Calm Down — Corporate Amerikkka isn’t going to steal your precious Internet
February 19, 2007 · By Joel
Hill Times: Net Neutrality lobby draws some big guns:
Network neutrality advocates say that legislation should be introduced to ensure that internet users have equitable access to any web content they choose, from blogs to commercial sites to peer-to-peer file-sharing, without limitations imposed by internet service providers. Those in favour of network neutrality legislation say that, without it, internet service providers have the potential to “discriminate” against internet users by creating inequitable access and allowing corporate and commercial interests to dominate the web.
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The Canadian Press caused a stir this month when it reported on a set of Question Period responses prepared for Industry Minister Maxime Bernier (Beauce, Que.), which, dated Nov. 16, 2006, described the minister’s position on network neutrality. In response to a proposed question on the minister’s position, the notes say that public policy options must consider consumer protection, but that market forces should be used to the “greatest extent feasible” to shape the internet’s infrastructure.
The fuss over ‘net neutrality’ in the U.S. is starting to leak across the border. But people advocating for increased regulation in Canada are missing the point. In the U.S., it was a recent change in FCC policy that sparked this controversy. Specifically, in 2005, the FCC redefined DSL from a “telecommunication service” to an “information service” which meant it was no longer subject to regulation as a “common carrier.” This redefinition sparked concern that broadband providers would be able to charge higher prices for certain types of traffic.
In Canada, on the other hand, nothing has changed. The same regulatory framework has been in place for as long as the Web’s been around, and Rogers and Bell haven’t destroyed the Internet yet. So relax. As the Rogers spokesman put it:
“We aren’t blocking anyone’s packets and websites and we don’t have any intention of doing so… we don’t think the regulators should create a bunch of rules to prevent something that isn’t happening anyway, because you never know what the future will hold.”
Solid advice.  And it applies to more than just the Internet.
We aren’t blocking anyone’s packets and websites and we don’t have any intention of doing so… we don’t think the regulators should create a bunch of rules to prevent something that isn’t happening anyway, because you never know what the future will hold.â€Â
Do I really have to point out that Telus has been known to block specific addresses when they have been politically inconvenient?
All I can say is that if you “trust” to the goodwill of corporations (or even their indifference), you will sooner or later find out that corporations act in their own interests, and seldom the public’s.
We need a real debate on net neutrality in Canada. The fact is that Canadian ISPs are blocking traffic and throttling bandwidth for some applications, such as bittorrent or voip. They have clear conflicts of interest with respect to their media and telecom holdings.
I would prefer a market solution. However, we do have a pretty tight oligopoly/monopoly in the provision of internet services in most Canadian markets. The issue is not black and white, but has many shades of gray. We want to encourage investment in advanced networks, but at the same time, we must ensure access to those networks on a equitable basis.
I work on net neutrality issues in the US and believe that any attempt by our Congress to legislate net neutrality will bring Internet development and innovation to a halt on both sides of the borders. The US Congress does not regulate lightly, and so-called net neutrality legislation would remove all incentive for the American telcos to expand broadband capability, which would affect the quality and capability of the Internet for not only Americans but also any Canadians trying to access information based in the US. You can find more information about the debate over net neutrality in the US by visiting my coalitions website at http://www.handsoff.org.
any attempt by our Congress to legislate net neutrality will bring Internet development and innovation to a halt on both sides of the borders
Waitasec – that logic doesn’t quite parse for me.
The “net” starts off as a “neutral” creature to begin with. Over the last 25 years or so, there’s been an amazing amount of innovation and development by both commercial and non-commercial entities.
Now, you argue that a regulatory environment that reinforces that neutrality is going to kill any innovation? Sorry, but that doesn’t make a lot of sense.
>The fact is that Canadian ISPs are blocking traffic and throttling bandwidth for some applications, such as bittorrent or voip.
Allowing distinctions to be drawn between priorities is exactly why net neutrality should be left dead. We don’t need bittorrent applications and other greedy strategies to degrade overall performance.
All I can say is that if you “trust†to the goodwill of corporations (or even their indifference), you will sooner or later find out that corporations act in their own interests, and seldom the public’s.
I “trust the goodwill of corporations” slightly more than I trust the goodwill of government.
If you don’t like your ISP throttling your torrents, then switch to another ISP that doesn’t.