On Wednesday, May 6, the European Parliament voted on the “Telecoms Package,” a new set of amendments that represent a serious attack on Europeans’ civil liberties when it comes to freedom of access to the Internet. The vote could have legalized something that some broadband providers have already been doing in the past: selectively blocking and filtering Internet traffic as and when it suits them. The Telecoms Package had gone through a suspicious set of last-minute rewrites that go against normal rules and procedures, leading many to believe that the legislation is being influenced by pressure from the industry.

Luckily, citizens responded to these developments and raised a huge amount of awareness among members of Parliament around the issue of Net Neutrality. As a result, the Telecoms Package was rejected and will need to be revised before it is reconsidered.

Why everyone should care

Many try to brush off Internet issues as being overblown by paranoid activists. They say that the dynamics of the free market would automatically safeguard user freedoms and that freely allowing broadband providers to filter, block and ‘censor’ all traffic as they see fit can only lead to more innovation and better (more ‘managed’) use of bandwidth. But even in Europe, consumers often don’t have much choice of Internet providers. Legalizing such practices might not be immediately evident, but it is certain to kill the Internet as we know it in the long run.

The EU’s Fight for Net Neutrality

Imagine an Internet provider also running its own video-sharing site comparable to YouTube. Without Net Neutrality, this provider would have every right to simply block a user from accessing YouTube and force them to use their own Web site. Imagine providers having specific deals with Big Media networks such as Fox or MSNBC and blocking you from accessing any other video streams online. Or, simply imagine a provider blocking you from using Skype, forcing you to use its phone lines instead. The latter scenario is already taking place in several countries, so it isn’t that far-fetched to think the Internet as we know it would mutate into a very limited television-like medium over the course of 10 to 20 years under legislation that explicitly permits any and all such traffic management practices.

How people in the EU are fighting back

The Internet has allowed for an explosion of grassroots movements all over the globe, and as a result, it has also made a lot of people aware of how precious the medium has become. This has given birth to Web sites such as Iptegrity.com and LaQuadrature.net that have been doing a fantastic job digging deep into the ins and outs of Internet issues in the EU and informing people of ways to take action.

Activists also took action with IPowerProject.com – the site I co-founded – and launched a massive campaign to inform members of the European Parliament of the consequences of the Telecoms Package on Net Neutrality. Thousands of I Power members and many visitors who were inspired by LaQuadrature.net, Iptegrity.com and BlackoutEurope.eu have been e-mailing and calling their members of Parliament to express their concerns. Several members of Parliament stood up and spoke out during the voting this Wednesday to state that these concerns should be taken into account.

As a result, the Telecoms Package was rejected and many members of Parliament now have a better understanding of how important these issues are to European citizens. We’ve made a huge impact in raising awareness around these issues within the European Parliament and we’ll keep moving forward until we see concrete amendments to safeguard Net Neutrality appear in European laws.