Brazilian Ministry Of Justice Publishes Draft Of Regulatory Decree For Internet Legal Framework

The Brazilian Ministry of Justice published today, for public consultation, the first draft regulation for the Internet Legal Framework. The draft decree sets out specific rules with respect to net neutrality and data collection by connection and application providers. The public consultation ends on February 29, and comments can be submitted via the Ministry of Justice′s website.

The Internet Civil Framework′s net neutrality requires that all data transmitted over the Internet be treated equally, without discrimination based on content, origin, destination, service, terminal or application. There are two exceptions where discrimination is permitted: (i) in view of technical requirements for the provision of internet services or (ii) if necessary for prioritizing emergency services. The draft regulation sets forth an exhaustive list of situations that meet such exceptions, such as processing network security matters (including restricting the delivery of spam and controlling DoS attacks) and "processing indispensable matters for the adequate enjoyment of applications, in view of the user experience quality warranty" (although the draft does not specify what such matters may be).

The draft also addresses commercial agreements between telecommunications operators and...