Israeli Government Approves Net Neutrality Bill for Legislation

The Israeli Government's Ministerial committee for Legislation recently approved for legislation the bill amending the Communications Law (Telecommunications and Broadcasting), which proposes to prohibit Internet access providers and other telecom companies from restricting or blocking the transmission of data transiting through their networks, the applications and protocols that end-users use and the communications equipment connected to such networks (see the proposed bill in Hebrew). According the Ministry of Communications' press release, the purpose of the bill is to "prevent owners of telecom infrastructures from abusing their power and restricting the consumer's ability to obtain services from other providers or through different applications. This bill will subsequently facilitate full competition among the access and service providers in the Internet marketplace, thereby enhancing the consumer's ability to utilize a variety of applications." Source: The Ministry of Communications (in Hebrew).