EU votes down net neutrality bill

The European Parliament has voted against a set of rules intended to safeguard "net neutrality" in the EU.

A series of amendments to a regulation on how internet traffic is managed in Europe were all rejected by MEPs.

Proponents of net neutrality, who demand that web traffic be treated equally by networks, have already criticised the move.

The existing legislation, which was accepted, will be developed into regulations.

Campaigners have said that provisions for protecting net neutrality in the existing text of the rules are too vague and many worry that it will be easy for internet firms to strike deals with content providers which may not be advantageous for everyone.

Although some campaigners had suggested there might be growing support for the amendments within the parliament, all were voted down in large majorities.

Prior to the vote, the inventor of the world wide web Sir Tim Berners-Lee and a host of tech companies - including Netflix, Reddit and Kickstarter - had expressed their support for the amendments and urged MEPs to vote them through.