Brussels, 13/04/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 13 April, a coalition of European civil society groups relaunched the Save the Internet campaign to defend the principle of net neutrality.
The campaign calls on concerned internet users in Europe to contact their representatives in the European Parliament to ask them to maintain the strong position on net neutrality taken by the Parliament in the first reading of the connected continent package on 3 April 2014 (see EUROPE 11053).
Internet users will lose the freedom to choose the internet services they want if the EU fails to guarantee real net neutrality, claims the coalition. The European Commission and some large EU member states want a much less robust stance on net neutrality, particularly with regard to specialised services.
“Instead of the open internet that has been such a boost for the economy and free speech worldwide, we would have a broken internet, with fast lanes and slow lanes. Internet providers should not be allowed to decide what content internet users can and cannot access”, argues the coalition. Joe McNamee, executive director of European Digital Rights, one of the civil rights organisations behind the Save the Internet campaign, said: “It is remarkable that governments have been lobbied into experimenting recklessly with the functioning of the internet. The implications for the economy and society will be enormous”.
In the coming weeks, the Parliament and the Council will hold trialogue meetings to try to reach agreement on the connected continent package. The issues of roaming and net neutrality had long divided the member states before they finally came to an agreement on these matters on 4 March - almost a year after the first reading in Parliament (see EUROPE 11267). (Isabelle Lamberty)