[kictanet] Introducing Facebook Africa Public Policy Team to KICTANet

Thu Dec 3 16:05:10 EAT 2015

Ebele,
I'm still taking time to go through everything is your rather exhaustive
reply but I do have a couple of questions:
>From your participation guidelines:

   - In addition, secure content is not supported and may not load.
   - Any data (e.g., proxy requests) or reporting we provide is deemed
   Facebook confidential information and cannot be used by you for any
   advertising purposes or shared with third parties.

*Why isn't secure content explicitly supported?*
*What is the rationale for the data and reporting condition?*

Also while the while the FAQs on that page say different there's this
condition:

> Developer participation on the Free Basics Platform, including the
> information submitted with your application, is otherwise governed by our
> standard legal terms. Collectively, our standard legal terms and these
> supplemental terms are the entire agreement between you and Facebook
> relating to Free Basics, and any terms of use for your service will not
> apply to Facebook.

Those legal terms contain this:

> For content that is covered by intellectual property rights, like photos
> and videos (IP content), you specifically give us the following permission,
> subject to your privacy andapplication settings: you grant us a
> non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide
> license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with
> Facebook (IP License). This IP License ends when you delete your IP content
> or your account unless your content has been shared with others, and they
> have not deleted it.

*So what takes precedence, the FAQ or legal terms? What does this mean for
content producers who make a living of that content if Facebook chooses to
exercise this right??*

Finally Nanjira makes an important point in her post here(
http://nanjira.com/2015/11/taking-free-basics-in-kenya-on-a-spin/) about
how the platform, in Kenya at least, seems set up for consumption. *Why is
this? Was this an explicit decision or a side-effect of the chosen
platforms? What is Facebook doing to encourage people to provide content to
these sites?*

Looking forward to hearing your responses and I will be adding other
questions as I go through your response(s).

On 3 December 2015 at 13:00, Barrack Otieno via kictanet <
kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

> Hi Ebele,
>
> Many thanks for your responses. I have a somewhat dumb question, some
> might have been partly addressed.
>
> 1. What role does the facebook public policy team play in Africa?
>
> 2. What led to the creation of the team?
>
> 3. What are facebooks plans regarding promotion of  local content and
> extending connectivity to marginalized areas?
>
> 4. What is Facebooks defination of Net Neutrality and what is its position
> on the same?
>
> Please educate me
>
> Thanks
> On Dec 3, 2015 9:56 AM, "Ebele Okobi via kictanet" <
> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
>
>> Zero-rating plans  are indeed fully compatible and offered along with
>> paid plans-they are just one of many options, and per my response below,
>> zero-rating that is paid for by operator must exist together with paid
>> plans because if not, the operator can't survive.
>>
>> Ebele Okobi | Head of Public Policy, Africa
>>
>> m. +44 (0) 771 156 1315 <+44%20(0)%20771%20156%201315>
>>
>> 10 Brock Street | London | NW1 3FG
>>
>> ebeleokobi at fb.com
>>
>> [image: 6F376569-CC77-422B-BAD3-794055B1E02B]
>>
>> On Dec 3, 2015, at 5:57 AM, waudo siganga via kictanet <
>> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
>>
>> A quick one for Kivuva, Hussein, Ebele - Please clarify is this
>> Zero-rating incompatible with, i.e. mutually exclusive to paid services?
>> Why cant they operate TOGETHER.
>> Waudo
>>
>> On Thu, Dec 3, 2015, at 01:52 AM, Mwendwa Kivuva wrote:
>>
>> There is a good satirical letter from Max, Zuckerberg's daughter on
>> giving people free access to Facebook as if it was water or electricity:
>> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/12/02/max_zuckerberg_reply_letter/
>> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.theregister.co.uk_2015_12_02_max-5Fzuckerberg-5Freply-5Fletter_&d=CwMCAw&c=5VD0RTtNlTh3ycd41b3MUw&r=ArvepG4_wcNu_X9xi3nb_Xa9WsGLVfmK6mwPdVONOTE&m=1ofvsWEAoehiEhB-dCxh1KgaGPcRfqQJtXIk2EWLIdY&s=sTudx9RKEpMTIDrooq2cQ0jfcJSIgIeFLOoxc6FzFHg&e=>
>> ,
>> On Dec 3, 2015 1:05 AM, Kivuva at transworldafrica.com wrote:
>>
>> Dr. Waudo, your questions are valid, and very well structured. This is
>> what has been asked for some years now. And the idea of asking Facebook to
>> come over is for them to school us too on their view of net neutrality.
>>
>> But find my attempt inline:
>>
>> On Dec 2, 2015 6:48 PM, "waudo siganga" <emailsignet at mailcan.com> wrote:
>> >
>> > Hi Kivuva/Hussein. I need a little more enlightenment:
>> >
>> > 1. Is the "Zero-Rating" issue a debate or has it already been concluded
>> that it is a bad thing? There is a hint that supporting it may leave one in
>> not very good standing..
>>
>> This has not been agreed upon. We would probably not get an answer to
>> whether it is good or bad. But some countries have determined and outlawed
>> zero rating,  some analyze zero rating requests on case by case basis, and
>> other have approved zero rating.
>>
>> > 2. According to Kivuva's well-written article "Zero rating infringes on
>> fundamental human rights by denying users access to the Internet". Are
>> other service providers, including those offering "full" Internet Access at
>> a fee, stopped or hindered from offering their services when some companies
>> offer the zero-rating? Can both forms operate at the same time?
>>
>> This is a great question. And it is probably the main selling point for
>> zero rating. To answer the question, if you have a data package, you can
>> access the Internet outside the zero rated area. I probably like the idea.
>> But what are the root cause for using zero rating? Can we make the Internet
>> affordable?
>>
>> > 3. In Q2 above I have "full" in quotes because in my use of Internet I
>> am yet to come across a truly "neutral Internet" i.e. sometimes I try to
>> access certain websites or services and you are unable as you get a message
>> that you cannot access that site/service from your country, meaning many
>> services providers already practise packet filtering.
>>
>> True. There are many ways in which net neutrality is infringed, and there
>> are different legislation from country to country on those aspects. The one
>> that has affected us more is bandwidth trotting, especially of bit torrent
>> traffic. An ISP advertises unlimited Internet access at $$$, then when you
>> start using more resources than they had anticipated, they tighten your
>> pipe. Bandwidth trotting and protocol blocking was banned by EU in 2014.
>> Mobile carriers used to block access to Skype because it hurts voice,
>> calling, and text-messaging revenue.
>>
>> So part of why we have been calling for a Net Neutrality law in Kenya is
>> to protect the consumer, and also have a stand. Currently, the ISP can do
>> whatever they want. The model to adopt is upto the community.
>>
>> > 4. Hussein gives certain characteristics of a "market" but probably
>> leaves out a very critical one: Choice. The best market is the one where
>> ALL service providers are given the opportunity to offer their services and
>> consumers are left to choose. At the end of the day it is the consumers
>> that decide which companies and services survive and which wilt along the
>> way. Why choose for the consumer beforehand by barring certain services or
>> business models?
>>
>> Be careful before you imprison yourself with your own words :). In the
>> same breath of choice, who decided which websites a consumer should have
>> access to? Why choose for the consumer beforehand? :) Why limit consumer
>> choice?
>>
>> At another level, consumers are not usually very knowledgeable in what
>> they want, or even what is good for a country. I'm ready to bet that if one
>> country allows zero rating, and another country provides reliable
>> affordable broadband, then the one with affordable broadband will
>> experience faster economic growth. This is just an hypothesis.
>>
>> > 5. A couple of years ago the cost and affordability of Internet access
>> was a key ICT public policy issue. We said it was a major impediment to the
>> spread of Internet use. How do we reconcile that with opposition to free
>> (ok "free" as Hussein corrected me) services even if they are only offering
>> a slice of what an open Internet offers.
>>
>> Cost and access are still very relevant especially in our region of the
>> world. That was why the IGF theme was "connecting the next billion." And
>> there are very great suggestions thrown around on how to reduce the cost.
>> Licensing, competition, usf, infrastructure sharing, taxes,...... We are
>> really disadvantaged when it comes to utilising the great benefits of the
>> Internet. Now what happens when we shrink that space more?
>>
>> >
>> > On a lighter note these days I am very happy with Facebook especially
>> the Groups, as I get to know what is going on in the village. But I have
>> been accessing them using a paid service perhaps I can save a few shillings
>> if I got to know how to connect for free.
>>
>> And Facebook likes these case studies. I heard them happily say how they
>> are helping women chamas organise themselves, and also organise civil
>> activism to foster democracy in places like Myanmar. Well, I want that too
>> :-)
>>
>> >
>> > I know Kivuva and Hussein have had extensive opportunity to study this
>> area of Zero-Rating and also to listen o experts so I apologize in advance
>> if my questions do not sound sophisticated.
>> >
>> > Kind Regards,
>> > Waudo
>> >
>> > On Wed, Dec 2, 2015, at 05:07 PM, Mwendwa Kivuva wrote:
>> >>
>> >> We are having the most vibrant debate on Net Neutrality on the list in
>> a long while. Thanks for all contributors, and GG for initiating this
>> timely discussion. It's exciting to see many people interested with the
>> zero rating debate. I'm sure Ebele and Akua from Facebook are fascinated by
>> the dynamism of this group. Thank you Ebele and Akua for graciously joining
>> this debate.
>> >>
>> >> I'll keep my opinions to myself and only ask questions.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> 1. Does Facebook support Net Neutrality?
>> >>
>> >> 2. Does Facebook's zero rating contravene net neutrality principle?
>> >>
>> >> 3. Will Facebook take "zero rated services" to areas without any
>> connectivity infrastructure?
>> >>
>> >> 4. Will Facebook zero rated services reach all the people, even those
>> with feature phones? Does fb have non app based Free basics?. What
>> percentage of your target market has access to smart phones?
>> >>
>> >> 5. Which network operators does Facebook work with? Are all ISPs
>> welcomed to the party?
>> >>
>> >> 6. Will free basics help reduce the cost of internet access?
>> >>
>> >> 7. Does Facebook pay ISPs to offer the "walled garden" to end users?
>> >>
>> >> 8. Why is Facebook running campaigns for "free basics" in a way to
>> suggest that it is  giving free access to the internet? Is FB and a few
>> vanilla websites the Internet?
>> >>
>> >> 9. Facebook is considered affluent. Would it consider providing free
>> internet to everyone?
>> >>
>> >> 10. Is free basics bridging the digital divide or creating confusion
>> of those who cannot differentiate between Facebook and the Internet? Is
>> Facebook keen that users from the developing world have access to the whole
>> wealth of knowledge and information that the Internet provides?
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> Sincerely,
>> >>
>> >> Mwendwa Kivuva
>>
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>> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
>> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
>> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
>> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>>
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>>
>> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
>> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
>> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
>> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>>
>> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
>> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
>> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
>> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>>
>
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>
> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>
> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>

-- 
Regards,

Sidney Ochieng

*Skype:* sidney.ochieng | *Twitter:* @princelySid | *Website: *
http://sidneyochieng.co.ke
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