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SUMMARY:
We submit that the term “OTT” must be used cautiously, since it can serve to understate the impact that some regulatory proposals can have on the internet applications or services that we use every day. Overbroad, telecom-style regulation and licensing can harm the open internet and the principles that sustain our enjoyment of digital rights, impacting in particular permissionless innovation, Net Neutrality (including the end-to-end principle), and low barriers of entry.
Policymakers and other stakeholders should act to counter the trend towards the commoditization of the internet, where applications are licensed separately and offered in “bundles” with internet connection packs – the trend we are seeing with “zero rating” and Internet.org-style connectivity solutions. We must safeguard the basic principles and narratives of the free, open, neutral, and interoperable internet. It is those features that enabled the growth and development of this technology in the first place.
We do not assume a universally libertarian, anti-regulation position. We are most concerned by proposals that would require individuals or organisations that offer “OTT” internet applications or services to get a license or register with the government before they can make their services available in a country, mandating that they be deployed in the same highly controlled way that legacy telecommunications access services are deployed. Instead, we should push for context appropriate, fact-based regulatory models that defend and extend the rights of users, without jeopardizing the core principles that keep the internet free and open for innovation. In order to avoid regulatory outcomes that harm the open internet and the human rights of users, policymakers should follow two principles:
(1)Avoid applying one-size-fits-all telecom-style licensing frameworks onto internet applications or services.
(2) Shape regulatory intervention of internet applications or services on a foundation that considers the public interest and human rights.
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