The CRTC on March 3 reiterated that third-party companies should continue to be able to rent telephone companies’ networks in order to provide their own customers with phone and internet services. The regulator considered this network access as essential for smaller companies to offer their services, and for some of them to survive.

In its appeal, Bell said such regulation is no longer necessary now that there is enough competition in phone and internet markets. In home phones, Bell is competing with a number of major cable companies, not to mention Voice over Internet Protocol providers and cellphone carriers. On the internet side, Bell faces competition from cable companies.

Uh huh.  This isn’t good enough.  No, Bell, you’re not really facing heavy competition.  There are only three mobile phone companies in Canada and, what, 3-4 companies who control the consumer-available Internet pipes.  As for local phone service, well, I don’t buy it.  Cable cos are probably the only real competition, but POTS still is the only service that will work without power or the Internet.

Traffic shaping, while it seems like a sensible approach, ignores the fact that P2P and torrents are still a new technology and could, very likely become the distribution tool of choice for things other than music and pirated movies.  I can imagine big software downloads and other large files being transferred that way (distributed back up, maybe).  So to start down this path stymies innovation and continues to push Canada in to the technological backwater.

Bell’s move comes a week after it faced heavy criticism for extending its traffic-shaping policies to the companies that use its network. Bell has for some time been slowing down the internet speeds of customers using certain applications, such as the file-sharing technology BitTorrent, and last week admitted to extending the practice to the smaller companies.

Michael Geist continues to speak out about all facets of our challenges in Canada but the lack of interest and action on the part of the government is what I find most disturbing.

“This suggests it’s an all-out battle between Bell and a lot of the smaller players seeking to provide competition,” University of Ottawa law professor Michael Geist told CBCNews.ca. “This is a real cause for concern for consumers as well as the competitive environment in Canada.”

Geist and others have criticized Minister of Industry Jim Prentice for his silence on the issue. Prentice was “disinterested” in the issue when it arose in question period in the House of Commons on Wednesday, he said. Source: Hands off our network, Bell tells CRTC

This might be the irony of the Tories.  They want to be hands off business, but also pro-business success.  Doesn’t the government see that our current environment is leaving Canada behind?  Our mobile data rates and general lack of telecommunications competition is hurting Canada’s competitiveness on the world stage.

Will our government, technically a minority government but the absence of a backbone in the Liberal Party makes them a majority, see that it needs to act to keep Canada on the technology curve?  It’s knowledge work, mobile, telecommunications, and the Internet where Canada has the potential to really shine and be competitive.  As long as we can use the tools.

Post from: EveryJoe

Bell Canada doesn’t understand–Canadians want better Internet access

Sources advise that the company was regularly asked about its intentions and that it consistently assured ISPs that throttling would not apply to wholesale services. Now that the company has dropped that pretense, the business community is left to wonder whether it will soon target business VPN traffic or broadcasters like the CBC for their streamed traffic.  This represents a fundamental reshaping of the Internet in Canada as we pay (literally) for the dire lack of competition and independent ISPs gear up for likely legal challenges.  Regardless of those outcomes, it will become increasingly apparent that the regulators and politicians can no longer remain silent. Source: Michael Geist – The Bell Wake-Up Call

The specter of my ISP throttling back VPN traffic is pretty scary.  How can Canada expand and improve it’s tech industry when we have to worry about ISPs degrading the performance of one of the essential parts of our work?

Will politicians get involved now?  There is a Facebook group (I joined as a show of support) that has over 450 members and growing asking to prevent this kind of activity by Bell, Telus, Rogers, and others.

Ben Lucier has more commentary on this and it has hit the Globe and Mail as well so what can we really do?

Without real competition, as Michael points out, we’re quite stuck.  Couple this with the appallingly high cost of mobile data rates in Canada, we’re looking at Canada, once a tech leader, becoming a tech laggard.

There are statements from Rogers and Telus about traffic shaping, but nothing I’ve seen from Shaw as yet … as tech professionals we need to keep this issue alive and kicking, maybe the politicians will notice–eventually.

Post from: EveryJoe

Is the tide turning on Bell Canada and Net Neutrality in Canada? Hope so.

The Canadian Journalism Foundation (CJF) is hosting a presentation on April 3rd in Vancouver titled The Law and the Internet: What you can and cannot do. Source: Internet Law: What You Can and Cannot Do | Techvibes Blog

The speaker is the esteemed Michael Geist, who I met a couple years ago at MESH if I remember correctly.  I wish I could go to this session because, as you know, I’ve had my own brushes with online journalism and the law.  Maybe someone (Rebecca? Colleen?) could live blog it.

Regardless you can register online for the event.  I’d say that it should be a must-see event for many of us.

From the CJF website:

Michael Geist: E-publishing and the Law
VANCOUVER – Thursday, April 3, 2008

LOCATION: St. John’s College, 2111 Lower Mall, UBC
TIME: Check in: 6:00 p.m., Presentation 6:30 p.m.

DESCRIPTION: The Internet and new technologies have ushered in a seemingly unlimited array of possibilities for access to knowledge, creativity, and public participation. University of Ottawa Law School professor and internationally renowned expert on law and the internet Michael Geist will highlight the role that the Internet is playing for new creativity and knowledge sharing, while identifying the business and policy challenges that this creates for journalists and journalism. The talk will be followed by a Q&A.

Post from: EveryJoe

Michael Geist to discuss journalism, the Internet, and the law April 3 at UBC