New rules would limit the free access to the Web
Andrea Cairola
One day, your ISP may not be able to see your favorite blog, or to use Internet telephony software like Skype . Or imagine that you notify that they can no longer access the web, how to stay without a license after a series of violations of the Highway Code.
is what could happen soon if the telecoms package will be approved by the EU so as recently amended under pressure from the powerful lobby of telephone companies. The package is a set of regulations on the European telecommunications and Internet access via ADSL and mobile network, according to activists who will be the Caporetto of freedom of the Net, at least as we know it.
The principles at stake are two interrelated and: net neutrality and the right diaccesso Internet. The "Net Neutrality" is the neutrality of the infrastructure with respect to material passing through. It means the same Internet access for all users: Providers and other network operators may not discriminate on the contents or interfere with the navigation of the Internet, as well as the phone there is no filter on what can be said.
Today in Italy a surfer can enter with equal facility to the site of the great mainstream media, as well as the pages of little-known blogger. In the future, a supplier may not neutral, however, for commercial reasons (or other conveniences, such policies), speed up access to sites "friends" and slow down access to those not desirable. And in the era of Internet and broadband multimedia, slow down and filter is equivalent to dim. If there is net neutrality, a two-tier Internet would be like a highway where the machines of a manufacturer who has paid to the 130 traveling in the fast lane while all others should remain in the first lane to 50 per hour.
Another principle at stake is access to the Internet, to be considered a fundamental right and the right to information in general. Measures (such as the law Hadopi in France) who are denied access to those who have committed violations, would be like saying to those who have illegally copied a copyrighted book that can no longer use his hands for six months. Decisions even more questionable if they are imposed without the intervention of a judge. Back in Brussels
development of "Telecoms, ormai alle battute finali dopo oltre due anni di accese discussioni. La prima bozza è stata preparata dalla Commissione europea e, secondo gli attivisti pro libertà della Rete, risentiva chiaramente della pressione delle lobby delle compagnie telefoniche e non faceva riferimento ai principi fondamentali della neutralità della rete e dell’accesso a Internet. A questo punto, nel tortuoso meccanismo delle decisioni Ue, è intervenuto il Parlamento europeo che la scorsa primavera ha votato a stragrande maggioranza (88 per cento) per l’inclusione di una modifica al testo che riconoscerebbe le libertà fondamentali anche su Internet.
Ma il Parlamento europeo conta poco: ai rappresentanti del Parlamento tocca poi difendere the amendment by the Council (ie the EU governments). And last week the text which protected the freedoms of internet users has jumped during the negotiations. Paul's blog in Brini Scambioetico.org complaint: "the establishment of a justice" parallel independent judiciary "that affect citizens' on the basis of mere suspicion." Brinkley said that next Thursday is scheduled the meeting of parliamentary delegations with representatives of the Council: if there is agreement on the text without the basic rights the omelet will be done.
Reporters Without Borders calls "incomprehensible" the behavior of institutions Europe. In the U.S. the issue of net neutrality was exploded in 2006 when they tried to get Internet providers to treat those who offer cable TV. Thousands of citizen-surfers of the movement "Save the Internet" protested in Washington before Congress. After years of battles between the lobby of the Internet providers and content providers and representatives of citizens, the principle of net neutrality is now a draft law expected to be approved shortly.
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