OT: CRTC issues ruling on net neutrality

[Michael Lauzon]

Well, CBC finally put the article online, the thing I sent before was
just a brief clip I get sent to my inbox; here is part of the article:

"Big telecommunications companies such as Bell and Rogers can
interfere with internet traffic only as a last resort, the CRTC says.
Instead, they should use "economic measures" such as new investment
and usage limits to combat congestion on their networks.

"The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission on
Wednesday issued a new framework by which it will judge whether
internet service providers are discriminating against certain kinds of
traffic and content.

"'Canada is the first country to develop and implement a comprehensive
approach to internet traffic management practices,' said CRTC chairman
Konrad von Finckenstein in a statement.

"'More and more, the internet is serving as the backbone for
communication, commerce, governance, health, education and
entertainment. Our framework will foster an environment where ISPs,
application providers and users have the utmost freedom to innovate.'

"Under the framework, the CRTC will require ISPs to provide retail
customers with 30 days notice of any changes to network management,
and wholesale customers with 60 days. The moves must be posted
prominently on the ISP's website and consumers must be informed of how
and when they will be affected, with a particular emphasis on how the
speed of their service will change.

"The CRTC is also requiring ISPs to institute economic measures to
control usage such as charging 'consumers rates based on how much
bandwidth they use each month, or offer discounts during off-peak
hours.'"

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/10/20/crtc-net-neutrality-ruling.html

-- 
Sincerely,

Michael Lauzon
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