That is something. I wonder if there is a similar law to protect my Internet privacy from my boss in the Netherlands.
Netherlands first country in Europe with net neutrality
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Re: Netherlands first country in Europe with net neutrality
#12I'm proud of them, but the Internet is international - without broad acceptance, we run the risk of effectively having distinct National Internets with different rules and regulations. That scares me a bit, because the potential is still to have unhindered communications between anyone, anywhere. Net neutrality should be built into the fabric of the Internet through better technology - legislation clearly isn't worki…
There are already "national Internets". This is just the nature of the beast, the Internet being mostly decentralized.
And btw, when it comes to net neutrality, I don't think it's such a good idea, because I'm a firm believer in a free market and government regulations only hinder competition.
Net neutrality may be a solution in the U.S. where monopolies are a bigger issue and where you don't have much choice in regards to your net provider depending on location, but in Europe the competition is pretty tough.
For instance people criticized the net neutrality proposal pushed by Google because it exempts mobile providers, however in my country there are 3 major carriers (plus a couple of smaller ones), each of them with mostly the same network coverage, each of them with 3G data plans, each of them operating on the same standards and compatible frequencies. Also under our law, you can always interrupt a contract, the only penalty being that you have to give back the subsidized amount for the remaining period (e.g. the price of the phone minus the initial price, divided by 24 and multiplied by the number of remaining months), but if you have a contract with no subsidy, there are no penalties involved. And since you can also move your number from one carrier to another, there is absolutely no lock-in effect, other than the bureaucracy involved. Also, for locked phones, the carrier must unlock it for free once the subsidy is paid.
The competition is pretty though, and the PrePay plans here would make you jealous ;-) And in my area I also have not less than 3 major broadband providers which are national, so the same arguments hold for landlines.
In this light, in the context of cut-throat competition, yet another government regulation simply does not make sense.
Re: Netherlands first country in Europe with net neutrality
#13After it became apparent by parlement representitives they probably had to pay "chatheffing" - chattax, this law was reality quite fast.
It's pretty hopefull the law passed senate unanimously.
Re: Netherlands first country in Europe with net neutrality
#14I'm proud of them, but the Internet is international - without broad acceptance, we run the risk of effectively having distinct National Internets with different rules and regulations. That scares me a bit, because the potential is still to have unhindered communications between anyone, anywhere. Net neutrality should be built into the fabric of the Internet through better technology - legislation clearly isn't worki…
There are already "national Internets". This is just the nature of the beast, the Internet being mostly decentralized. And btw, when it comes to net neutrality, I don't think it's such a good idea, because I'm a firm believer in a free market and government regulations only hinder competition. Net neutrality may be a solution in the U.S. where monopolies are a bigger issue and where you don't have much choice in rega…
This is getting off-topic for Hacker News, but you need some legislation to maintain the parameters of a free market. Net neutrality is the fair basis of an online market.
Re: Netherlands first country in Europe with net neutrality
#15I just love European nordic countries, their mentality is like 30 years ahead of rest of the world. Plus they have awesome metal bands.
Re: Netherlands first country in Europe with net neutrality
#16I just love European nordic countries, their mentality is like 30 years ahead of rest of the world. Plus they have awesome metal bands.
That's great, but let's get back on the topic of West-European countries, shall we? The Netherlands isn't Nordic by any stretch. Nor do they have awesome metal bands by the way.
Re: Netherlands first country in Europe with net neutrality
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
There are already "national Internets". This is just the nature of the beast, the Internet being mostly decentralized. And btw, when it comes to net neutrality, I don't think it's such a good idea, because I'm a firm believer in a free market and government regulations only hinder competition. Net neutrality may be a solution in the U.S. where monopolies are a bigger issue and where you don't have much choice in rega…
This is getting off-topic for Hacker News, but you need some legislation to maintain the parameters of a free market. Net neutrality is the fair basis of an online market.
Legislation is useful as long as it promotes consumer choice.
But if you pay close attention, legislation in the U.S. is also the reason for why there is a lack of choice for consumers in regards to Internet providers. I invite you to read this article:
Re: Netherlands first country in Europe with net neutrality
#18I just love European nordic countries, their mentality is like 30 years ahead of rest of the world. Plus they have awesome metal bands.
That's great, but let's get back on the topic of West-European countries, shall we? The Netherlands isn't Nordic by any stretch. Nor do they have awesome metal bands by the way.
My bad, I meant north european countries. But regarding the metal bands I still stick with the nordic countries like sweden and finland ;)
Re: Netherlands first country in Europe with net neutrality
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
There are already "national Internets". This is just the nature of the beast, the Internet being mostly decentralized. And btw, when it comes to net neutrality, I don't think it's such a good idea, because I'm a firm believer in a free market and government regulations only hinder competition. Net neutrality may be a solution in the U.S. where monopolies are a bigger issue and where you don't have much choice in rega…
This is getting off-topic for Hacker News, but you need some legislation to maintain the parameters of a free market. Net neutrality is the fair basis of an online market.
[deleted]
Re: Netherlands first country in Europe with net neutrality
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is getting off-topic for Hacker News, but you need some legislation to maintain the parameters of a free market. Net neutrality is the fair basis of an online market.
Legislation is useful as long as it promotes consumer choice. But if you pay close attention, legislation in the U.S. is also the reason for why there is a lack of choice for consumers in regards to Internet providers. I invite you to read this article: http://www.cato.org/pubs/journal/cjv14n2-6.html
It's also why the phone system works at all, not to mention the Internet itself. But I agree that the extent of the Bell model was too far.