The French government has put forward a new plan that could enshrine net neutrality in national law. If it passes, France would become the third country in Europe (after the Netherlands and Slovenia joined the club this year—Norway, too, has a similar, but, voluntary system), to enact such a policy and the fourth in the world, after Chile. […]
“The fact that the opinion is to only inscribe in the law a ‘principle’ without describing infractions and penalties and the place where it shall be written is what makes it toothless and probably makes the telcos not so worried,” said Jérémie Zimmerman, of La Quadrature du Net, a Paris-based activist group, in an instant message chat with Ars. […]
“[We just want] something in the telecommunications act to say, ‘restricting communications based on the sender, or receiver, or type of data is illegal, and if you do it, you’ll be sanctioned,‘” he added. “Except for the security of the network and its users, or temporary and non-foreseeable congestion. That’s what we call effective protection of net neutrality.” […]
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/03/france-could-become-worlds-third-net-neutrality-nation/