May 19, 2008

The New York Times has a fantastic editorial today endorsing net neutrality legislation.

Says the Times

This sort of discrimination would interfere with innovation. Many major Web sites, like eBay or YouTube, might never have gotten past the start-up stage if their creators had been forced to pay to get their content through. Content discrimination would also allow I.S.P.’s to censor speech they do not like — something that has already begun. Last year, Verizon Wireless refused to allow Naral Pro-Choice America to send text messages over its network, reversing itself only after bad publicity.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission is starting to take a more proactive stance on net neutrality. Last week the CRTC sent a letter to Bell Canada and the Canadian Association of Internet Providers aksing them to prove the oft-uttered contention that their tubes are plugged up by heavy traffic. It’s good to see that someone in Canada takes net neutrality seriously. Now if only Industry Minister Jim Prentice could take a lesson from them. 

Craig Aaron of Freepress.net speaks about why journalists should be concerned about net neutrality.
An interview with Craig Aaron

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MP Charlie Angus speaks out against the pending Canadian copyright bill, which, as Cory Doctorow points out is based on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act– a law which criminalizes things like unlocking an iPhone and places tighter controls on “fair use.”

The nation’s third largest ISP, Charter Communications, announced they will start tracking their customers’ web surfing in order to create targeted advertising. That means the ISP will have a complete record of a customers entire web history, a prospect that has drawn considerable criticism and the interest of Congress.

This idea isn’t a new one as ISPs have been experimenting with this sort of technology for years. Last year, the Canadian ISP Rogers started injecting their own ads over top of webpages like Google.