European regulator finds blocking of P2P and VoIP is common amongst ISPs

The body of European regulators of electronic communications, which is composed of the heads from 27 national regulators has published its preliminary findings of Internet traffic management practices by broadband ISPs and mobile operators in Europe. The practices were found to “vary widely” between countries and providers with two exceptions, the blocking of Skype and BitTorrent traffic is common.

While it is pretty normal that most Internet providers will employ some form of Internet filtering and traffic management/traffic shaping measures as a means to balance the performance of the networks some fear that providers could already be abusing their position as gatekeepers of Internet to impose excessive or unfair restrictions against any rival services. Due to lack of hard evidence, both the UK and Europe have called for ISPs to be more transparent within limits and ensure that consumers still have access to all “legal content and services”.

Not everybody agrees with this though.