Net neutrality changes in U.S. could impact Canada
U.S. regulator debating whether to bar ISPs from selling 'fast lane' internet service to content providers
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The epic battle in the U.S. over who gets to shape the future of the internet got even more heated this week when President Barack Obama weighed in in favour of net neutrality, urging regulators to ban cable companies from creating a two-tier information superhighway that would allow some websites to buy their way into a fast lane.
■Obama pressures FCC for strong net neutrality rules
■The net neutrality battle: EU, Brazil opt for more equal access
"We cannot allow internet service providers to restrict the best access or to pick winners and losers in the online marketplace for services and ideas," Obama said in a statement to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which is in the process of drafting new rules on net neutrality, the practice of treating all content on the internet equally regardless of where it's coming from.
Canada generally has stronger net neutrality protections than the U.S. thanks to the internet traffic management practices the CRTC adopted in 2009. These prevent carriers from engaging in traffic shaping that is "unjustly discriminatory" or "unduly preferential."
The Telecommunications Act also prohibits them from giving "undue or unreasonable" preference or disadvantage to any one party.
'We may not live in the U.S., but many of our favourite websites do.'
- Josh Tabish, Open Media
It also helps that Canada treats internet access as a telecommunications service whereas the U.S. considers it an "information service," which is not as strictly regulated. Obama and other supporters of net neutrality want the FCC to reclassify broadband internet as a public utility akin to telephone service and place it under Title II of the Communications Act, which offers some of the same protections as Canada’s regulations.
Read more at the link: http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/net-neutrality-changes-in-u-s-could-impact-canada-1.2831423
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