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Deutsch: EDRis Beitrag zur Konsultation über Netzneutralität

Who gets to decide what you do on the internet: you or your internet service provider? Until recently, the answer was simple: you decide which services and websites you want to visit. This is changing rapidly, however. Most internet providers want to restrict your internet traffic. Unless the European Commission prohibits them from doing so.

EDRi, in a common submission with its member Bits of Freedom, urged the European Commission to prohibit this. The submission was sent as an answer to a public consultation on net neutrality opened until 30 September 2010.

In our submission, EDRi concludes that:
- An open internet is crucial for fundamental freedoms, innovation, and competition.
- Internet providers, however, have incentives of their own to stifle the open internet.
- Furthermore, governments and private parties attempt to force internet providers to stifle the open internet for the benefit of narrow sectorial interests.
- And, in practice, internet providers do indeed stifle the open internet for the above reasons.
- Meanwhile, transparency obligations, competition and minimum guarantees cannot safeguard an open internet.
- Waiting is not an option, as the examples of local loop unbundling and mobile roaming demonstrate.
- Narrowly-tailored regulatory EU measures should therefore safeguard the open internet.

Response of Bits of Freedom and EDRi to the public consultation of the European Commission on the open internet and net neutrality in Europe (30.09.2010)
http://www.edri.org/docs/netneutralityreaction300910.pdf

(thanks to Ot Van Daalen - EDRi-member Bits of Freedom)