Re:Join the Battle for Net Neutrality
by zimpenfish on Wednesday November 22, 2017 @07:51AM
(#15756357)
> The UK does have net neutrality.
Do we have any protection of that? As best I know (which isn't much), UK net neutrality is more along the lines of a polite understanding than anything enshrined in law.
(And it seems to be wobbling - cf. Three now offering you free data for Netflix/Spotify streaming, etc.)
Re:Join the Battle for Net Neutrality
by martiuk on Wednesday November 22, 2017 @09:41AM
(#15757068)
We don't need to have it enshrined in law as right now little to no ISPs outright prevent access to popular services but as you said zero-rating is slowly creeping in.
Until an ISP starts preventing universal access nothing needs to be done, zero-rating (while bad for competition) does not do that.
A good question would be why aren't the competition petitioning the government to outright ban zero-rating? Current EU law has zero-rating loopholes, it'd be up to a post-brexit government to close them. Perhaps it's not popular with current ISPs and their customers? I don't think a large survey on net neutrality has been done in the UK.
The UK does have net neutrality. The UK internet is still loosely censored. I understand that a monopoly might mean a non-neutral net could be privately censored, and therefore functionally similar, but this is a distinct issue from state censorship.