The Netherlands has become the first EU member country to pass into law new net neutrality regulations, following in the footsteps of Chile, which became the first country in the world to make net neutrality laws back in July 2010. The new Telecom Law was approved unanimously by the Dutch Senate and is set to ensure that access to the internet remains neutral and unfiltered.
The move follows plans announced last year by Dutch telecoms provider KPN to increase mobile broadband prices and make allowance changes in the wake of increased data consumption for certain services over 3G, such as Skype and Whatsapp. KPN noted that the increased usage of these apps was reducing their average revenue per user and hurting profits.
Passing net neutrality regulations into law will mean that wireless operators will not be allowed to throttle or block any individual's internet services or price them differently according their internet usage. ISPs will still be allowed to throttle traffic in order to reduce congestion or protect their network, but they will be required to treat all traffic equally. Also, traffic can no longer be blocked unless it's absolutely necessary in order to protect the integrity and security of the network or users' computers.
Read more: The Netherlands becomes first in Europe to pass net neutrality law - TechSpot News
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