Net Loss, from the WSJ, April 5, 2007 …
Europe’s old state telecom monopolies have been broken up, only for competition and consumers to face a new threat: re-regulation by Brussels. Nowhere is this prospect more apparent than in the debate over “Net neutrality.” Like the U.S., the EU can either allow the Internet to develop as rapidly and excitingly as possible, or it can freeze progress in its tracks.
Unfortunately, the latter option looks more and more likely. Draft laws are due in July on the EU’s “standardization policy for the information and communication technology sector.” EU Information Society Commissioner Viviane Reding says the goal of the new policy is “to foster content creation and distribution in the multiplatform media business.” That sounds encouraging enough until you view it through the Commission’s promise to “closely monitor attempts to call into question the neutral character of the Internet.”
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