The European Union has reached an agreement on Net Neutrality which said that telecom companies and Internet providers in the EU are not allowed to block or throttle online content, applications, or services. The EU agreement also banned paid prioritization of Internet traffic and ruled that all traffic should be treated equally. "These rules will be a reality across all Member States as soon as the text officially applies on 30 April 2016," the EU said in a release. However, the EU language is milder in its enforcement of Net Neutrality and will allow some traffic management by telecom companies. From the FAQ section: At the same time, equal treatment allows reasonable day-to-day traffic management according to justified technical requirements, and which must be independent of the origin or destination of the traffic. The EU also elaborated on the instances where network traffic management can be considered: - to comply with Union or national legislation related to the lawfulness of content or with criminal law, or with measures implementing this legislation such as a decision by public authorities or a court order, for instance if a judge or the police have ordered blocking of specific illegal content - to preserve the security and integrity of the network, for instance to prevent misuse of a network and combat viruses, malware or denial of services attacks - to minimise network congestion that is temporary or exceptional. This means that operators cannot invoke this exception if their network is frequently congested due to under-investment and capacity scarcity. - to…
