The European Commission has removed a section from its Q&A on the agreement reached last night on the Digital Single Market – deleting mention of a possible exemption within net neutrality laws for content and anti-spam filters.
The first release of the document appeared to state unequivocally that content blocks, filters and parental controls would be exempt from net neutrality provisions. Under a heading “What are the exceptions in the open Internet for traffic management?” the document included the following:
Since then the document appears to have been amended, or a new version uploaded, as any mention of parental control or spam filters is now missing.
A UK MEP involved in last night’s marathon three-way negotiations on the Digital Single Market said that the previous Q&A was “wrong” and “clearly drafted before the final deal agreed.”
Vicky Ford, a Conservative MEP and part of Parliament’s ECR Group negotiating team, had tweeted in the early hours of the morning of 30 June that “last minute demands by socialists” had meant that parental controls and anti-spam filters [applied by service providers] would not now be exempt under net neutrality laws on an EU-wide basis. Any national provisions can stay, she said, but there would be no exemption within the agreement.
Late night deal end roaming July 2017. No eu wide exemption for parental controls but can keep status quo via national provisions
— vickyford MEP (@vickyford) June 30, 2015
Your spam-blocker could soon be illegal due to last min demands by socialists. NOT supported by @ecrgroup or @ALDEgroup@MarietjeSchaake — vickyford MEP (@vickyford) June 30, 2015
However, when the EC’s official supporting documentation appeared, I asked Ford if that was indeed the case, as it appeared to suggest the opposite. She was clear that it was, and said the document was wrong.
@keithdyer @ecrgroup @ALDEgroup @MarietjeSchaake Commission press release clearly drafted before the final deal agreed!!
— vickyford MEP (@vickyford) June 30, 2015
Its silent amendment or altering appears to back her stance.
The potential implication for mobile operators is that services at a network level that provide filters and blocks, for instance parental controls, are now not exempt on an EU wide basis from net neutrality provisions. Providers of anti-spam and control gateways and engines will need to talk to their customers and ensure that such services do not place operators in a legally ambivalent position. That said, any national provisions will remain in place so the impact will be mitigated.