Support Net Neutrality

Net Neutrality Wins In Europe!

The Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC)—which consists of EU national regulators - has published guidelines to ensure the regulators apply the rules consistently across the bloc on August 30, 2016.

Telecom operators in the European Union will have to treat almost all web traffic equally under net neutrality rules that took effect in April, according to the new guidelines.

The move dealt a blow to telecoms...

SaveTheInternet.eu/en/ comments:

"This summer, hundreds of thousands of Internet users banded together to keep the Internet open and free. Together, we sent a loud, clear message to BEREC, the Body of European Regulators of Electronic Communications: protect net neutrality.

And it worked! BEREC’s final guidelines, which were published on 30 August 2016, offer some of the strongest net neutrality protections we could wish for. So long as these new rules are properly enforced by national telecom regulators, they represent a resounding victory for net neutrality. 

The public has made clear that will not leave the future of its digital public space to big telecom lobbyists, but wants to decide for itself. To that end, civil society has to stay watchful and observe that telecom operators don’t violate the new principles. 

The consultation came as the final step of a legislative process that was launched in September 2013. During the ensuing three years, the SaveTheInternet.eu coalition campaigned successfully for the Regulation on which the consultation is based."

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EurActiv.com shares this analysis of the new regulation.

"Large telecoms companies signalled their disappointment over the regulators’ move to rule out many so-called zero rating services that are offered for free with data packages, such as unlimited access to Facebook.

National regulators will approve those services on a case-by-case basis. Under the new guidelines, the watchdogs said they will block zero rating if it interferes with freedom of expression or internet user rights. 

Telecoms operators won’t be allowed to offer zero rated services for free if a customer has already used up their data allowance.

The European Telecommunications Network Operators’ Association (ETNO), which represents major firms including Deutsche Telekom and Orange, said in a statement that “most of the concerns outlined and described by industry experts have not been taken into account”.

Under the rules, telecoms firms will only be allowed to slow down internet traffic to fix bad quality, not to tamper with speed for commercial gain. 

The watchdogs can force companies to stop if they’re found violating the rules, or can issue fines."

Support the Open Internet

European Regulators are about to decide whether to give big telecoms corporations the power to influence what we can (and can’t) do online. Europe urgently needs clear net neutrality guidelines to protect our freedoms and rights online. We have until July to help Europe protect the open Internet.

Join the movement, take action now!

http://www.savetheinternet.eu

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Transcript of the video:

Corporations don't control the Internet. Yet.

You can visit Google, or Facebook, but they're not the Internet. Amazingly, these giant corporations exist right alongside smaller independent websites. Like those by Startups and activists, that are working to lessen their power and create something independent that allows more freedom and is less intrusive than the big corporations.

But now, that's changing. The telecom companies we use to access the internet are giving corporate giants like Facebook special treatment.

Sometimes it's a marketing trick. Other times it’s for profit: they sell special treatment to them.

Either way, the result is the same: A terrible new future where old Telecom giants and new Internet giants conspire to remain in control. Forever. A future where videos on corporate sites work. But on small sites, they break. A future where expensive phone calls work. But free calls over the Internet break.

A future where giant corporate sites are subsidized to appear free. But independent sites are so expensive or slow to access, that no one visits them. This future may be coming to Europe.

By August, EU regulators will make their final decision: They will either prohibit special treatment with strong net neutrality rules, or hand the Internet's future to the corporate giants of telecom and tech.

In the United States, Brazil, and India, net neutrality activists and small startups have been winning, with millions of messages to regulators, and protests in the streets.This summer, it's Europe's turn. And it depends on you.

Click here to send your message to European regulators, share this video, and find a protest near you.