I welcome the opportunity to comment on the European Commission’s Public Consultation on Specific Aspects of Transparency, Traffic Management and Switching in an Open Internet.1 I submit these comments as a professor of law and, by courtesy, electrical engineering at Stanford University whose research focuses on Internet architecture, innovation and regulation and as a German citizen who cares deeply about the future of the Internet in the European Union. My book “Internet Architecture and Innovation,” which was published by MIT Press in 2010 and just appeared in paperback, is considered the seminal work on the science, economics and politics of network neutrality. My papers on network neutrality have influenced discussions on network neutrality all over the world.2 I have testified on matters of Internet architecture, innovation and regulation before the US Federal Communications Commission.3 I have not been retained or paid by any of the parties to this consultation.
My recent paper “Network Neutrality and Quality of Service: What a Non-Discrimination Rule Should Look Like,”4 which I attach, directly addresses many of the issues raised by this consultation. The paper explores the relationship between network neutrality, non-discrimination rules and Quality of Service in detail.