Blackout Europe

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Permalink Reply by Hugh on April 29, 2009 at 18:43

Here's the standard reply I got from our MEP about this:

Thank you for your email. The European Parliament is fighting hard to give consumers stronger rights in the field of electronic communications. That will remain our priority in our work on the proposed Universal Service and Users' Rights Directive.

You may be interested to know about the many other consumer benefits included in the report of the European Parliament, including:

• An obligation on EU Member States to take action to establish the 116, 000 missing child hotline service, the following amendments were proposed.
• Contracts of a 24 month maximum duration to avoid consumers being locked into long contracts and the requirement for operators to offer 12 month contracts to consumers, particularly for the benefit of younger and more mobile users.
• Caller location information for consumers when using the EU emergency number 112, which will save more lives.
• Users would also be notified on the cost of subsidised handsets, should the contract be terminated early, to avoid hidden costs.
• Number porting would be limited to one day so consumers do not face a lengthy disruption regarding their phone use. However, there are exceptions for cases of slamming and other mis-selling in cases when consumers are switched against their will.
• Disabled users to have equivalent access to communications services.
• The importance of keeping the Internet open for consumers by enabling
• regulation to intervene if a carrier discriminates against a particular service provider, for example by blocking or slowing traffic, is also included in the report
• A new flexibility for universal service requirements to take into account new technologies, and proposals for the Commission to complete its review on US obligations by January 2010.
• Consumers will be better informed of available tariffs, usage patterns and have the right to cost control notifications when monthly bills exceed their set threshold
• Data breach notification requirement when consumers' data is lost via an electronic communications service provider.

As regards the specific issue you raise, the measures we have negotiated will include increased transparency to enable consumers to make informed decisions about which services they would like to use. This means that in circumstances when Internet Service operators do decide to restrict access to certain services, such as the current practice of some mobile phones that block Skype, the consumer will be able to decide not to use that service provider and opt for another which does provide Skype.

Where operators monitor or shape traffic to sustain service delivery at times of peak demand, consumers should be advised of the approach taken and the impact on service quality. Neither of these provisions condones anti competitive or discriminatory behaviour against certain types of traffic. In these cases, regulators already have the power to intervene under the general provisions of the rules authorising communications providers.

Thank you for your interest in this subject.

Yours sincerely,


Mary Honeyball MEP

Please see below for link to my blogsite

http://thehoneyballbuzz.com/2009/04/29/crisis-averted-beneficial-te...

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Permalink Reply by Liz on May 6, 2009 at 13:31

This reply received today from the Lib Dem MEP

"Thank you very much for contacting me about internet issues in the revised EU telecoms directive.


The ALDE group of Liberals and Democrats in the European Parliament, to which the UK Liberal Democrats including I as the London Lib Dem MEP belong, has been in the forefront of pushing for liberal solutions for consumers in the package of telecoms legislation being voted on Wednesday May 6th. This package revises current EU legislation on the regulation of electronic communications and covers mobile and fixed telephones, broadcasting and the internet. It will in general enhance competition and ensure that all market players have sufficient incentives to invest in infrastructure and services for consumers, while strengthening the rights of users.



The key directives being revised are directive 2002/22/EC on a common regulatory framework for electronic communications networks and services; directive 2002/58/EC concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector (both covered in the Harbour report); and directive 2002/21/EC on universal service and users' rights relating to electronic communications networks (dealt with in the Trautmann report).



The ALDE group has been consistently vigilant on the issue of protecting the fundamental rights of internet users and championing consumer protection. I have taken a strong interest in this, as I have in all internet freedom, free speech and e-privacy and data protection issues throughout my 10 years as a leading member of the European Parliament's civil liberties, justice & home affairs committee and vice-chair of the human rights sub-committee. The internet plays an important role within society, both socially and economically and is now a crucial building block for a democratic society, providing a space for communication, access to information, for technological development and for economic activity. Everyone should have equal rights to access and distribute content. The ALDE group have therefore pushed throughout the passage of this legislation for measures which protect our freedom to use the internet.



The controversial aspects of the present review concern in particular a) universal service and 'net neutrality', and b) the avoidance of internet 'content filtering' or users being cut off or having access blocked e.g. for copyright infringement without due process and fair procedures:



a) On 'net neutrality' the ALDE group accepts that traffic management is legitimate and necessary to avoid network congestion or slowing down of traffic over networks and thus maintain a good quality of service for consumers. But we insisted in discussions that it should only be for this purpose, and that such measures should be non discriminatory and not distort competition e.g. no ISP should get away with degrading the traffic of Google for commercial reasons because it has a partnership with Yahoo. We were influential in achieving wording which specifies that end-users should be informed of any traffic management measures taken by the Internet Service Provider and how they would impact the quality of service. National Regulatory Authorities must set out minimum quality of service requirements on ISPs.



b) On 'content filtering', ALDE backed wording which stipulates that any measures regarding users' access to and/or use of services and applications must respect the fundamental rights of citizens, including in relation to privacy and due process, and any such measures should take full account of policy goals adopted at Community level, such as furthering the development of the Community information society. We also secured the outlawing of systematic surveillance of internet usage in the context of cooperation over lawfulness of content.



Then our votes ensured that the industry committee backed a text whereby no restrictions would be imposed on the freedom of internet users without a prior court order. Despite France, with apparently some UK government backing, championing the 'three-strikes and you're out' rule, the European Parliament secured in tough negotiations with the Council of Ministers representing the 27 EU governments the following text which is tabled as amendment 10 for plenary:



'Measures taken regarding end-users' access to or use of services and applications through electronic communications networks shall respect the fundamental rights and freedoms of natural persons, including in relation to privacy, freedom of expression and access to information and the right to a judgment by an independent and impartial tribunal established by law and acting in respect of due process in accordance with Article 6 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.'



The ALDE group believes although am 10 is far better than the Council was originally willing to concede, the original committee wording was in fact better, in particular by insisting on a prior court ruling, and we have thus retabled it as a plenary amendment (am 5 plenary, some people will know it as am 138 at committee stage):



'applying the principle that no restriction may be imposed on the fundamental rights and freedoms of end-users, without a prior ruling by the judicial authorities, notably in accordance with Article 11 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union on freedom of expression and information, save when public security is threatened in which case the ruling may be subsequent'

Liberal Democrats have therefore worked long and hard to ensure a fair outcome to these legislative negotiations, such that users will be protected from unfair or illegal restrictions on internet access



Best regards



Sarah Ludford

Liberal Democrat MEP for London

Liberal Democrat European justice & human rights spokeswoman"

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Permalink Reply by Liz on May 10, 2009 at 19:58

Latest update on this here at the BBC or for a longer evaluation here but it seems that, "Euro MPs have rejected a far-reaching package of telecoms reforms because they say internet users need better protection from being disconnected."

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