Net Neutrality is likely a very foreign concept to most Canadians. It is a critical issue in terms of free speech, fairness, consumer law, connectivity, productivity, fair trade rules and the overall 21st century competitiveness of the country.
It is essentially that all Internet users should have the same rights to use the technology within the law. Some service providers are charging for services they are not providing because the "throttle" bandwidth. That means they restrict bandwidth to customers under the discretion of the Internet service provider and without notice or adjustment of payment. Some of the big boys in the ISP world claim they need to do this for technical reasons but that is a factious argument since not all of the big boys do it.
The CRTC has been holding hearing on the issue. The outcome of these hearing will be a fundamental to the future of rights and freedoms as it will be to economic and community capacities of the country.
Michael Geist has a very good summary column in the Toronto Star. It is a good place to start to get you heard around the issues.
Showing posts with label Net Neutrality;. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Net Neutrality;. Show all posts
Monday, July 20, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Canada's Privacy Commissioner Not Amused on How Net Neutrality Can Invade Personal Privacy Rights.
The Canadian Privacy Commissioner has weighed in on the CRTC hearings on issues of Net Neutrality and he is not amused. In considering the invasive privacy issues that would ensue (sic) by allowing ISPs to "manage the network" in the way proposed would be "less than transparent."
The Commissioner noted that some Canadians have already complained to him about invasions of their privacy by ISPs and "These complaints are currently being investigated." Good.
He goes on to note his office is involved in "conducting ongoing research into the privacy implications of DPI and Internet throttling, from a legal, policy-based and technical perspective." Good.
He is soon to publish a series of essays on privacy and Internet ISP issues written by international experts and will also be launching an interactive website to "facilitate public discussion and education." Good.
Here is a link to his submission and hat tip to Michael Geist for the heads up on Twitter.
The Commissioner noted that some Canadians have already complained to him about invasions of their privacy by ISPs and "These complaints are currently being investigated." Good.
He goes on to note his office is involved in "conducting ongoing research into the privacy implications of DPI and Internet throttling, from a legal, policy-based and technical perspective." Good.
He is soon to publish a series of essays on privacy and Internet ISP issues written by international experts and will also be launching an interactive website to "facilitate public discussion and education." Good.
Here is a link to his submission and hat tip to Michael Geist for the heads up on Twitter.
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