Europe Votes For Net Neutrality In No Uncertain Terms

The European Parliament has voted to protect net neutrality, limiting the power of telecoms providers to charge third parties for faster network access.

Members of the European Parliament approved the legislation by 534 votes to 25, with 58 abstentions – clear support for Commission vice president Neelie Kroes, who has pushed strongly for the changes.

Currently, only the Netherlands and Slovenia have net neutrality laws in place and some countries, such as the UK, are deeply unenthusiastic. Telecoms regulator BEREC says that several internet access providers across the region have been blocking or slowing down services such as Skype or Netflix NFLX -6.36%, with the Commission suggesting that as many as 100 million users may have been affected.

Providers will now be allowed to slow or block internet access only to enforce a court order, preserve network security or prevent temporary network congestion. Even in these cases, meaures must be “transparent, non-discriminatory and proportionate”, and mustn’t last longer than necessary.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/emmawoollacott/2014/04/03/europe-votes-for-net-neutrality-in-no-uncertain-terms/