On Thursday, the European Parliament has formally adopted a new bill on net neutrality, effectively barring Internet service providers from giving preference to certain traffic on their networks based on profit. Fox News said the new legislation was a response to the fears that providers will be setting aside a larger chunk of the bandwidth to individuals and entities who are willing to pay more, which would essentially slow down the Internet connection for others. Moreover, the bill will prevent forbids telecommunications companies from dregrading or blocking third-party Web services in favor of their own offerings.
Author and European Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes, who received a 534-25 vote in favor of the bill, called the moment historic.
Fox News said the passing of the bill was greeted enthusiastically by consumer advocates and online freedoms groups. However, telecoms had felt cheated with the new bill, saying that they are denied from additional profits systematically, of which they use for innovation and investments.
In a statement signed by director Anne Bouverot of mobile phone industry group GSM Association, it read, "Europe's telecoms operators are facing decreasing revenues ... compared with operators in the U.S. and Asia. (European laws are) impairing their ability to invest in the infrastructure required to put Europe back on the path to growth and jobs."
Fox News said that the bill will need to pass its last hurdle before it becomes a law effectively. The bill will need to obtain approval from national politicians at a Council of the European Union meeting, which is scheduled to happen later this year, the news outlet said.
Luis Morago of activist group Avaaz said, referring to a consortium of the largest telecommunications companies in Europe, "Now the pressure turns to European leaders to listen to the people - not Vodafone, Orange, Deutsche Telekom and Telefonica."
