NDP announces Net Neutrality Bill at Parliament Hill rally

The fight for net neutrality hit the streets yesterday when about 300 protestors descended on Parliament Hill to take part in a rally calling for legislative or regulatory action preventing ISPs from interfering with Internet traffic. The crowd partially got their wish when federal MP Charlie Angus announced the New Democratic Party will introduce a bill today entrenching the principle of net neutrality. "You are not hackers. You are not criminals. You are not couch potatoes," said Angus from the steps of the hill. He added traffic shaping and throttling by ISPs are not only issues of access, but practices that stifle innovation. As such, the NDP private member's bill would guard against throttling by ISPs. "You are citizens of a digital realm and you have rights," he added. A newcomer to protest rallies, the net neutrality crowd stuck to the tried and true formulas. There were creative placards - Stop Deep Packet Rape, Say No To Big Brother Watching You, and Don't let Bell and Rogers Control the Internet - chants - "Our net not for sale" and "Whose net? Our net" - and turns on the mic from those leading the charge. In addition to Angus, protestors heard from Phillipa Lawson, director of the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic, and Steve Anderson, national co-ordinator of the Campaign For Democratic Media, who characterized the nature of the net neutrality situation. "This is not a cause, it's a battle," he said. "A battle against big telecom." While large ISPs Bell Canada, Rogers Communications Inc., Videotron Ltée. and Cogeco Inc. are known to be engaging in traffic shaping and throttling, Anderson warned that the demise of net neutrality will lead to more granular control of the Internet by the providers. He said big telecoms will control what is available on the Internet by limiting access based on content and money. His sentiments are echoed on SaveOurNet.ca, the website of the SaveOurNet.ca Coalition that was officially launched yesterday to unite Canadians against the elimination of an open Internet. "Without net neutrality, Canada's phone and cable duopoly will be in the position to leverage their control over the internet's physical channels to reap large profits from those able to pay, while labour groups, public interest groups, NGOs, small business, new media businesses, and everyday citizens will have limited access to the wider world," reads the website. "The fear is that in this environment small businesses and start-ups will be unable to compete, and innovation and cultural production will once again be controlled by the large corporate and governmental bodies." SaveOurNet.ca has 28 founding members including CIPPIC, the federal NDP, the Green Party of Canada and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre. And the site allows Canadians to join the coalition and/or make contributions to be used for legal and lobbying activities. Content creators fear Orwellian Internet While the majority of SaveOurNet.ca's membership is advocacy groups, content creators also have a vested interest in protecting the neutrality of the Internet. Lifecapture Interactive president and CEO Geoff Whitlock told Canadian New Media last week how an un-neutral Internet would directly impact his business. "The abolishment of the net neutrality ideology could lead to there being different Internets, literally, and then certain content can only be on certain Internets," he said. "So what happens is my content for the client will be on one Internet, and not on another. And if that's the case the value proposition really moves into whether or not you're teamed up with the provider with the most audience." If the government or the CRTC doesn't institute hard-and-fast rules, Whitlock adds, then large ISPs will be able to regulate their own systems, no doubt based more on business than public policy priorities. "Ultimately we're affected by our content only hitting certain eyes, and as marketers only being able to acquire eyes under the regulations of a corporation that has various different types of morals throughout the spectrum of different people who are going to be regulating," says Whitlock.

NDP announces Net Neutrality Bill at Parliament Hill rally

News | 05/28/2008 2:38 pm EDT

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