Europe Takes Another Look at Network Neutrality

Just as the United States takes steps to secure people’s unfettered access to the Internet, Europe may soon backtrack on its own proposals.

Some European lawmakers are pushing to loosen the rules somewhat, allowing companies to potentially charge for faster access to their networks. A draft proposal circulated among the members of the European Union, released by European Digital Rights, a Brussels-based advocacy group, would remove the strict definition of net neutrality from new European telecom legislation that is expected to be finalized sometime in 2015. The proposal, circulated by Italy, which currently holds the six-month presidency of the European Union, suggests allowing broadband and telecom companies to manage traffic across their networks (and potentially offer faster speeds to companies that are willing to pay a premium) as long as they provide a minimal level of access for all online content.