Netherlands becomes world's second "net neutrality" country
Posted in: Governance at 11/05/2012 16:59
A year ago, the former Dutch telecoms monopolist KPN unveiled a plan to make mobile users pay extra for data used by certain third-party apps, such as WhatsApp and Skype, that replaced KPN services like text messaging and voice calls. In response, the Dutch parliament quickly added net neutrality provisions to its telecommunications law. Tuesday, the Dutch senate at last approved the law, making the Netherlands the second country in the world (after Chile) with net neutrality written into statute.
The new law also requires websites to ask users for permission before cookies can be stored in their browsers, but these provisions won't go into effect until 2013, giving the European Union some time to address the user tracking issue.
To read this Ars Technica report in full, see:
arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/05/netherlands-becomes-worlds-second-net-neutrality-country/
