Yesterday, Brazil took an important step to establish the rights and obligations of users and companies on the Internet. The text of Marco Civil da Internet (Civil Rights Framework for the Internet) was approved in a symbolic voting in the Chamber of Deputies and now goes to the Senate for analysis. All parties (except PPS) oriented their representatives to approve the project reported by Congressman Alessandro Molon (PT-RJ).The bill - which deals with issues such as privacy, freedom of speech and net neutrality - was the first the Federal Government placed for online public consultation. The enquiry began in October 2009, an initiative of the Ministry of Justice with the support of the Center for Technology and Society at FGV's Rio de Janeiro Law School.The bill establishes rights and duties in the use of the Internet in Brazil and brings many improvements over privacy, personal data protection, freedom of speech and net neutrality.The purpose is to define the rights of Brazilian internet users and the obligations of web service providers, such as ISPs and online tools.According to the CTS Manager, Luiz Fernando Moncau, the most controversial rule of the text - which included a requirement for internet companies to store data of Brazilian citizens in the national territory - was removed in the vote yesterday after a consensus between the governing coalition and the opposition. As for net neutrality, the point that ensures competition and innovation, and harshly criticized by telecommunications companies was maintained.Marco Civil da Internet is a law that will define which are the parameters of freedom of speech, competition and innovation in Brazil in the Internet and the exercise of our rights for the next 20 years. We have issues related to competitiveness and innovation that are extremely important. If I want to create a new service, for example, the great advantage of the internet is to be able to make it available to the whole world. Without network neutrality, I cannot. I would need to make an agreement with telecom companies, which will determine if my service is affordable or not for consumers, said Moncau.