Tomorrow, the controversial new amendments to the Dutch Telecommunications Act will enter into force. Today, the new Telecommunications Act has been published in the Official Bulletin of Acts, Orders and Decrees. The amendments are -for an important part- implementations of European Directives. The most important changes entail obligations to report data breaches, mandated net neutrality and strict rules for the use of tracking cookies. From tomorrow onwards, companies in the telecom sector have to comply with the new rules.

To accomodate businesses in dealing with the changes of the law, the Dutch government has postponed the entry into force of the most controversial part of the new framework: the legal presumption that the use of a tracking cookie involves the processing personal data. This provision in the new law has important ramifications, as data protection law will apply to the use of tracking cookies. It will remain dormant until January 1st, 2013.

Meanwhile, the European Commission is not amused by the overhaul of Dutch telecom law. Besides being critical about the introduction of net neutrality in the law, the Commission also complains about the fact that the Netherlands and four other Member States did not implement the new telecommunication rules in time. The deadline for implementation was 25 May 2011. The EC has announced legal steps against the Netherlands. The Dutch government simply responded that this is no longer an issue, because the new rules are implemented now.

Read more about the amendments to the Dutch Telecom Act on FutureOfCopyright.com:

• Dutch senate approves new Telecom Act: net neutrality and restricted use of cookies codified
• Amendments to Dutch Telecom law codify net neutrality and restrict the use of cookies

By: Marjolein van der Heide