The European Parliament voted to stop Internet providers from charging for preferential access to their networks today, a step cheered by consumer groups but bemoaned by the telecommunications industry.
The bill on "net neutrality" will force Internet providers to treat all traffic the same, regardless of its source. That will prevent major telecom and internet providers such as Vodafone and Deutsche Telekom from reserving the best of their network for their own services, or selling the lions' share of bandwidth to big companies like Google and Netflix, while leaving a slower Internet for everyone else.
European Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes, who proposed the bill, hailed yesterday's 534-25 vote as "historic." She said it will help "to get rid of barriers and to make life less expensive" for consumers.
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But while startup companies, consumer groups and online freedom activists welcomed the bill, large European telecommunications companies protested, saying they are increasingly operating at a disadvantage to counterparts in the United States, where a similar law was shot down this year.
The European bill must pass a final hurdle before it becomes law: approval by the leaders of EU countries at a Council of the European Union meeting, likely in October.
