EU Parliament approves Telecom package
The European Parliament has approved the reform of European telecom rules, known as Telecom package. The overhaul is meant to strengthen the rights of phone users and Internet surfers and boost competition among telecoms firms. One major point of argument, namely banning users from the Internet who have been found to infringe copyright, had earlier been settled by an arbitration commission.
Under the new EU rules, a user's Internet access may only be cut off if "appropriate, proportionate and necessary within a democratic society" and only after "a prior, fair and impartial procedure" which gives users the opportunity to state their case and respects the principles of presumption of innocence and the right to privacy.