Net Neutrality has been written about in this blog many times in a favorable light. Today is no exception as the European Union has taken the first steps to undermine Internet Neutrality,
As netizens, we should all resist undermining equal access for all, anywhere!
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Europe may skirt net neutrality with fast lanes for internet TV
Jeff John Roberts fortune.com
June 30, 2015, 9:04 AM EDT
New telecom rules announced in Europe include one that will effectively gut
net neutrality by allowing fast lanes for “Internet TV.”
Internet
providers in Europe may soon be able to sidestep net neutrality principles,
which forbid favoring some types of online content over others, thanks to
planned new rules that offer a carve-out for “Internet TV and new innovative
applications.”
The news was
announced Tuesday in a press release
by the European Commission that describes future telecom policy for the 28
country block. The policy, which also calls for the end
of mobile phone roaming charges by 2017, is the result of years of negotiations
involving the Commission, the European Parliament and the EU Council.
While the end
of roaming charges will be popular with consumers everywhere in Europe, the new
internet policy is likely to be more contentious. Even though the Commission
claims the policy “enshrines for the first time the principle of net neutrality
into EU law,” the large carve-out it permits could be at odds with the way most
people understand net neutrality.
Specifically,
regulators have typically allowed internet providers to avoid net neutrality
obligations only in the case of “reasonable network management,” which means
technical imperatives. The new EU policy, however, appears to go much further
by including so-called fast lanes for “Internet TV” within the exception – such
fast lanes were briefly contemplated
by the FCC in the U.S. last year, but the agency quickly backed down in the
face of public pressure.
So how would
the new EU fast lanes for TV work in practice? The text of the release suggests
internet providers can skirt the regular rules by designating the content in
question as a “specialized service.” It also says that such services are
permitted as long as they don’t harm the “open internet.”
This
designation of “specialised services” is odd since internet TV and video are
becoming ubiquitous, and it’s hard to see how a TV provider that partnered with
the ISP would not enjoy a major advantage over competing video offerings. This
scenario – in which telecom incumbents choose who can ride an internet fast
lane – is precisely what net neutrality advocates have long opposed. Critics
have already claimed
the new proposal creates a “two-tier Internet [that] will create a fast lane on
the Internet and thus destroy net neutrality.”
A fact sheet by
the European Commission related to Tuesday’s news offers additional context on
“specialised services,” and cites examples like telemedicine and “automated
driving” – but does not address the other reference to “Internet TV.” As such,
it is not yet clear how the new rules will work in practice.
The new rules
are slated to go into effect on April 30, 2016. Here is the relevant text of
the European Commission announcement (emphasis mine):
Today’s
agreement also enshrines for the first time the principle of net neutrality
into EU law: users will be free to access the content of their choice, they
will not be unfairly blocked or slowed down anymore, and paid prioritisation
will not be allowed. This means, for example, that the access to a start-up’s
website will not be unfairly slowed down to make the way for bigger companies.
No service will be stuck because it does not pay an additional fee to Internet
service providers. There won’t be gatekeepers to decide what you can and cannot
access.
In the open
Internet, all traffic will be treated equally, subject to strict and clearly
identified public-interest exceptions, such as network security or combating
child pornography, and subject to efficient day-to-day network management by
Internet service providers.
In parallel,
Internet access providers will still be able to offer specialised services of
higher quality, such as Internet TV and new innovative applications, so long as
these services are not supplied at the expense of the quality of the open
Internet.
This story was
updated at 9:30am to provide additional
context about “specialized services.”
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