OTTAWA – The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) says that it will opt out of the CRTC’s Internet Code proceeding after the Commission denied its request for more time and for revisions to the proposed procedure.
In a request dated the day after the CRTC issued its call for comments on setting a code of conduct for Internet service providers, the consumer group asked that the proceeding's timelines be pushed back to March after noting that the deadlines overlap with several other proceedings that it says involve many or all of the parties who typically participate in CRTC telecommunications proceedings.
“The major related proceeding that would affect the Commission’s consideration of a possible Internet Code is of course that leading to the Commission’s anticipated Sales Practices Report, due not until 28 February 2019”, reads the November 10th letter. “It is extremely awkward for the parties to this proceeding to be ignorant of the Commission’s reported views on the potential of a pan-service code of sales conduct before making submissions on an Internet Code that likely will overlap significantly with the potential sales code or similar regulatory controls.”
PIAC’s letter also says that the Commission’s process will lead to a forgone conclusion that closely resembles the proposed draft Code contained in the notice.
The CRTC denied PIAC’s procedural request in a letter dated November 22.
“The CRTC has issued a ‘straw man’ Internet Code to comment on but it’s terrible for consumers,” said PIAC executive director and general counsel John Lawford, in a statement. “That railroading, along with the refusal to extend the deadlines, means that they have closed their minds. In that case, the only option is protest, so we will boycott this proceeding.”
