The Net neutrality principle, coined by Tim Wu professor in 2003, review to non discrimination and transparency in bringing traffic on the public network. As we will see, this principle is also a synonym for liberty and equality.
From a semantic point of view, neutrality especially means impartiality and objectivity, which fits to technicity. Indeed, all data is being brought and treated in the same way on the Internet, from their origin point to their final destination. Concretely, the network does not take any account of the content of the packet which will be processed. Then, the ways of blocking the datas’ transmission, traffic damages or the slowdown of the traffic, related to the datas’ type, origin and destination go against the net neutrality principle.
Internet has to remain out of any influences from the States and companies. The network must stay accessible for all with the same access conditions worldwide.
According to this principle, « any user must have, through the network, an access to the whole content, services and applications available on the Internet, however each person delivers or uses them» according to the ARCEP.
With this being said, the respect of public order requires to control illicit content and other illicit behavior. Net neutrality does not mean that Internet is a law free zone but on the contrary, the law must lead to make the Internet a place where anyone can post contents in the same conditions. According to professor Tim Wu, no operator should operate restrictions between applications and content shared on the network. He insists on equal treatment of all the actors on the network. Communications network have to aim for neutrality. (suite…)