As the focus on Net neutrality in the U.S. grows, the European Union is planning to address the matter as well — later this summer. It’s a significant move because on key questions regarding industry competition — most notably, on Microsoft anti-trust questions — the EU has at times actually led the charge, with U.S. regulators following. In a speech this week, Neelie Kroes, vice president of the European Commission and digital agenda commissioner, pledged support for Net neutrality principles.
The Register had details of her speech:
The net neutrality debate is far advanced in the US, where lawmakers have discussed several proposals to legislate on the issue and where telecoms companies have publicly stated their view that they should be paid by content producers for preferential access to customers. Kroes said that while she wanted to remain open to all views and not prejudge the issue, she was committed to some basic principles of internet access.
Kroes said that consumers must not have their basic rights undermined, and must be armed with full knowledge of whatever measures are put in place by ISPs.
“I will not support any outcome that puts into danger freedom of expression,” she said. “In a complex system like the internet, it must be crystal clear what the practices of operators controlling the network mean for all users, including consumers.”
Connected Planet’s take,
Joan Engebretson:
The European Union may not have the clout on this issue that it does on some others. Automotive standards, for example, tend to spread worldwide simply because car-makers don’t want to build separate models for separate markets. Regulators may be the ones actually adopting the standards, but the manufacturers aren’t fighting them.
Telecom is different. Telcos are going to fight hard against Net neutrality regardless of what happens in other parts of the world. Expect them to keep an eye on what’s happening in Europe, but depending on what happens there, the telcos may hold European policies up as an example of what not to do — a tactic that seems to work reasonably well for opponents of health care reform.
That’s our take on this. Let us know what you think in the comments section below:
There is a lot of selective quoting of Neelie Kroes’ speech. Read the actual entire speech and you will have a totally different take on her position.
http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH/10/153&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en
She is basically taking a “google-esque” position to net neutrality — “fair competition” means that Google is perfectly fine to sign co-location deals with the carriers, provided that other internet companies get to sign separate deals with the carriers as well.
That’s the Google definition of net neutrality — it is perfectly okey to screw small internet start-ups that can’t afford to sign deals with the carriers.