Spain to consider Instant Messaging providers as telecommunication providers

The Spanish government is preparing a tax for instant messaging services. A bill is underway that will affect applications like WhatsApp, the favorite in the country, or Telegram, in full explosion.

This new law, which should be passed through Parliament by summer 2021, responds to requests from telecom operators who are calling for equal tax treatment with new players in their sector.

While traditional operators are supervised and taxed, Internet messaging platforms, on the contrary, have total freedom for sometimes similar offers, in terms of calls or voice or written messages

More information here.

CJUE landmark ruling on net neutrality closing loophole in zero-rating practices

In a landmark ruling handed down Tuesday morning, the EU’s highest court, the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU), confirmed it is illegal to block or slow down traffic once the user’s data cap is reached, just because that traffic isn’t part of a zero-rating deal.

This was the first time the court had been asked to interpret the wording of the EU’s 2015 net-neutrality law—the term “net neutrality” refers to the principle of equal treatment for all the traffic that passes over operators’ networks.

At the time of the law’s passage, net-neutrality advocates were deeply concerned that loopholes would allow operators to get away with practices that prioritize some traffic over other traffic, for commercial rather than technical reasons.

For more information on the CJUE ruling, click here.