By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch
Civil rights organisations last week launched a website to allow users to report violations of internet neutrality. If users become aware that their telecommunications operators block access to certain content or services, they are invited to list this on respectmynet.eu. Dutch organisation Bits of Freedom and French organisation La Quadrature du Net announced they would present the results to the European Union bodies to push for clear-cut net neutrality regulation in the Community.
So far, they argue, the responsible EU Commissioner, Neelie Kroes, has taken a wait-and-see-approach. The majority of the reports filed so far are related to the blocking or throttling of VoiP (voice over internet protocol) traffic over mobile networks. But for France (which was top of the list of violations after one day), for the United Kingdom, Hungary and Spain there are also cases of blocking P2P (peer-to-peer) file-sharing or streaming services. Respect My Net also offers a list of tools that shall help users to track traffic discrimination.