SaveOurNet.ca is a coalition of citizens, businesses, and public interest groups fighting to protect our Internet's level playing field. We're calling on lawmakers and industry to protect openness, choice, and access for ALL Canadians — and stopping lobbyists and special interests from ruining Canada's Internet.

NDP MP Charlie Angus asks: Who will protect consumers from net throttling?

Submitted by Steve Anderson on Thu, 11/20/2008 - 19:48.

OTTAWA - NDP Digital Issues Critic, Charlie Angus (Timmins – James Bay), says that today’s CRTC decision on Net Neutrality is a blow to the protection of an open internet in Canada. The decision validates the internet service providers’ (ISPs) practice of unilaterally deciding what constitutes ‘reasonable network management,’ despite the fact that they stand to gain financially from the unfair practice.

“Whether it’s throttling the internet, imposing unfair text message fees or price gouging on cell-phone rates, it seems Canadian telcos can count on the backing of this government,” Angus said. “CRTC is applying outdated rules that this government has refused to change, leaving the average consumer and emerging business models at the mercy of the Telecom Giants.”

Angus says the decision will hurt efforts for maintaining an open and neutral internet infrastructure. He does, however, welcome the CRTC's promise to engage in a further investigation of network management practices in Canada.

“The next round of this fight starts today,” Angus said. “The CRTC failed in its first chance to stand up to an agenda that is anti-competitive, anti-innovation, and anti-consumer, but the fight for fair and transparent internet management will continue to grow.”

In the last parliament, Angus introduced bill C-552, the first piece of legislation in Canada that would prevent telecommunication giants from arbitrarily throttling internet traffic in an unreasonable way.

“What’s at stake with Net Neutrality is the future of the innovation agenda in Canada,” said Angus. “Plainly speaking, the Telco Giants have shown that padding their bottom line is far more important than making sure Canada stays on the cutting edge of innovation.”

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For More Information: Parliamentary Office of Charlie Angus, Jeremy Huws - 613-992-3165

Tell the CRTC what you think of their decision

Submitted by Steve Anderson on Thu, 11/20/2008 - 15:52.

*(NEW) The CRTC sided with Big Telecom and failed online consumers. The CRTC has announced that it will not force Bell Canada to stop its controversial Internet throttling practices. It is more important than ever for Canadians to speak up.

*ACTION ITEM*


Tell The CRTC What you think

The CRTC has announced that it will not force Bell Canada to stop its controversial Internet throttling practices. The CRTC has announced a larger public hearing on these issues, and your voice should be heard. This is just is the opening round in what promises to be a much larger ongoing battle. Join people from across Canada in sending a letter to the CRTC to tell them to support an open Internet

Take action here:
http://saveournet.ca/content/take-action

CRTC sides with Big Telecom and Fails Online Consumers

Submitted by Steve Anderson on Thu, 11/20/2008 - 15:23.

PRESS RELEASE

Promises broader inquiry into issue of throttling and network neutrality

Vancouver, November 20, 2008: In a move that has disappointed many Canadian high-tech leaders and public interest groups, the CRTC has announced that it will not force Bell Canada to stop its controversial Internet throttling practices. The decision has renewed calls for Canada's policymakers to protect "net neutrality," the principle that all online content and services should be treated equally without discrimination.

The CRTC decision comes in response to a request from the Canadian Association of Internet Providers (CAIP) that Bell stop throttling other Internet service providers that use its network. More than 2,000 Canadians across the country filed letters with the CRTC supporting CAIP’s request.

CAIP has been in limbo since April waiting for the CRTC decision. CAIP argued that Bell’s throttling practices violated telecommunication regulations, gave Bell an unfair market advantage, and interfered with Canadians' online privacy.

SaveOurNet.ca coordinator Steve Anderson says, "This decision underscores the need to protect Canada's open Internet. The CRTC's ruling skirts the real issue here: Bell's throttling of its direct competitors. We understand the need for Internet Service Providers like Bell to manage their networks. But that doesn't give them a blank cheque to behave in discriminatory or anti-competitive ways. Policymakers in the U.S. are now moving to protect net neutrality, and Canada needs to do the same. If we don't, Canadian consumers, small businesses, and real competition will lose out."

Last June, CRTC head Konrad von Finckenstein said that a further, deeper probe into net neutrality and throttling on a larger scale is likely in the future. Net neutrality advocates say today's CRTC decision is the opening round in what promises to be a much larger ongoing battle.

Media Advisory: CRTC to Make Landmark Decision on Internet Freedom

Submitted by Steve Anderson on Wed, 11/19/2008 - 22:16.

Media Advisory: CRTC to Make Landmark Decision on Internet Freedom

Decision to define Canada’s digital path

According to the CBC, after twice delaying the ruling, the CRTC will make a landmark decision on the Bell Throttling case by 9 a.m. tomorrow. The decision will determine whether Bell Canada has violated the Telecommunications Act by slowing down the Internet access it sells to wholesale customers.

Steve Anderson from SaveOurNet.ca coalition will be available for comment.

Steve said today, “This decision has huge implications for Internet service competition online innovation, consumer choice and free speech. The biggest battle over the Internet is yet to come, but this ruling will signal whether the CRTC is willing to take action to put Canada on a path that supports online innovation, and online choice. Otherwise the CRTC is abdicating its responsibility to Canadian people and putting us on a path towards a more closed Internet defined by the interests of big telecom companies.”

Bell began throttling its own Sympatico retail customers in October 2007, and extended the practice in March to CAIP members, which rent portions of Bell's network to provide internet service to their own customers. The CRTC rejected CAIP's call for an immediate cease-and-desist order but launched a public investigation into Bell's actions.

About SaveOurNet.ca:
SaveOurNet.ca is a coalition of citizens, businesses, and public interest groups fighting to protect our Internet's level playing field. We're calling on lawmakers and industry to protect openness, choice, and access for ALL Canadians — and stopping lobbyists and special interests from ruining Canada's Internet.

A list of coalition members can be found here:
http://saveournet.ca/members

Background information about the issue of Net Neutrality can be found in our “Fact vs Fiction” report:
http://saveournet.ca/sites/default/files/SON_FvF.pdf

CRTC to rule on Bell's throttling Tomorrow!

Submitted by Steve Anderson on Wed, 11/19/2008 - 21:06.

According to the CBC We will have a decision from the CRTC on the Bell Throttling case by 9 a.m. tomorrow after twice delaying the ruling. The decision will determine whether Bell Canada has violated the Telecommunications Act by slowing down the internet access it sells to wholesale customers.

Bell began throttling its own Sympatico retail customers in October 2007, and extended the practice in March to CAIP members, which rent portions of Bell's network to provide internet service to their own customers. The CRTC rejected CAIP's call for an immediate cease-and-desist order but launched a public investigation into Bell's actions.

A ruling against Bell would likely allow CAIP members to sell unthrottled internet services, thus giving them a competitive advantage over the company and others that slow peer-to-peer applications, such as Rogers Communications Inc. and Shaw Communications Inc.

Bigger throttling probe likely

A decision against CAIP may not necessarily close the door on the throttling issue, however. CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein this summer said a decision on the Bell-CAIP case will be limited to whether the company has violated its wholesale agreements with the smaller providers. A more detailed CRTC probe into whether throttling should be allowed in a general sense will likely follow, he said.

Read the entire CBC story:
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/11/19/tech-crtc.html?ref=rss

Reach P2Pnet coverage:
http://www.p2pnet.net/story/17638

TAKE ACTION NOW

Does Social Media Have an Immune System?

Submitted by Steve Anderson on Tue, 11/18/2008 - 07:57.

Canada has a remarkably vibrant social media community. According to Michael Geist, we have the second highest per capita usage of Facebook in the world. Our cities are also stacked with revered social media innovators and well-followed media and technology commentators. Many of these organizations and personalities reach thousands or more with a stroke of key.

What is Social Media?

Social media is a term used to describe web-based tools, spaces and practices people use to interact and share information online. For example, social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Myspace provide online tools that can be used for practices such as sharing media and engaging in online conversations, while also providing users with online personal space that form a repository of shared media and social interactions.

Other commonly used social media tools include blogs, wikis, tags, social bookmarking, and RSS feeds. Social media tools, spaces and practices enable people to develop virtual communities by exchanging stories and experiences, and thereby developing a shared sense of meaning.

The CRTC Should Stop Internet Gatekeepers

Submitted by Steve Anderson on Wed, 11/12/2008 - 11:47.

In the coming days the federal communications regulator will issue a landmark ruling that has huge implications for Canadians’ access to the Internet. The CRTC decision will determine whether Bell and other big telecoms can continue to “throttle” Internet service.

Please take a few seconds to tell the CRTC to stop Internet throttling. Your voice could be the deciding factor!

TAKE ACTION NOW

The commissioners have already twice delayed releasing their ruling, suggesting that they are struggling to make a decision. We need to make it very clear to the CRTC which side the Canadian public is on. http://saveournet.ca/content/take-action

Until recently, Canada's Internet was an open network – a level playing field for free speech and innovation. All that is now threatened by a handful of corporations that want to control a “gatekeeper network” in which they decide what content and services get the fastest access to our homes.

These companies have been caught:

• throttling or slowing Internet traffic to businesses and consumers;

• blocking access to websites that criticized them;

• crippling consumer devices and applications.


The upcoming CRTC decision will have major and long-lasting implications for our Internet. Our online level playing field of innovation and free speech hangs in the balance.

Please Take Action and invite your fellow Canadians to do the same!


Start here: http://saveournet.ca/content/take-action

Other Actions:

Join the Facebook Group:
http://tinyurl.com/66g7wg
-and add http://saveournet.ca to your status update

Invite Your Facebook Friends to Join our group:
http://tinyurl.com/5qteva


---------------------------------------

Coalition rallies public to support Open Internet

Submitted by Steve Anderson on Wed, 11/12/2008 - 11:43.

Press Release
For Immediate Release
November 12, 2008

SaveOurNet.ca is calling on citizens to contact the CRTC before it hands down its decision on the Canadian Alliance of Internet Service Provider’s (CAIP) application to have Bell cease and desist from its throttling of P2P Internet traffic. The CRTC decision is expected to be issued any day now.

SaveOurNet.ca coalition co-founder Steve Anderson explains, “it is crucial that the CRTC rule that Bell must cease throttling to prevent Canada becoming the backwater of the Internet. Allowing Bell, Rogers and other ISPs to throttle third party Internet traffic limits ISP competition and puts the breaks on online innovation and free speech.”

Throttling not only restricts the services that users have paid for, it also hinders innovation, entrepreneurship, new media and freedom of speech. The CRTC needs to ensure in its ruling that Canada maintains “net neutrality”, the guiding rule that preserves a free, open and non-discriminatory Internet. Net neutrality mandates that ISPs operate their networks without regard to the content that flows over them.

If Bell continues to throttle access to the Internet in a discriminatory way (by, for example, actively manipulating traffic flow speeds for Third Party ISPs), independent and small-scale media producers won’t be able to effectively serve their audiences. Allowing Bell, Rogers and other ISPs to continue their throttling practices will eliminate competition, restrict freedom in the flow of information, and remove transparency in Canada's Internet environment.

More evidence against typcasting P2P users as your average amoral teenage neighbour...

Submitted by Robert Hester on Thu, 10/23/2008 - 16:43.

Forecast: Legal P2P uses growing 10x faster than illegal ones
P2P is "starting to see a lot more legitimate uses," says Frank Dickson of MultiMedia Intelligence. He's talking about his company's new report on P2P growth that projects a 400 percent increase in such Internet traffic over the next five years. But more surprising than the growth rate, which has been in decline now for some time, is the fact that it's P2P's lawful uses that are seeing the biggest growth.

For small content providers, especially companies involved in video, paying for a content delivery network can eat up a significant chunk of revenue. Done right, P2P distribution can save valuable cash for these providers, which is why Dickson sees P2P's lawful uses growing 10 times faster than its illicit uses.

Read the rest: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081022-forecast-legal-p2p-uses-gr...

Canada's broadband development is now fodder for internet jokesters

Submitted by Robert Hester on Tue, 10/14/2008 - 15:12.

Today Canada topped the front page of popular user-submitted technology site, Digg.com. But the reference was, unfortunately, making fun of the state of broadband development in Canada:

As I've previously blogged, Canada is indeed in serious risk of falling way behind:

But if the rest of the world’s internet providers are finding methods of keeping all applications fast, “even during peak periods”, shouldn’t we be asking our ISPs why they can’t do the same? The Oxford-Oviedo study that Peter Nowak cites in his report found that 22 countries, “led by Japan, Sweden and the Netherlands, met today's thresholds, while 20 did not, including Canada. China and India fared worst.”

So, why hasn’t Canada been able to keep up? Should we blame the greedy P2P downloaders? Mr. Nowak has a different idea:

“Canadian phone companies have also held back on upgrading their networks by opting to roll out new high-capacity fibre lines only as far as neighbourhoods, rather than directly to customers' homes in order to achieve the sorts of speeds seen in Japan.

Jeff Campbell, senior director of technology and communications policy for Cisco, said Canada has become too comfortable with its early lead and is not investing enough.

"You can never rest on your laurels in the broadband world because the demands of the market and consumers are constantly increasing," he said. "That is where the investment needs to go. Canada is going to have to continue to invest in improving its infrastructure."”

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