Changing Brazil's internet bill of rights would be a 'mistake'

Brazil's Marco Civil da Internet, or internet bill of rights, is an achievement of Brazilian society, created following extensive debate between stakeholders, including the private sector and academia – and it must not be changed.

That's according to internet expert Demi Getschko, one of the board members of Brazil's internet steering committee CGI.br and considered the "father of the internet" in Brazil. Getschko is also the only Brazilian in the Internet Hall of Fame, established by the Internet Society to celebrate the history of the web.

CGI, for its part, had a key role in the process that led up to Marco Civil being established.

Getschko's remarks, made during an internet provider conference this week in São Paulo, referred to different bills in congress aimed at altering articles in Marco Civil da Internet.

The purported goal of these changes is to improve the wording of the law and avoid interpretations such as the one that led to the blocking of WhatsApp in Brazil.

According to Getschko, though, such changes are not necessary. Rather, they risk creating collateral effects.

"We must protect Marco Civil. Spread its comprehension and defend its correct use. Changing Marco Civil is a mistake, because the law is based on principles, not on specifics," he said.

FIXED INTERNET FRANCHISE

Another topic at the ISP conference was data limits on fixed broadband plans, a contentious issue that has hit the headlines and drawn heavy criticism from Brazilians. The issue was brought up at the conference by Maximiliano Martinhão, from Brazil's communications, science, technology and innovation ministry.

Martinhão attributed the backlash to "miscommunication" about the fixed broadband data issue by Vivo, the first carrier to mention cutting off service or limiting speed.

"There was a great communication failure, an operator, at an event, said it would do something and from that miscommunication the controversy spread like wildfire," he said. "This is something that was already provided for in the legislation and in most of the contracts. Up to that moment, there were no user complaints. From then on, because of a communication failure, the issue was thrust into the spotlight," Martinhão said during a panel discussion at the event.

The internet and digital inclusion chief of the ministry stressed consumer interests would not be harmed and that service abuses would not be permitted, but he added that "the system has to be profitable for investment to be made."

Martinhão also said the ministry had looked at other countries' sectors and found that none require just a single type of service plan or prohibit capped data plans.

According to João Rezende, president of telecom regulator Anatel and present at the same debate, 90% of local providers sell fixed internet plans but do not limit data consumption, according to an internal survey from the regulator.

He did not reveal how many providers were assessed, though.