Chile's law on net neutrality entered into force

The government of Chile has published their law on net neutrality in the Diario Oficial, the official gazette. This means the principle of internet neutrality is now officially established in Chile, by Jorge Atton, Chile's undersecretary for telecommunications. As far as I know, Chile is the only country to have such legislation to date.

Several Chilean newspapers report on the offcial entry into force of this controversial law, which has been approved in the summer of 2010. Internet service providers (ISPs) in Chile now have 120 days to adjust their services to comply with the new law.

The new regulations on net neutrality require ISPs to "ensure access to all types of content, services or applications available on the network and offer a service that does not distinguish content, applications or services, based on their source or their properties". The legislation also requires ISPs to provide to their customers the option of parental controls that block objectionable content. ISP must also ensure that any person can access the internet, as well as requiring written consent before paying for online services and ensuring that ISPs have proper privacy and security measures in place.

Although the new regulations aim to ensure online freedom, the dilemma’s of a completely free internet inevitably surface in this law. The possibility of filtering content unsuitable for kids, that is created in this law, shows that absolute neutrality in terms of content is difficult to achieve. Furthermore, it is unclear how ISPs will be able to handle the increasing demand for internet services in terms of infrastructure, without managing traffic.

It will be interesting to follow closely how this new legislation will be put into practice and how filtering and network managing exceptions develop in this context. Chile is now the ultimate testcase of the viability of net neutrality on the world wide web.

Sources: Emol,  Telecompaper, Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional de Chile