Just wanted to visit the site. Can`t load it??? Internal Server Error. Am I the only one that can`t reach the site?

Same here. Internal server error means a bug in website software, it's probably being fixed right now.

I really hope it`s a bug and not already the result of the fucked up internet law the EU has passed lately.

Nah, that would be "External lawsuit error".

What, you mean the law that enshrined net neutrality in European law barring a few safety-critical applications like surgical applications and remote vehicle operation?

Oh, that naughty EU.

Same here: Internal Server Error

-- Germany

Dead from the view of Google too: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=patreon.com
So it's not just the German site that is broken.

Internal Server Error

patreon.com

i guess its common so dont worry i think the site will be up in a few moments.

i guess that still leaves GG to be the worst site regarding downtimes, slowness, and not communicating well with there community/users

Maybe they got hacked again...

Thanks

Are these the only "critical applications" that are exempt from the safety? I guess it's much more and much more mundane things. The industry doesn't want neutrality and they were lobbying like crazy. Surely they have achieved more.

Internal server error means there's something faulty in the software running the site. Meaning, the domain works just fine but the site itself is borked. Most likely the error is not a direct result of the hack, but rather they took everything down quickly until they fix it.

The definition of "specialised services" is slightly more general, but what it amounts to is that any connection sold as a general internet connection cannot give preference to any given type of traffic. It only allows connection services to be sold for specific purposes, and then only if general internet users are not negatively affected. In practice, businesses are likely to struggle to offer specialised services without affecting general users. For example, if T-Online sells a separate IPTV package that only allows streaming video, general T-Online subscribers must not experience increased latency or slower data rates as a result.

There are certain types of data connection that are sold separately and are designed for very specific purposes that demand extremely low latency - for example transmission of real-time vehicle control data, remote surgery, power plant data feeds etc. There are some other service providers that offer "less critical" services but still use dedicated service providers. For example, Deutsche Post has its very own mobile communications ISP for handling the post and parcel tracking systems. There are mobile communication systems in place for bus and train GPS that prioritise data traffic in that field or even exclude all other types of traffic.

What an ISP is not permitted to do is sell something marketed as an all-purpose internet connection and then degrade or lock out certain content in favour of other content.

The "prioritised" traffic is so purpose-specific that in most cases, you're unlikely to want to access it from a domestic internet connection anyway, unless you enjoy sending and receiving police communications and medical diagnostic data from the comfort of your home PC.

Saddens me really that the activists seem to reduce everything to video streaming and games.

Do you mind clarifying a bit more on the stuff I left above? I've been curious about the net neutrality topics but never really enough to care to go dispel the clouds of propaganda / spin. You seem informed... and capable of synthesis. Imagine I'm just a10 year old please... :)

Well, when a boy meets a girl, they fall in love and do grown-up things... :-p

Seriously, though:

What I mean by this is that when a private household signs up for a broadband internet connection at home, or for a mobile internet connection on their smartphone, or if a business signs up for general internet access in an office, ISPs are forbidden by this new law to prioritise or independently block any specific types of traffic.

That doesn't stop ISPs from offering specialised services that are designed for specific types of traffic, like the cases I stated above. An ISP might offer a service that is restricted to certain protocols, for example. The fact that this keeps traffic down means that the service costs less per unit of data transfer.

What these specialised services are not allowed to do is leech off the capacity of general ISP services.

In practice, such specialised services are likely to be a bit of a problem, especially in terms of wired internet. For one thing, running specialised services through the same infrastructure as general internet service (copper wire, fibre optic, cable internet) makes it almost impossible to prevent one from affecting the other, so the reality is that specialised services over wired internet are unlikely to be realisable.

Much of the net neutrality debate has centred around the domestic realm, and one of the most commonly used examples of net neutrality violation is the potential for bottlenecking certain types of traffic like torrents or third-party video streaming services (slow lane) while prioritising the ISP's own services (fast lane) and services that would pay for preferential treatment. That's forbidden by the new EU legislation.

Much of the debate surrounding the new legislation is about "zero rating", where certain content is exempted from bandwidth caps, but seeing as bandwidth caps are a commercial aspect and nothing to do with how data actually flows through the internet, it's not really relevant. Besides, it ties in with what I was talking about above.