Netherlands First European Country To Pass Net Neutrality Law

It seems the Netherlands is stepping up to the plate on the net neutrality issue by passing their own law. This new law will prevent internet service providers from performing traffic management unless networks become congested or network security is compromised. It just so happens that this restriction on ISPs as well includes deep packet inspection which allows the ability for data mining, eavesdropping and censorship by reading the data and header of a packet as it passes an inspection point. Regardless of this in spite of everything those downloading via torrents or streaming video from Hulu will not see their bandwidth limited by traffic shaping via application usage. This means that on top of blocking traffic shaping unless thoroughly necessary providers can no longer give unrestricted access to their own services during restricting others. Interestingly enough this law was formed in June of last year due to the parliament passing a motion that stops mobile operators from blocking VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) calls on their networks. During the issue of net neutrality is not a new one it's for all that a sore issue everywhere else in the world.

The provisions in the law extend to anyone providing Internet access services, forbidding the use of traffic-shaping based on application usage, unless they hinder access for other users by causing congestion. Equal types of traffic are to be treated evenly, meaning that a video streaming service owned by the provider cannot have unrestricted access where Hulu may be restricted, for instance. Previously affecting a user's bandwidth, providers must alert the user earlier any action is taken, giving the user time to remedy the situation.