Safeguarding the open Internet – calling on the European Parliament to safeguard users’ right to unrestricted Internet access

Jean-Jacques Sahel leads Skype’s Government Relations team in the EU.

EU governments and Members of the European Parliament are finalising a review of the telecoms regulations in Europe (the EU’s Electronic Communications Framework). Although that shouldn’t concern a software company like Skype, elements of this legislation touch on the Internet – and we certainly care about that.

Today I am in Brussels at an event hosted at the European Parliament by Danish MEP Karin Riis-Jorgensen. International research agency Synovate is releasing a survey into consumer expectations of broadband commissioned by Google, Skype and Yahoo! The results of the study show that consumers expect Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to allow open, unrestricted access to the Internet.

This study is particularly relevant as some amendments to the EU’s existing legislation that are being considered for adoption by European legislators would allow restrictions to users’ access to the Internet by the backdoor. The idea promoted in these amendments is as follows: that as long as consumers are informed that access to a particular Internet site or application is blocked or degraded, they will simply switch to a competing ISP which does not block access to those services.

That worries us for obvious reasons. Some of these providers - fixed and mobile - block access to VoIP, peer-to-peer or even streaming. Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, it is very difficult to switch providers in most countries in Europe.

Still worse, in some countries, all providers in the mobile sector block access to certain applications, meaning that the consumer cannot switch, period. This is a shame; there are enlightened operators and ISPs out there – like mobile operator 3 – who know that Skype and other equally innovative applications are actually good not just for consumers but also for the whole of the ICT industry, by keeping it dynamic and responsive to what consumers want.

In the future, risks of this arbitrary blocking will increase as new networks and increasingly sophisticated network management tools are introduced that allow ISPs far greater precision in deciding which traffic to prioritise, block or degrade.

Our worry is not just about Skype, however. It’s about all of the innovation that the world has enjoyed over the past twenty years thanks to the growth of the Internet. The risk of allowing operators to discriminate against certain traffic for reasons other than the strictly technical management of networks to avoid network congestion would be as if people were told by their electricity supplier which TV or which fridge to buy – depending on whether their electricity supplier has a commercial interest in this or that TV or fridge. This situation would be against citizens’ basic right of choice, against freedom of expression and communication, against competition and innovation. In a period when the world faces difficult economic times we should be ensuring and encouraging demand-driving innovation, not restricting it.

Along with a number of other Internet companies including Google, Yahoo!, Amazon, eBay, Dailymotion and PriceMinister, and user groups, Skype has been asking Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and EU governments to protect end-users rights and to preserve the open Internet. A group of Internet companies issued an official call to European lawmakers (PDF) today which highlighted that:

“Enabling Europeans to access and distribute the information, services and applications of their choice, using whatever device they want, is central to maintaining and encouraging the innovation that the Internet has become famous for. EU lawmakers should make sure that national authorities have the powers they need to act in cases where traffic management by telecommunication companies constitute unnecessary, discriminatory and/or anti-competitive behaviour.”

The Parliament is expected to adopt the new legislation by the middle of April.

Safeguarding the open Internet – calling on the European Parliament to safeguard users’ right to unrestricted Internet access

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