zero rating
Filter by...
-
Closing the Loopholes in EU’s Net Neutrality Framework
The European net neutrality rules are being reformed to fix one of the biggest loopholes in the EU‘s framework: Zero-Rating. EDRi has been vocal about the dangers of Zero-Rating, a practice by which telecoms companies discriminate between online services by making some data traffic more expensive than other such traffic. Prompted by three judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union, the Board of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) has acknowledged that their previous 2016 Guidelines on how to enforce the Net Neutrality Regulation have to be overhauled. The direction of the reform is looking to confirm the previous submissions of EDRi over the past six years and today we add another submission to BEREC with the hope of fixing the last loophole in Europe’s net neutrality framework.
Read more
-
CJEU in surprise judgment: zero rating is illegal under EU law
Europe’s highest court has put an end to a long-standing legal battle around the EU’s Net Neutrality Regulation. In a landmark judgement published last week, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) confirmed what EDRi and its members have argued for years: that zero rating is illegal under EU law because it violates the neutrality obligations of internet access providers
Read more
-
Portuguese ISPs ignore telecom regulator’s recommendations
In 2018, the Portuguese telecom regulator ANACOM told the three major Portuguese mobile Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to change offers that were in breach of EU net neutrality rules. Among other things, the regulator recommended that ISPs publish their terms and conditions, and increase the data volume of their mobile data packs in order to […]
Read more
-
Net neutrality overhaul: 5G, zero-rating, parental control, DPI
The Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) is currently in the process of overhauling their guidelines on the implementation of the Regulation (EU) 2015/2120, which forms the legal basis of the EU’s net neutrality rules. At its most recent plenary, BEREC produced new draft guidelines and opened a public consultation on this draft. […]
Read more
-
EU Commission discards criticism of net neutrality enforcement
On 30 April 2019, EDRi and 31 other civil rights organisations sent an open letter to the EU Commission and BEREC. The letter criticised the lack of enforcement of current net neutrality rules in Europe. The signatories also emphasised that the EU finally needs to act against the widespread use of zero-rating practices. Zero-rating favours […]
Read more
-
NGOs and academics warn against Deep Packet Inspection
Today, on 15 May 2019, European Digital Rights, together with 45 NGOs, academics and companies from 15 countries sent an open letter to European policymakers and regulators warning against the widespread use of privacy-invasive Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) technology in the EU. The letter addresses the ongoing negotiations of Europe’s new net neutrality rules, in […]
Read more
-
It starts with free Pokémon Go, it ends with Bolsonaro
Chile was the first country in the world to have a net neutrality law, but it is not enforced at all. A simple search across mobile internet providers shows a large offer of “free” data if you’re using platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Spotify, or Pokémon Go. This is called “zero-rating” and means people […]
Read more
-
Two years of net neutrality in Europe – 31 NGOs urge to guarantee non-discriminatory treatment of communications
Today, on 30 April 2019, two years after the new net neutrality rules came into force, the EU Commission published its Report to evaluate their implementation in Europe. Unfortunately, the Report does not give the in-depth analysis of the situation that one could have hoped for. It ignores the fact that the respect for net […]
Read more
-
Time for better net neutrality rules
A Dutch court struck a blow against strong net neutrality protections. According to the court, the mobile operator T-Mobile may continue to provide certain music services with preferential treatment to its customers in the Netherlands − a disappointing judgment showing the need for better rules.
Read more
-
A study evaluates the net neutrality situation in the EU
Two and a half years after the adoption of the guidelines confirming strong protection for net neutrality in Europe, Austrian EDRi member epicenter.works published a study on the enforcement and status quo of net neutrality. The study entitled “The Net Neutrality Situation in the EU: Evaluation of the First Two Years of Enforcement” examines whether […]
Read more
-
Will the evaluation of the net neutrality rules be balanced?
In our open letter we expressed our concerns about the study of the implementation of the net neutrality rules. Our letter focused on the possible conflicts of interest of the lawyers in charge of the study, as well as the risk of an unbalanced report.
Read more
-
Civil society urges Portuguese telecom regulator to uphold net neutrality
On 23 April 2018, 13 civil society organisations submitted a complaint to the Portuguese regulator on one of the most extreme net neutrality violations in Europe, urging them to use their authority to prohibit so-called zero-rating offers.
Read more