US vs. EU: Who’s got stricter net neutrality rules?

[Commentary] The European Union came to an agreement on network neutrality. Set to take effect on April 30, 2016, the rules are “the strongest and most comprehensive open Internet rules in the world” noted the European Commission. It may come as a surprise to American net neutrality advocates who consider the Federal Communications Commission to be the Regulator in Chief of net neutrality. So who deserves the “honor” of being tougher on net neutrality?

Both the US and EU rules have provisions in common, including outright bans on blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization; transparency requirements, and limits on traffic management with exceptions for emergencies, security, and court orders. Specialized services, zero rating, and interconnection deals are legal under both sets of rules, subject to scrutiny. The best policy for the US would be to continue the multi-stakeholder dialogue that the FCC developed as part of its Open Internet Access Committee. This allowed broad stakeholder representation and meaningful discussion while maintaining FCC leadership and authority to intervene in markets when necessary. Failing soft approaches, legislation is the only way to ensure net neutrality, as a forthcoming research paper from AEI demonstrates. Rather than accept Congress’ offer to make legislation, the agency has decided to take on the government. The EU, having done its work to align institutions and stakeholders across the board, will likely prevail on this issue.

[Roslyn Layton studies Internet economics at Aalborg University in Copenhagen, Denmark]