A national coalition of self-described “Internet democracy watchdogs” is calling on Canadians to voice their opinion on the issue of network neutrality and Internet traffic management practices to the CRTC, in advance of their February 16 deadline for comments.
SaveOurNet.ca, a coalition of media watchdogs, industry and public interest groups, says the “debate” pits the interests of “monopoly against the larger interests of Canadian innovation, democracy, and a healthy 21st century economy”.
"There needs to be some basic rules in place to protect Canadian citizens and businesses from being unfairly throttled, blocked or squeezed out by a few telecom giants”, said SaveOurNet.ca co-founder Steve Anderson, in a press release. “If we don’t protect the Internet’s level playing field from unfair monopoly – as the U.S. and other countries now are – Canadian innovation and new media will lose out."
Last November, the CRTC announced that it would launch a proceeding to examine the current and potential traffic management practices of Internet service providers operating in Canada. It asked for comments on a number of specific questions related to changes in bandwidth consumption that may lead to network congestion; Internet traffic management practices based on technical solutions or business models that are currently available or may be developed in the future; and the impact of such practices on end-users.
In addition, the Commission said that it would try to establish the criteria to be used in the event that specific traffic management practices need to be authorized. Comments are due to the CRTC by February 16 and the public hearing has been scheduled to begin on July 6, 2009, in Gatineau.
SaveOurNet.ca is encouraging comments be sent to the CRTC through their website at http://saveournet.ca/content/take-action
