After three years the EU has for the first time new Net Neutrality rules. What do they mean in practice? Which commercial practices by ISPs are allowed and which have to be punished by the telecom regulator. We give an overview about three years of campaign and where we go from here.
As part of the Savetheinternet.eu coalition, we fought hard over three years in all stages of the legislative and regulatory process to make the new Net Neutrality protections as strong as possible. We explain our tactics and goals for this campaign of 32 NGOs from 14 countries that managed to submit half a million comments to the European Regulators, BEREC. This talk focusess on the pracitcal implications of the new rules and which types of potential network discrimination are prohibited, disputed or allowed. We explain how enforcement is working in different countries and what you can do to put these new rules into practice and extinguish Net Neutrality violations by your ISP. A core component in this fight is the platform RespectMyNet.eu. Users can submit Net Neutrality violations on this website and thereby give them visibility and allow others to confirm, discuss and act upon them. As BEREC guidelines will be regurlaly reviewed this tool is of utmost importance to track the implementation of Net Neutrality rules as well as commercial practices by ISPs and mobile operators. RespectMyNet lived different lives, one of our current tasks is to make the tool and the submissions fit the new BEREC Guidelines in order to provide an easy to use and efficient tool for net neutrality activists in Europe. Let's protect the Internet as an open, free and neutral platform with the new rules the EU has given us.
Speakers: Thomas Lohninger Christopher Talib