Germany vows to back ‘Open and free internet’ despite US repeal on net neutrality

NewsBharati    17-Dec-2017
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Berlin, December 17: The German government has backed the “Open and free Internet” concept despite of USA’s decision to repeal net neutrality rules. But some experts say the US move could open the floodgates to a multi-speed internet in Europe.

After US telecoms regulator FCC on Thursday moved to repeal Obama-era net neutrality rules, the German Economics Ministry said Friday it would continue to support EU internet rules that forbid discriminatory access to the web.

"An open and free internet is indispensable for the successful development of a digital society that everyone wants to take part in," the ministry's spokeswoman, Beate Baron told. She declined to comment directly on the FCC's decision, but said that the German government had "taken note" of the US move.

The Federal Communications Commission has voted to end the 2015 Open Internet Order which protects net neutrality in the United States.

Net neutrality requires all internet service providers (ISPs) to treat all data equally, without blocking, "throttling" or censoring services or websites.

The European Union adopted sweeping net neutrality rules in 2016 to ensure that internet providers in the bloc's 28 member states can't give preferential treatment to the data of any particular company or to websites paying higher prices.

But some experts in Germany are arguing that the shift in how internet content reaches US consumers could have a knock-on effect in Europe.