At a Vodafone conference, Chancellor Merkel spoke out in favour of giving preference to special services on the Internet - and thus against net neutrality.
Although the Chancellor referred to applications such as autonomous cars (where it may well make sense for them to have a working Internet connection), the preference for any service would undermine the EU's goal of net neutrality. This contradiction is to be resolved by a balancing act, with both the free Internet as before and an Internet for special services through which new applications are to be handled.
In parallel with the considerations of the Federal Government, the issue is also being addressed by the European Union: here, one urges Net neutralitywhereas the individual Member States are still seeking a common position. Net neutrality is a red rag for the telecommunications companies, because they fear that they will have to transport the ever-increasing volumes of data from the Internet companies without being paid for it.
Even if no policy and certainly no laws can be derived from these statements, important decisions are currently being made for the Internet. The Compulsory router should also be abolished for cable connectionsthe debate about net neutrality is at least being conducted and providers are trying to make a difference with matching products To win and keep customers. Time will tell which camp will prevail and what the Internet will look like in five years.
The Süddeutsche invites you to a Discussion on the topic of net neutrality and Merkel's current statements. There you can also find the Original articlewhich is currently fuelling the net neutrality debate again.
The chairwoman of the Pirates in Bavaria has also dealt with this topic and current developments in her private blog: "Net neutrality and innovation“.
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