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Trying To Limit Net Access, Dutch Telcos Accidentally Force Government To Speak Out On Net Neutrality
from the backfire? dept
Although the below image has been circulating the internet as a satirical warning for some time now, Dutch telco KPN recently announced that it's actually going to implement something like this due to declining revenue.
The company stated that starting this summer it will be blocking chat-messaging applications such as WhatsApp (competes with SMS), VoIP services (competes with calls) and heavy streaming services. All these services will get their own price tag, just like what is currently the case with calling and text messaging. The problem with that logic of course is that calling and SMS are actually different services that the telco offers; but in the case of creating pay packages for internet services, probably none of the services are from the telco itself. Some other telcos, such as Vodafone, already stated that it, too, is interested in plans like these (Vodafone is already blocking VoIP and selling access to VoIP services for 5 EUR per month).
Unfortunately for KPN, this plan might actually backfire. The majority of the Dutch parliament has spoken out against the plans and have urged the Minister to protect net neutrality. Currently the Dutch Telecommunications Law does not provide a good safe harbor for net neutrality, but it soon might... because of this. One parliament member who is part of a ruling coalition party even suggested that if telcos are going to charge more for usage, perhaps the tariffs for normal phone calls should be lowered. Sadly, the Minister is less outspoken and has claimed that "mobile internet is really something different than an internet connection at home".
It will be interesting to see what happens next. Will service providers like Wikipedia start charging telcos for "using their content for free?" Will Skype start demanding royalties? As we've said before: "it's a pipedream for [...] some mobile operators, but the likelihood of it actually becoming the norm seems pretty damn low."
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Reader Comments (rss)
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if it were something like underage boozing you would bet your ass they would scream: 'ZOMG, LAW NOW!'
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Is there any competition and what are they planning?
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Re:
They both basically said: hm, good idea KPN let's implement this too! Which means that the argument of: let's move elsewhere if you don't like it, isn't going to work.
Worst thing: KPN had a reported 5,8 billion euros profit last year and their former CEO (just left) had a big interview in which he stressed the importance of open access/net neutrality.
how quickly things change.
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Re: Re:
hey man, you didn't have to type all that out, a simple 'no.' would have sufficed! ;)
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Oooo look... dinosaurs
Well done! Bravo sir! *claps politely*
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The Freedom to "Steal"
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Re: The Freedom to "Steal"
The net neutrality is a non-issue. It's just a fact that this type of process wouldn't work, if the government didn't grant any type of monopoly for cell phone carriers.
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Re: Re: The Freedom to "Steal"
At the end of the day, corporations will throw their users under a bus if it means higher profits. Net neutrality protects consumers from this.
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Hopefully, this will wake up people
I have no problem with the speeds I get being decreased so that the network isn't 'clogged' by me using it 24/7. I have a big problem with ISP's who try to cap my bandwidth just because to them, I am using 'too much'.
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Re: Hopefully, this will wake up people
Who's betting on lots of pressure being put on diplomats in the Netherlands pretty soon?
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Over 60 Websites!
What a terrible world that would be... I hope we don't ever see this in the US.
AOL? LOL.
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Re: Over 60 Websites!
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Over 60 Websites!
What a terrible world that would be... I hope we don't ever see this in the US.
AOL? LOL.
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Net Neutrality also protects website operators
What might be a nuisance to end users (some websites becoming unavailable), is at the same time a serious threat to website operators. While Google may be able to pay big ISPs for the right to be included in their bandwidth bundles, smaller websites and services may not.
Every new website or internet start-up has to secure funding, build up a user base etc. Just imagine if they also had to negotiate with hundreds of Internet service providers and mobile carriers around the world, just for the "right" to provide its services to end users...
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When will they learn?
The internet is here and it supersedes every other network that has been conceived before it. They days of being the gateway between the customers and the network is over. They are the facilitators, not the owner of the networks. The only way to stay relevant is to provide affordable, open, and unlimited access to people the way they demand it. Their mentality is akin to blocking roads for certain types of traffic and charging them more to access "high capacity" roads when the public roads do the job much better.
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Re: They have learned, when will we learn?
The government is trying to 'govern' the internet, and since they can't just grant a monopoly to themselves (like they do with Cable, Teleco, drugs, banks, movies, music, etc), they have to try to do it with FUD, deception, deceit, and underhanded tactics that force small changes in people's thinking (ooh no, if I don't secure my wi-fi router, SWAT may come busting through my front door and throw me down the stairs based on what one of my neighbors did..). The small changes will get bigger as their 'ops' escalate in scale.
I hope I'm wrong, but I can't help thinking this is all part of some bigger plan that we the sheeple are just walking into without really understanding (kind of like ACTA)....
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Re: Re: They have learned, when will we learn?
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well i know someones going to go bankrupt in a week after
unless they have a 59.99 plan w/ no limit and super fast service
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ISPs and Telco's already make exponential amounts of profit on mere signals through wire (data).
I call shannanigans.
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(Does not apply to out of country websites, local websites with out of country content, political websites not authorized in our directory, websites listed on the NSABBL. For adult content sites, please see our current list here.)
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Things are worse!
KPN is trying to downplay the whole thing, many organisations including Bits of Freedom (bof.nl) are making the whole thing more public and are advising every client of KPN to file complaints at their local police office.
I wonder if KPN will go tits-up because of all this. It wouldn't surprise me, though.
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No Borders on VoIP
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