Our talk will highlight the current debates surrounding net neutrality in Europe, the United States and other parts of the world. We will look at the results of the SaveTheInternet.eu campaign which was lunched a year ago on 30c3. We will discuss various legal protections for net neutrality, look closer at the experience of the Netherlands and we will give an overview of all important open ends of the debate.
Since two years net neutrality is on the agenda of politicians world wide. These are important debates, as net neutrality became one of the central questions about our freedom on the internet. With different faces around the globe we see a trend towards more violations of the neutrality principle which the internet was founded upon. The efforts of telecommunication companies to find new ways to monetize their networks and us users within them are countered in some countries with legislation preventing this new business models. In 2010, after two years of preparation and a fierce battle, the Dutch parliament accepted a change to the Telecommunications Act which made net neutrality a principle that was protected by law. In this talk we will take stock after two years of legal protection of net neutrality in The Netherlands. Did it work and do the Dutch now have undiscriminated access to all services on the internet? Has the doomsday scenario of the providers, that subscriptions would become outrageously expensive, become reality? In which cases was the Dutch law enforced? Are there any loopholes in the Dutch implementation? If others are to fight for net neutrality, what are the pitfalls to avoid? And, on a more meta-level, is it enough? Will net neutrality protect your freedom to access websites and services, or do we need a broader type neutrality?
Speakers: Rejo Zenger Thomas Lohninger