Council of Europe

Iris Plus 2011-5: Why Discuss Network Neutrality? (03/11/2011) Council of Europe

Scarcity of Internet capacity is the starting point of the 'network neutrality' debate. At the heart of the discussion is the question to what extent the legislature should tackle this shortage and its consequences through regulation, or whether the answer can be provided by free market forces. This IRIS plus is therefore, in a way, linked to an edition of the IRIS Special series entitled 'To Have or Not to Have - Must-carry Rules' in the cable television sector, must-carry obligations have, in the past, granted access rights to distribution networks. This IRIS plus reports on the latest developments in the network neutrality debate, summarizes the most recent changes in the legal framework for electronic communication and compares the situation in Europe with that in the USA.