>>648197078In negotiations with the EU Member States and the European Commission, representatives of the Parliament accepted a compromise text whose lack of clarity could be used by regulators to permit network discrimination. Unless the text is amended by the Parliament, it will be up to regulators and the European Commission - that did not stand for net neutrality - to give meaning to the compromise text, in the months after the Parliament's vote.
On 3rd April 2014, the European Parliament voted in favour of clear and binding rules for net neutrality. This victory was yours since many of you contacted MEPs to ask them to take a stand for the free and open Internet.
After months of delay and negotiations, on 30th June 2015, the EU institutions agreed on an incoherent, unclear text that leaves it to regulators and the European Commission to decide whether net neutrality will be protected or not. They could interpret the text in ways that allow for paid fast-lanes and kill the best effort Internet in the EU.
Now; we have one last chance to repair this dangerous and ambiguous text during the Plenary vote in the European Parliament on October 28. Now is the time to contact your MEP and tell them to stand by their decision from April 2014 and not to let big telecoms companies destroy your freedoms online. The battle over the Internet in Europe is on!
Net neutrality is the founding principle of the Internet. It guarantees that all data packets are treated equally. This principle guarantees that the Internet will remain diverse, innovative, and free. Telecoms companies want to change that. They want to establish new business models based on discrimination and restrictions. We cannot give up the economic and social value of the Internet just to help the short-term plans of a handful of companies to make more money.