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what? are we asleep at our computers??? | ChangeEverything.ca
Net Neutrality’ (the freedom of all users to have equal access to the internet) has become a huge and successful campaign in the States, but in Canada hardly anyone knows about it, or knows that what we all take for granted now is threatened.
I used to believe that Net Neutrality was an issue for the U.S.A. ISP providers and users.
Not anymore: 
In recent weeks this site has seen visitors from government offices including Industry Canada, Canadian Heritage, the Parliament and the Privy Council. Net neutrality is clearly an issue that is on this government’s radar.
Network neutrality is critically important to Canadians as it preserves the democratic spirit of the Internet and guarantees that all Canadians, not just rich corporations, have fair and equal access.
Recently, network neutrality has come under attack by a number of Canadian corporations, many of whom you will find listed on this site. Demonstrably, net neutrality is not a hypothetical problem; it is one that is occurring today, on the ground, in Canada.
Many critics of network neutrality claim that all government regulation should be avoided and instead a laissez-faire attitude should be adopted. This ignores the fact the incumbents in the telecommunications industry obtained their positions through decades of government granted monopoly.
The sad state of the telecommunications market in Canada is that there is insufficient consumer choice and this prevents these otherwise correct free market principles from working as intended.
The article/letter goes on to demonstrate how Telus blocked the public’s access to pro-union websites during their labour dispute and how Videotron – neutrality.ca’s – provider now wants to add a transmission tarrif for delivering content that customers have already paid for:
To get to neutrality.ca, Videotron’s subscribers are paying Videotron for access to the sprintlink backbone. Like most services, the company’s that provide them, must incur expense, add a reasonable margin and resell those services to consumers. This is what Videotron does. They are not hurting by video being transfered on their network. They are simply being forced to provide the service which their customers already pay for. This excess does not belong to you Videotron; its bought, its paid for, by your customers!
Read it all…. Then sign the letter and call or email your MP!!
See also: Canada Sleeps Through The War To Save The Internet
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Technorati Tags: netneutrality, canada, politics, activism, changeeverything
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