THE HAGUE — When Bruno Leenders takes the 50-minute train ride to Amsterdam, he likes to stream blues and funk music through his smartphone. At home, Mr. Leenders, a Dutch technology consultant, watches Steven Seagal action movies on Netflix. Between meetings, he dashes off a few emails.
Mr. Leender’s digital life has not changed all that much in the two years since the Netherlands started demanding that Internet providers treat all traffic equally, the same sort of rules that the United States adopted on Thursday.
His bill has gone up just marginally. He surfs, streams and downloads at the same speed — if not a little faster given the upgrades to Netherlands’ network, already one of the world’s best.
In short, the new law was not the Internet Armageddon that many Dutch telecommunications companies, industry lobbyists and some lawmakers had predicted.
“I can still watch what I want, when I want,” Mr. Leenders said on a half-empty commuter train recently, as he checked his emails and the latest news on his smartphone. “It is not up to any company to tell what I can do online.”
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In contrast, the Dutch authorities have taken a harsher line on so-called zero-rating deals. Those deals allow operators to offer free access to certain online services like music streaming as part of monthly cellphone or broadband contracts.
Under the Dutch rules, such agreements are outlawed because they prioritize some Internet traffic over others. But experts predict that the F.C.C. will offer more leeway in this area, provided it does not harm the overall market.
And there are signs that Dutch regulators are taking an increasingly tough line with operators that try to skirt the rules. Vodafone was fined $225,000 last month after bundling HBO’s smartphone app into its monthly package, which was deemed a violation of the zero-rating prohibition. KPN, Vodafone’s main rival, received a $280,000 penalty for blocking Internet calling services on some of its Wi-Fi hot spots.
“As a way to protect consumers, net neutrality has worked,” said Bart W. Schermer, a partner at Considerati, a Dutch technology consultancy. “More than anything else, it’s created a level playing field.”
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