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[The Dutch Slayer]

From today onwards its now national law that all wired and wireless isp's can not block any service or ask for any extra money to provide online/services/apps etc.
Yes still a few exceptions but as far as I think its reasonable:

National Emergencies (aka terrorist acts and nature disasters)
Court order
And isp's can be asked to block a website on religious regions but only on request and than only to those users who have requested it.

2nd country after Chile in the world who have done so.

Google translate of the law so yeah I know not 100% of what is says but still.

Also Article about it from the Guaridan (uk edtion)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/jun/23/netherlands-enshrines-net-neutrality-law

Also read more about it in general HERE

Happy happy joy joy, one of the few new laws that goes into effect that can really make a difference for Holland in the coming years!

 

[spons]

And it's gone. Just declared unlawful because it overrides EU legislation/regulation, which is not allowed. We effectively have the watered down net neutrality now. This means that providers like T-Mobile can now push their zero rating systems through which means discrimination of services (e.g. Spotify data is free, Apple Music, Tidal, Deezer etc. not).

Sources:
https://tweakers.net/nieuws/123803/...nge-nederlandse-netneutraliteit-ongeldig.html
http://www.nu.nl/internet/4634511/d...chter-niet-in-strijd-met-netneutraliteit.html

 

[Stopdoor]

Well, that's a depressing first post bump.

 

[Aiii]

Not convinced banning zero rating is better or worse than allowing it. There's benefits to zero rating as much as their are potential drawbacks. I've not been hating my free data for Spotify, tbh.

As long as throttling is and stays illegal, I'm not siding on either side of the argument.

 

[Jonnax]

Zero rating gives an unfair advantage to Spotify compared to other music services.

It makes it harder for new competitors to join the market.

 

[Aiii]

In theory, perhaps, but in practice in this case T-Mobile just wants to do this to entice clients to join their service, which is why they support all the big (and smaller) services, as well as actively want you to join your service.

So yes, sure, there is potential of nefarious use. But that doesn't necessarily mean there is going to be. And self-regulation isn't always a bad thing. Sure, T-Mobile could only support one service (Deezer, since that's theirs), but that only works when you have a monopoly and your competitor isn't going to side with another service and you lose half your clients to them.