The Chairman of the FCC Julius Genachowski announced this week 6 fairly common sense but nonetheless highly progressive rules for US broadband and wireless providers:
1. Consumers are entitled to access the lawful Internet content of their choice.
2. Consumers are entitled to run applications and use services of their choice, subject to the needs of law enforcement.
3. Consumers are entitled to connect their choice of legal devices that do not harm the network.
4. Consumers are entitled to competition among network providers, application and service providers, and content providers.
5. Broadband providers cannot block or degrade lawful traffic over their networks, favor certain content or applications over others and cannot “disfavor an Internet service just because it competes with a similar service offered by that broadband provider.”
6.Broadband providers must be transparent about the service they are providing and how they are running their networks.
Where is Canada on Net neutrality and digital policy whatsoever? Well there has been consultation, but we don’t have one as yet. A policy that is.
What we do have is a toothless and rather bureaucratic CRTC that doesn’t even enforce it’s own mandates. They have a mandate that does not cover wireless, they are governed by two antiquated legislations the telecom and the broadcast acts and associate regulations, large parts of which have little salience in a world of digital media. We have an Industry Canada ministry that talks about creating competition but just as keen to take the money and run from inflated spectrum auction windfalls.
What this country needs, like any of our industrialized neighbours, is a clear plan that says yes, Canada does choose to be competitive in the global digital economy, and that we have goals and metrics to suggest which policy interventions (as needed) would help us reach those goals and to measure if those policy choices (e.g. the recent spectrum auction) are working or not. Is that too much to ask?
LINK: FCC Chairman Calls for Formal Net Neutrality Rules
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the_powerz
