Net Neutrality Debate Comes to Canada

According to this article from Canadian Press, the debate in Canada over internet neutrality - or regulation of internet service providers' (ISP's) ability to favour selected content - has begun:

Industry Minister Maxime Bernier is currently poring over a report by the federally appointed Telecommunications Policy Review Panel that recommends changes to the Telecommunications Act, including replacing a clause on "unjust discrimination" that does little to either uphold the principles of Net neutrality or prevent it from being violated.

What telecom companies most want is to promote their own content, says Ben Scott of the American media watchdog Free Press and SavetheInternet.com. "If I'm Telus and I've just created my own Telus iTunes and I decide I want my Telus iTunes to work better than Apple's, well, too bad for Apple," says Scott in a telephone interview from
Washington, D.C.

"Essentially they set themselves up as gatekeepers and they say: 'Well, we own the wires and instead of treating all bits alike in a non-discriminatory fashion, we're going to set up special deals and if you have the money, you can pay us to make your websites go much faster. And you can pay us to set up an exclusive deal where your website goes very fast and your competitor's doesn't.' "

Net neutrality has been a cause celebre for bloggers and media watchdogs in the U.S. for quite some time. It has critical implications for the future direction of the internet in Canada.

The current internet environment is one of unfettered, equal opportunity for small businesses and previously unheard voices.

Professional marketers often remark that the internet is a "level communications playing field" that makes it possible for smaller enterprises to compete globally with ease and clout. The costs of global access would have been entirely prohibitive in prior times.

Net neutrality is the legal vehicle for maintaning democratized, equal access. The emerging debate is a critical one.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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