BlackBerry head claims net neutrality should cover apps – pushing for Netflix and iMessage compatibility on BlackBerry

“Not all content and application providers have embraced openness and neutrality. Unlike BlackBerry, which allows iPhone users to download and use our BBM service, Apple does not allow BlackBerry or Android users to download Apple’s iMessage messaging service."

Chen also took a swipe at Netflix, claiming that despite it being an avid supporter of net neutrality, it lacks an app on BlackBerry smartphones, which Chen likened to “the sort of discriminatory practices that neutrality advocates have criticized at the carrier level”.

Chen concluded: “If we truly want a free, open and non-discriminatory internet… all wireless broadband customers must have the ability to access any lawful applications and content they choose, and applications/content providers must be prohibited from discriminating based on the customer’s mobile operating system.”

9to5mac reporter Mike Beasley accused the BlackBerry head of using the net neutrality debate to get the “government to force other companies to help him get people interested in his products again – a goal he has thus far been unable to accomplish on his own”.