THE CAMPAIGN CALLING for a ban on usage-based-billing has caught the attention of Industry Minister Tony Clement, but that’s not enough for the group behind the ‘Stop the Meter’ initiative.
The SaveOurNet coalition called on Minister Clement to support an open Internet, and to request that the CRTC conduct regular audits of Internet service providers (ISPs) in order to prevent traffic shaping practices that discriminate against content or services. After the Twitter version of the petition was directed to his account, an email reply on Clement’s behalf was issued by Pamela Miller, director general of the Telecommunications Policy Branch of the federal government, to those who participated in the campaign.
“I would like to take this opportunity to state unequivocally that this government believes that Canadians should have access to the lawful content of their choice when using the Internet”, Miller’s email reads. “Access to the Internet, and the content and services provided online, all play a critical role in the everyday lives Canadian citizens and businesses. The government is supportive of an Internet that enables all Canadians to fully reap the benefits of the digital economy.”
That prompted a lukewarm response from SaveOurNet which said that while it is “pleased that the government recognizes the importance of the Internet for citizens and industry in Canada”, it is “dismayed by the fact that this rhetoric has not been backed by any action that will ensure Canadians can access the content of their choice”.
In her email, Miller detailed some steps that the CRTC has taken to ensure compliance with its framework, such as sending follow-up letters to some Canadian ISPs earlier this year outlining “ways in which they were required to improve the disclosure of their Internet traffic management practices”.
But SaveOurNet said that it is skeptical “that piecemeal measures like these will ensure that ISPs comply with traffic-management guidelines”.
“Further, the fact that ISPs did not initially follow the rules for transparency indicates that those parties may also be failing to comply with other parts of the CRTC’s guidelines”, the group’s statement continues.
Miller also wrote that “it would be premature” to ask the CRTC to conduct audits of Internet traffic management practices, as “the framework decision is little more than a year old, and no indication from the CRTC that credible complaints have been received”.
SaveOurNet took issue with this comment as well, saying that not only is there “some evidence” that ISPs have been non-compliant, but that the system for enforcement leaves little room for “credible complaints”.
“The onus falls solely on the consumer to report non-compliance, yet they have no access to data from the ISPs about their traffic management practices”, SaveOurNet’s statement continued. “Consumers either don’t know that they need to file a complaint, or don’t have access to the data that would make their complaint credible. It should be the CRTC’s duty to ensure that its policies are enforced, and without spot audits of what they’re actually doing on their networks, the Commission would have to base such a process on the ISP’s self-disclosed practices”.
Miller closed her email by promising that Industry Canada will continue to monitor developments “to ensure that our legislative and regulatory frameworks remain effective”.
– Lesley Hunter
