On Oct. 27 the European Parliament rejected the amendments proposed to protect net neutrality.

Net neutrality is the idea that all Internet traffic should be treated equally. The amendments called for regulation on the management of the Internet to prevent the formation of “fast lanes,” which allow Internet providers the ability to charge companies for better and faster service and become an exception to net neutrality.  Many proponents of these amendments say that without these protections innovation will be stifled.

The Parliament struck down the amendments with a strong majority.  Some say that they were unwilling to begin a lengthy amendment process when they already all agreed on the original regulation.

The guidelines are set to come out September of next year.  Enforcement will begin at that time and the true effect of the “fast lanes” will then become evident. There is still some confusion about the enforcement of the regulations in countries like the Netherlands and Finland, who have their own net neutrality laws in place.

Very few countries currently have laws that protect net neutrality.  In the EU, only Sweden, Slovenia, and Finland have protections in place. The U.S. just placed more restrictions regarding net neutrality, and India allows net neutrality to be violated which has led to a number of different situations across the world.  

BBC and RT contributed to this report.