Net neutrality in the Netherlands

Last updated

On June 4, 2012, [1] the Netherlands became the first country in Europe and the second in the world, after Chile, [2] to enact a network neutrality law. [3] The main net neutrality provision of this law requires that "Providers of public electronic communication networks used to provide Internet access services as well as providers of Internet access services will not hinder or slow down services or applications on the Internet". [4]

Contents

History

The 2009 EU Telecoms Package left much leeway for member states to implement their own net neutrality directives. The first proposal by the Minister of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation was submitted to the House of Representatives on November 3, 2010. [5]

In April 2011, Dutch telecommunications company KPN announced that it would start to block services such as VoIP and instant messaging unless customers paid a fee. [6] Later that week, Vodafone said it was already blocking those services. [7] During an investors meeting in May, KPN admitted to using deep packet inspection. [8] These events accelerated the implementation of net neutrality, as a house majority was against the blocking of specific Internet services. [9]

On June 22, 2011, the house voted for the amendment of the Telecommunications Act with net neutrality regulations. [10] The Labour Party mistakenly voted for an amendment supported by the Christian parties SGP, CU and CDA that would allow filtering by ISPs for ideological reasons. [11] A rectification was later plugged into an unrelated amendment. [12]

The amendment was passed by the Senate in 2012, and with the publication of the amendment [1] and the rectification [13] in the official journal of the Netherlands on June 4 and June 5, respectively, network neutrality became the law.

Overview

Article 7.4a of the Telecommunications Act [4] prohibits the hindrance or slowing down of services or applications on the Internet by ISPs and network owners. Deviation from this rule is only allowed:

If the breach of integrity or security is caused by the equipment of the end-user, the provider has to notify the end-user first and give them sufficient time to rectify the situation.

Also, it is prohibited for ISPs to charge end-users differently for the use of different types of Internet services or applications. Finally, future executive orders can institute minimum quality requirements to prevent the deterioration, hindrance, or slowing down of network communications.

Criticism and impact

The director of the former Independent Post and Telecommunications Authority (Dutch : Onafhankelijke Post en Telecommunicatie Autoriteit "OPTA"), now part of the Consumer and Markets Authority, has criticized the current implementation of net neutrality by the Netherlands. [14] He questions whether the consumer actually benefits from the regulations, since it has become very hard for providers to offer a variety of services because of the restrictions posed on providers. He favors transparency and competition instead of strict regulation.

Neelie Kroes, a Dutch politician and the former European Commissioner for Digital Agenda, also supported consumer choice: "If consumers want to obtain discounts because they only plan to use limited online services, why stand in their way?" [15] She recognized a need for greater transparency in what services providers do and do not provide, and what limitations there are: "consumers also need to know if they are getting Champagne or lesser sparkling wine. If it is not full Internet, it shouldn't be marketed as such; perhaps it shouldn't be marketed as 'Internet' at all, at least not without any upfront qualification." She also criticized uncoordinated country-by-country legislation, because it slows down the creation of a "Digital Single Market".

The Dutch approach to net neutrality received large attention in Brazil and served as an important reference during the negotiations of the Marco Civil da Internet, the country's Internet Civil Rights Law, approved by the Chamber of Deputies' in March, 2014. [16]

On April 3, 2014, upon strong support of Commissioner Kroes, the European Parliament voted in favor of maintaining net neutrality throughout European networks. [17] The basic framework of net neutrality in the European Union (EU) is laid down by Article 3 of EU Regulation 2015/2120. [18]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Internet service provider</span> Organization that provides access to the Internet

An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, managing, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise privately owned.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">XS4ALL</span>

XS4ALL was an Internet service provider (ISP) in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1993 as an offshoot of the hackers club Hack-Tic by Felipe Rodriquez, Rop Gonggrijp, Paul Jongsma and Cor Bosman, while based in Amsterdam. It was the sixth provider in the Netherlands and the second company to offer Internet access to private individuals. Initially only offering dial-in services via modem and ISDN, it later expanded to offer dial-up access as well as ADSL, VDSL, and fiber-optic (FTTH) services as well as mobile internet. The name is a play on the English pronunciation of access for all.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KPN</span> Dutch multinational telecommunication and internet company

KPN is a Dutch telecommunications company. KPN originated from a government-run postal, telegraph and telephone service and is based in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Net neutrality</span> Principle that Internet service providers should treat all data equally

Network neutrality, often referred to as net neutrality, is the principle that Internet service providers (ISPs) must treat all Internet communications equally, offering users and online content providers consistent rates irrespective of content, website, platform, application, type of equipment, source address, destination address, or method of communication.

Bandwidth throttling consists in the intentional limitation of the communication speed, of the ingoing (received) or outgoing (sent) data in a network node or in a network device.

In the United States, net neutrality, the principle that Internet service providers (ISPs) treat all data on the Internet the same, and not discriminate, has been an issue of contention between network users and access providers since the 1990s. With net neutrality, ISPs may not intentionally block, slow down, or charge money for specific online content. Without net neutrality, ISPs may prioritize certain types of traffic, meter others, or potentially block traffic from specific services, while charging consumers for various tiers of service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Internet in the United States</span> Overview of the Internet in the United States of America

The Internet in the United States grew out of the ARPANET, a network sponsored by the Advanced Research Projects Agency of the U.S. Department of Defense during the 1960s. The Internet in the United States in turn provided the foundation for the worldwide Internet of today.

According to research done by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Netherlands is ranked with Switzerland in having the most broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, has no bandwidth caps, and has the most homes passed in Europe in terms of connection speeds of 50 Mbit/s and higher.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Internet in Afghanistan</span> Overview of the Internet in Afghanistan

Internet in Afghanistan is available in all of its 34 provinces, and is used by over 9 million people as of 2022. The internet officially became available in 2002 during the presidency of Hamid Karzai. Prior to that year, it was prohibited because the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan believed that it may be used to broadcast obscene, immoral and anti-Islamic material, and because the few internet users at the time could not be easily monitored as they obtained their telephone lines from neighboring Pakistan.

Net neutrality in Canada is a debated issue, but not to the degree of partisanship in other nations, such as the United States, in part because of its federal regulatory structure and pre-existing supportive laws that were enacted decades before the debate arose. In Canada, Internet service providers (ISPs) generally provide Internet service in a neutral manner. Some notable incidents otherwise have included Bell Canada's throttling of certain protocols and Telus's censorship of a specific website critical of the company.

The Telecoms Package was the review of the European Union Telecommunications Framework from 2007 – 2009. The objective of the review was to update the EU Telecoms Framework of 2002 and to create a common set of regulations for the telecoms industry across all 27 EU member states. The review consisted of a package of directives addressing the regulation of service provision, access, interconnection, users' contractual rights and users' privacy, as well as a regulation creating a new European regulatory body (BEREC).

Tiered service structures allow users to select from a small set of tiers at progressively increasing price points to receive the product or products best suited to their needs. Such systems are frequently seen in the telecommunications field, specifically when it comes to wireless service, digital and cable television options, and broadband internet access.

Internet bottlenecks are places in telecommunication networks in which internet service providers (ISPs), or naturally occurring high use of the network, slow or alter the network speed of the users and/or content producers using that network. A bottleneck is a more general term for a system that has been reduced or slowed due to limited resources or components. The bottleneck occurs in a network when there are too many users attempting to access a specific resource. Internet bottlenecks provide artificial and natural network choke points to inhibit certain sets of users from overloading the entire network by consuming too much bandwidth. Theoretically, this will lead users and content producers through alternative paths to accomplish their goals while limiting the network load at any one time. Alternatively, internet bottlenecks have been seen as a way for ISPs to take advantage of their dominant market-power increasing rates for content providers to push past bottlenecks. The United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has created regulations stipulating that artificial bottlenecks are in direct opposition to a free and open Internet.

Net bias is the counter-principle to net neutrality, which indicates differentiation or discrimination of price and the quality of content or applications on the Internet by ISPs. Similar terms include data discrimination, digital redlining, and network management.

<i>Verizon Communications Inc. v. FCC</i> (2014)

Verizon Communications Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission, 740 F.3d 623, was a case at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit vacating portions of the FCC Open Internet Order of 2010, which the court determined could only be applied to common carriers and not to Internet service providers. The case was initiated by Verizon, which would have been subjected to the proposed FCC rules, though they had not yet gone into effect. The case has been regarded as an important precedent on whether the FCC can regulate network neutrality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ziggo</span> Dutch cable operator

Ziggo Holding B.V. is the largest cable operator in the Netherlands, providing digital cable television, Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers.

Net neutrality law refers to laws and regulations which enforce the principle of net neutrality.

<i>United States Telecom Association v. FCC</i> (2016)

United States Telecom Association v. FCC, 825 F. 3d 674, was a case at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upholding an action by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) the previous year in which broadband Internet was reclassified as a "telecommunications service" under the Communications Act of 1934, after which Internet service providers (ISPs) were required to follow common carrier regulations.

The Net Neutrality Regulation 2015 is a Regulation in EU law where article 3(3) lays down measures concerning open internet access.

Net neutrality is the principle that governments should mandate Internet service providers to treat all data on the Internet the same, and not discriminate or charge differently by user, content, website, platform, application, type of attached equipment, or method of communication. For instance, under these principles, internet service providers are unable to intentionally block, slow down or charge money for specific websites and online content.

References

  1. 1 2 "Wet van 10 mei 2012 tot wijziging van de Telecommunicatiewet ter implementatie van de herziene telecommunicatierichtlijnen" [Act of 10 May 2012 for the amendment of the Telecomminications Act for the implementation of the revised telecommunications directives]. Staatsblad van het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden (in Dutch). 2012 (235). 4 June 2012. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  2. ↑ "Net neutrality enshrined in Dutch law". The Guardian (London). Associated Press. 23 June 2011. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  3. ↑ "The Netherlands Passes Net Neutrality Legislation". Electronic Frontier Foundation. 21 May 2012. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  4. 1 2 "wetten.nl - Wet- en regelgeving - Telecommunicatiewet - BWBR0009950" [wetten.nl - Laws and policies - Telecommunications Act - BWBR0009950] (in Dutch). Article 7.4a. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  5. ↑ "Wijziging van de Telecommunicatiewet ter implementatie van de herziene telecommunicatierichtlijnen" [Amendment of the Telecomminications Act for the implementation of the revised telecommunications directives]. Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal. 2010-2011 (in Dutch). 32549 (2). 3 November 2010. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
  6. ↑ "KPN gaat mobiele diensten blokkeren" [KPN is going to block mobile services]. NU.nl (in Dutch). 21 April 2011. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  7. ↑ "Ook Vodafone blokkeert diensten" [Vodafone is also blocking services]. NU.nl (in Dutch). 23 April 2011. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  8. ↑ "KPN Admits To Using Deep Packet Inspection". The Wall Street Journal Tech Europe Blog. 12 May 2011. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  9. ↑ "Kamermeerderheid tegen blokkeren mobiele diensten" [House majority against blocking mobile services]. NU.nl (in Dutch). 26 April 2011. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  10. ↑ "Historische dag voor internetvrijheid - de eindscore" [Historic day for Internet freedom - the final score] (in Dutch). Bits of Freedom. 22 June 2011. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  11. ↑ "PvdA per abuis voor internetfilter" [Labor party votes for Internet filter by mistake]. NOS (in Dutch). 21 June 2011. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  12. ↑ "Sterk voor netneutraliteit" [Large majority for net neutrality] (in Dutch). ISP Today. 5 July 2011. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  13. ↑ "Verzamelwet Verkeer en Waterstaat 2010" [2010 Collected Acts of Transport, Public Works and Water Management]. Staatsblad van het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden (in Dutch). 2012 (231). Article XIVA. 5 June 2012. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  14. ↑ "OPTA ziet niets in Nederlandse netneutraliteit" [OPTA doesn't like Dutch net neutrality law] (in Dutch). Webwereld. 14 June 2012. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  15. ↑ Kroes, Neelie (29 May 2012). "Next steps on Net Neutrality - making sure you get champagne service if that's what you're paying for" . Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  16. ↑ "Brazil's 'Marco Civil' Internet Civil Rights Law Finally Passes, With Key Protections Largely Intact". Techdirt. 27 March 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  17. ↑ "Parliament votes to end roaming fees by 2016, protect 'net neutrality'". Reuters. 3 April 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  18. ↑ European Parliament and the Council of the European Union (25 November 2015). "Regulation (EU) 2015/2120 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2015 laying down measures concerning open internet access and amending Directive 2002/22/EC on universal service and users' rights relating to electronic communications networks and services and Regulation (EU) No 531/2012 on roaming on public mobile communications networks within the Union" . Retrieved 16 February 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.