New “net neutrality” rules

21/03/16

Robert O’Donoghue and Tom Pascoe have written an article on the new “net neutrality” rules contained in EU Regulation 2015/2120, which will come into force on 30 April 2016. Net neutrality has recently attracted regulators’ attention in both the EU and the US, where rules have been laid down on the prioritisation of certain types of internet traffic, such as video-on-demand services (e.g. “Netflix”), VoIP calls (e.g. “Skype”) and emerging “machine-to-machine” technologies.  BEREC, the European regulator, will lay down guidelines by August 2016 on how the new rules are to be interpreted.

The article explores some of the key issues arising under the Regulation, including when optimisation of a particular service will be deemed “necessary”, and the scope of the prohibition on providers taking into account “commercial considerations” when managing internet traffic.  It can be found here.