessible website," Bonny told The Verge.

Danny Sullivan, Google's public search liaison, tweeted: "Search engines like Google & others list pages from the open web. That's what's happening here. It's no different than any case where a site allows URLs to be publicly listed. We do offer tools allowing sites to block content being listed in our results."

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News Network
January 17,2020

New Delhi, Jan 17: E-commerce major Amazon on Friday said it plans to create one million new jobs in India over the next five years through investments in technology, infrastructure and its logistics network.

These jobs are in addition to the seven lakh jobs Amazon's investments have enabled over the last six years in the country.

"Amazon plans to create one million new jobs in India by 2025," the company said in a statement, adding that the jobs - created both directly and indirectly - will be across industries, including information technology, skill development, content creation, retail, logistics, and manufacturing.

Amazon.com Inc chief Jeff Bezos had on Wednesday announced USD 1 billion (over Rs 7,000 crore) investment in India to help bring small and medium businesses online and committed to exporting USD 10 billion worth of India-made goods by 2025.

"We are investing to create a million new jobs here in India over the next five years," Bezos said.

"We’ve seen huge contributions from our employees, extraordinary creativity from the small businesses we've partnered with, and great enthusiasm from the customers who shop with us—and we’re excited about what lies ahead," Bezos added.

India has prioritised job creation and skilling initiatives – including the training of more than 400 million people by 2022 – in rural and urban areas.

"Amazon’s job creation commitment and investment in traders and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) complement this social inclusion and social mobility efforts by creating more opportunities for people in India to find employment, build skills, and expand entrepreneurship opportunities," the statement said.

The new investments will help to hire talent to fill roles across Amazon in India, including software development engineering, cloud computing, content creation, and customer support.

Since 2014, Amazon has grown its employee base more than four times, and last year inaugurated its new campus building in Hyderabad – Amazon’s first fully-owned campus outside the United States and the largest building globally in terms of employees (15,000) and space (9.5 acres).

The investments will also help in expanding growth opportunities for the more than 5,50,000 traders and micro, small, and medium-sized businesses – including local shops – through programs like Saheli, Karigar, and “I Have Space”.

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