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Industry Minister Jim Prentice refuses to step into controversy over Internet 'traffic shaping'
Ottawa (3 April 2008) - The Harper government has apparently decided to let big Canadian telecommunications companies manipulate Internet traffic by 'shaping' the flow of data as they see fit.
Industry Minister Jim Prentice refused Wednesday in the House of Commons to take any stand on the issue, promising only to monitor the issue.
"The Internet is not regulated in Canada. We continue to monitor the discussion that is taking place," Prentice told NDP MP Charlie Angus in the Commons. "We have a well advanced Internet system in this country. It is not publicly regulated,” he added.
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is among a growing number of Canadian organizations and general Internet users who have appealed to the government to take action on the issue.
NUPGE president James Clancy has written to Prentice asking for open, public consultations on the need for legislation to protect Internet neutrality in Canada. He has also written to the CRTC (the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission) asking the regulatory agency specifically to investigate the impact of 'traffic shaping' by ISPs on Canadian Internet users.
"The National Union has become increasingly concerned about the issue of network neutrality and Canada’s lack of action to protect consumers and producers of Internet material," Clancy told von Finckenstein.
Angus calls for net neutrality
Angus slammed Bell Canada and other big telecommunications companies on Wednesday for "throttling" Internet traffic, arguing that users are being hurt in the process.
“Net neutrality is a cornerstone of an innovative economy,” Angus said. “The consumer and the innovator need to be in the driver’s seat. Not Ma Bell. Not Videotron. Not Rogers.”
He accused Prentice of bowing to the giants in the industry by doing nothing to stop them from choking off net traffic to smaller third party competitors, thus leaving consumers “at the mercy" of a few large operators.
"Consumers who have paid for access are being ripped off. Badly needed competition is being stifled and most of all, this government is sitting back while a few Telecom giants are given free reign to monkey wrench with the flow of ideas," Angus argued.
"What steps will the Minister of Industry take to ensure that consumers who paid for access are not going to be ripped off, that badly needed competition will not be squeezed off, and send a message to the telecom giants that they have no business monkey wrenching with the free flow of information?" he asked.
However, Prentice refused to take any stand on the issue. "We will continue to see how the issue unfolds," he said. - Commons Audio
Actions now hurting third party ISPs
Some of Canada's largest ISPs – including Bell and Rogers – have employed “shaping” techniques for more than a year to manipulate Internet traffic flows, essentially slowing down certain kinds of Internet activity on their networks while giving priority to other data. Most of the data being shaped, or “throttled,” is peer-to-peer or “torrent” traffic, typically large files such as video files.
Last week it was revealed that Bell was in the process of rolling out plans to shape traffic on the networks it sells to third party Internet providers, in addition to its own throttling techniques. The announcement caused an uproar among many smaller, third party ISPs. NUPGE
More information:
? NUPGE asks CRTC to investigate Internet 'traffic shaping'
? Consultations and legislation needed to protect net neutrality
? National Union and the Internet
? Stop the Throttler
? Charlie Angus exchange in the Commons with Industry Minister Jim Prentice