Europe: The next front in the battle for Net Neutrality

1st article

Europe: The next front in the battle for Net Neutrality

(Republished with translation from: Electronic Frontier Foundation, EFF, “Europe: The Next Front in the Battle for Net Neutrality”, June 25, 2015, By Jeremy Malcolm)

Americans won a major victory for Net Neutrality in February when the FCCvotedto adopt new rules that would curb abuses and discrimination by major telecommunications carriers, such as blocking or throttling internet data and charging content providers for access to an internet “fast lane.”

Four months later, and while the dust has not yet settled in the United States (due to legal challenges and a non-funding bill), on the other side of the Atlantic, in the European Union, the fight continues to grow. The European Commission (the unelected executive body of the European Union) stirred things up when in 2013 it tabled a proposal that would address Net Neutrality, along with other telecommunications issues such as mobile roaming charges, for a new Telecommunications Single MarketRegulation.

The European Parliament (which Europeans directly elect) responded by laying down tough requirements on neutrality in April 2014 in a document that improved the Commission’s weak (and dangerously flawed) proposal [PDF]. The Council of the European Union (a smaller body made up of European Heads of State) responded to the Parliament’s proposal with its own proposal [PDF] in February this year, but in that proposal it rejected many of the European Parliament’s amendments and watered down some key principles.

One of the main areas of difference between the Council's proposals and the Parliament's is that the Council wants to allow that the rules for Network Neutrality can be suspended for specialized services, such as e-health, even if the provision of these specialized services significantly hampers the speed and reliability of the general, non-specialized Internet access. The Parliament considers this a loophole and would like to see the specialized services limited to separate communication channels that do not interfere at all with regular Internet access services.

The Council's text also includes irrelevant provisions that, however, carve out space in the rules for Network Neutrality to enable the enactment of content-blocking laws -with child pornography appearing as such an example- as well as for parental control tools and spam filters that can be managed by the end user. Since none of these issues are part of the discussion on Network Neutrality and deserve separate discussion, the European Parliament rightly opposed their inclusion as a diversion from the core issues in the file.

All three institutions – the Commission, the Parliament and the Council – must agree on a common position before the final text goes to a vote and becomes a European Regulation. This agreement takes place in a series of so-called “trilogues”, of which three have already taken place so far, the most recent on 2 June 2015. With the Parliament’s delivery of its second revised compromise proposal last week, a fourth and final trilogue has been set, most likely next week. (For more on the procedures, you can consult the infographic from our friends at EDRi, see in the 2nd article below).

One factor complicating this negotiation is that the regulation attempts to cover both roaming charges and net neutrality in the same act. The exorbitant mobile roaming charges that Europeans pay are universally disliked for very good reasons. Therefore, if Parliament insists on its stance on Net Neutrality,the whole regulation will stagnate altogether and may thus incur a political cost in not allowing the roaming charges issue to be resolved. On the other hand, as long as Parliament can withstand this political pressure, linking the two issues will put it in a strong position to introduce stronger rules that it wants and that European users support.

A campaign website by European digital rights groups at savetheinternet.eu allows Europeans to contact Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) by phone, email, fax, etc., to encourage them to stand firm on Net Neutrality and insist on strong regulation rather than weak legislation plagued by compromises.

2nd article

SAVE THE INTERNET!

(Republished with translation from: “Save the Internet!”)

OVERSEE THE NON-EXISTENCE OF THE NETWORK IN EUROPE

Your online freedom is under threat from an EU proposal.
The fight for the open internet is currently taking place in Brussels.

COMMUNICATE WITH THE COMMUNITY NOW!

WHY IS NET NEUTRALITY IMPORTANT?

What's happening?

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Net Neutrality (HBO)
YouTube video, duration 00:13:17

Published on June 1, 2014

On April 3, 2014, the European Parliament voted in favor of clear and binding rules for Net Neutrality. This victory was yours, given that many of you contacted the MEPs to ask them to take a stand for a free and open internet.

After months of delays and hesitation, on March 2, 2015, the EU member states, through the Council of Heads of State of the Member States, approved an incoherent, misleading text that could undermine the Network Neutrality we all fight for. This text could create fast paid lanes, allow discrimination in charges in the EU and permit the blocking of lawful content.

Now the negotiations have entered a phase called “trilateral dialogue”, where the three EU institutional bodies gather to negotiate the final text of the new law. Now is the time to contact your MEP again and tell him to stand by his April 2014 decision and not let the big telecommunications companies destroy our online freedoms.

Network Neutrality is the fundamental principle of the internet. It guarantees that all data packets receive equal treatment. This principle ensures that the internet will remain diverse, innovative and free. Telecommunications companies want to change this. They want to create new business models based on discrimination and restrictions. We cannot abandon the economic and social value of the internet just to help a handful of companies make more money.

We need your help to urge the MPs to protect the open and neutral internet – ask them to protect Network Neutrality!

What are trilogues?
Trilogues are not mentioned in the EU treaties. They are informal, closed-door meetings between the three institutions to work towards an agreement. The whole process is regulated by Parliament’s “rules of procedure”.

What is happening in the EU?

In September 2013, the European Commission proposed a Telecom Single Market (TSM ) regulation , legislation that would enshrine Net Neutrality in European law. However, the Commission’s text contained several problematic loopholes that would allow Internet service providers (ISPs) to circumvent Net Neutrality. Through a provision on “specialised services”, ISPs would be able to discriminate by giving priority access. The proposal would also allow for discriminatory blocking of websites, applications and content – ​​a threat to the rule of law and freedom of expression.

Fortunately, the European Parliament worked hard to close these gaps and voted for clear and binding rules on Network Neutrality on April 3, 2014. Although things seemed bad at first, your efforts with Savetheinternet helped the Parliament approve a text with strong safeguards for Network Neutrality.

Subsequently, the EU member states met within the framework of the Council and proceeded slowly; it took until March 2015 for them to reach a common position. The agreed new text again introduces gaps that could significantly undermine the future of the internet. If this text is approved, it will create paid high-speed lanes, will allow discrimination in charges within the EU, and will permit the blocking of lawful content.

Within the framework of the upcoming negotiations of the trilateral dialogue, it is important that the European Parliament remains true to the promise it made in April 2014, which guarantees strong Net Neutrality for all Europeans.

(click on the image to view in higher resolution)

To learn more about the fight for network neutrality in Europe, take a look at the following:

• Network Neutrality – The Basic Dossier with the documents from EDRi
• Network Neutrality – The Basic Dossier II with the documents from EDRi
• The Access page for network discrimination in Europe
• The Netzfreiheit brochure regarding the Telecom Single Market regulation (in German)
• The La Quadrature du Net portal for Network Neutrality and the proposal
• List of all MEPs with their contact details

For a deep dive into the legislative proposal, you can see the basics, official documents:

• TSM version of the Commission (the Commission's version for the proposal, the proposal itself as’ itself)
• TSM version of the Parliament as agreed in the 1st reading (the version from the European Parliament on the proposal that was agreed in the 1st reading)
• TSM version of the Council (the Council's version on the proposal)

THE TIMELINE FOR “SAVE THE INTERNET”

• June 30, 2010: The European Commission launches a consultation on Net Neutrality.
• September 11, 2013: European Commission proposal for the “Telecon Single Market” which includes a fake version of Net Neutrality that is actually against it.
• December 28, 2013: The first Savetheinternet campaign to convince the European Parliament of the importance of Net Neutrality is launched at the Chaos Computer Club's 30c3 Hackercongress.
• April 3, 2014: The European Parliament votes to protect Net Neutrality. This is the decision we must protect!
• October 1, 2014: NGOs and industry call on European governments to support strong Net Neutrality rules in the Council.
• February 26, 2015: The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approves rules to prohibit online blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization. Net Neutrality is now officially protected in the US.
• March 3, 2015: The Council of the European Union agrees on the final text. As a result of extensive lobbying by major telecommunications companies, it reintroduces loopholes that could undermine Net Neutrality and allow all possible forms of discrimination.
• March 11, 2015: The final battle begins. Negotiations begin between the European Commission, the Parliament and the Council (the so-called trilogues).
• March 23, 2015: The first meeting of the tripartite dialogue.
• April 3, 2015: The one-year anniversary of the European Parliament vote on Net Neutrality.
• April 21, 2015: The second meeting of the tripartite dialogue.
• June 2, 2015: The third meeting of the tripartite dialogue.
• The parties to the trialogue are expected to reach an agreement before the summer of 2015, but this may change.

How to contact your MEP

Take action now and tell your representatives about the protection of our rights and freedoms. The best way to do this is by calling the members of the European Parliament (MEPs). But you can also send them a fax, an e‑mail or a letter – we provide you with all the information and the possibility of a free call.

– GENERAL ADVICE –

PHONE

Stay polite and be yourself. Whatever happens, don't forget the basic rules of courtesy and common sense. Whether you agree or disagree with the person who will answer you (some assistant of the MEP or the MEP himself) and regardless of the opinions of other members of the political group to which they belong, we do not say anything that could give a negative image of the people who fight with you for Network Neutrality.

Most of the time, a parliamentary assistant will answer, not the MEP himself. No problem. Continue the conversation. Assistants play an important role in developing the positions of the European Parliament members. If you have no answer to a question, do not panic.

You are not expected to be an expert, just an interested citizen. Tell the assistant or MEP that you will research the issue and get back to us with your answer when you have more information. Then contact us so we can help you via info@savetheinternet.eu

FAX

With Fax tool you can send your message to a member of the European Parliament. It will be sent to the MEP's office. This way, he will receive a physical indication of your opinion and the chances of him reading it are much higher. But even here it is important to personalize your message. Everything we say about writing e-mails also applies to Fax.

POSTAL CODE / E-MAIL

You can also contact your MEP by email. Their addresses are available in the widget above.

We prefer this approach over sending a generic (and mass) form of email messages to all MEPs. The MEPs themselves or their aides know how to use a spam filter and such emails (very likely) end up in the spam folder very quickly. The generic form of emails gives the impression that you do not want to spend time, something that would show that you are truly interested in the issue and also this process does not reflect the number of people involved in all this (one person can send many messages). Even worse, the mass identical emails increase the risk that MEPs end up not reading even the personalized email messages concerning the same folder and ultimately thus damage the overall achievement of our goal.

The best solution is to send personalized email messages based on your own approach and your knowledge of this topic (remember: you don’t need to be an expert, just an interested citizen) and, if possible, in line with the positions of the MEPs and their political groups.

TWEET

The sending of a tweet to a Member of the European Parliament is a very effective way to draw their attention to the issue. Discussions on Twitter are public, and this helps attract the attention of politicians, because MEPs do not want to miss a public discussion. The 140 characters for a Tweet are easy to write and do not take up much of your time.

FACEBOOK

If you take the trouble to write a text, it is also useful to send this text to MEPs via Facebook. You can send either a personal message (inbox) or even write on their Facebook page, provided their privacy settings allow such a thing. Publishing on their page regarding Network Neutrality gives the issue more recognition and can spark a public discussion in our favor.

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Initiative für Netzfreiheit (AT)
European Digital Rights (EU)
Access Now (international)
Digitale Gesellschaft (DE)
La Quadrature du Net (FR)
Bits of Freedom (NL)
Reporters Without Borders (international)
Open Rights Group (UK)
IT-Politisk Forening (DK)
Xnet (ES)
Info House (SL)
Startups for Net Neutrality (international)