News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Keep the Internet Open by azundo on Tuesday March 14, 2017 @06:08PM (#13871931)
We see the consequences of a non-open Internet every day where we work in Uganda. It is common there for people to have "social bundles" that only work for Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, etc. Our users believe they have Internet access but don't understand why data from our app is not syncing when Facebook is working. It's a large barrier for us and adds a huge moat for the incumbents. We're considering more integration over WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger so we too can benefit from the cheaper data but that only locks us into those platforms and strengthens their position.
Re:Keep the Internet Open by MarkSummer on Wednesday March 15, 2017 @06:48AM (#13875176)
> We see the consequences of a non-open Internet every day where we work in Uganda. It is common there for people to have "social bundles" that only work for Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, etc.

This is an important perspective. Recommend sharing this insight with the article author to consider appending to their original article.

Re:Keep the Internet Open by botverse on Tuesday March 14, 2017 @06:37PM (#13872135)
This is eye opening and a perfectly plausible future for new startups in the us and europe.
Re:Keep the Internet Open by lsseckman on Wednesday March 15, 2017 @06:52AM (#13875195)
This is a really good example of the pitfalls here. All the way down to the micro-level decision influences.