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Wednesday March 28, 2012 |
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The CRTC has approved
a proposal
to establish the Canadian Broadcasting Participation Fund. The fund,
which is seeded with $3 million from the BCE purchase of CTVglobemedia,
will be used to fund public interest and consumer group participation
in CRTC broadcasting proceedings.
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Monday March 26, 2012 |
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The CRTC has announced
plans to hold a consultation on whether information provided by
incumbent companies on wholesale Internet access should be made
publicly available. The CRTC has faced criticism for keeping much of
the submitted information confidential rendering it difficult to fully
assess the validity of cost claims.
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Friday March 02, 2012 |
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The CRTC has written
to Rogers Communication following the identification of yet another
violation of the Commission's Internet traffic management policy.
Rogers has announced plans to drop its traffic throttling practices,
but the CRTC wants the new issue addressed immediately. I discussed the
role of the CRTC in putting an end to Internet throttling in a recent
column on the Rogers case (Ottawa
Citizen version, homepage
version).
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Friday March 02, 2012 |
Appeared
in the Ottawa Citizen on February 13, 2012 as Putting an End to
Internet Throttling
Hockey may be Canada’s national pastime, but criticizing the Canadian
Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) surely ranks
as a close second. From the substitution of Canadian commercials during
the Super Bowl broadcast to the Canada’s middling performance on
broadband Internet services, the CRTC is seemingly always viewed as the
target for blame.
Yet if the commission is criticized (sometimes wrongly) when it makes
mistakes, it surely deserves kudos when it gets things right. That is
the case on the thorny issue of net neutrality, which only a few years
ago seemed destined to become mired in a never-ending battle between
regulation-averse telecom companies and mounting public calls for
government intervention.
Instead, the CRTC took carriage of the file, established widely praised
guidelines, and after some prodding over weak enforcement, pushed the
industry to the point that Internet traffic shaping – often described
as throttling – will soon be a thing of the past in Canada.
When the CRTC conducted hearings on Internet traffic management
practices in the summer of 2009, most Internet providers used traffic
shaping technologies to limit peer-to-peer applications, arguing that
it was necessary to manage subscriber demands and to avoid network
congestion. The providers were virtually unanimous in their opposition
to regulatory guidelines or even mandatory disclosure requirements. For
example, Rogers Communications told the commission “the Internet is too
new and is changing too quickly to establish ITMP guidelines at this
time.”
The CRTC rejected that advice and implemented guidelines that required
Internet providers to publicly disclose their traffic management
practices. Moreover, it established rules that require providers to
respond to complaints by describing their practices, demonstrating
their necessity, and establishing that they discriminate as little as
possible.
Not much changed during the first two years of the net neutrality
policy. The commission received dozens of complaints, but there were
few, if any, consequences for the providers. For example, a complaint
against Xplornet, a satellite Internet provider, dragged on for months
before any action was taken.
Over the past six months, however, the commission has prioritized the
enforcement issue and when combined with changing Internet usage
patterns and several dogged complainants, traffic shaping in Canada is
about to disappear from the Internet landscape. Late last year, Bell
announced that it will drop its throttling practices as of March 1st
and earlier this month Rogers advised the CRTC that it intends to do
the same by the end of the year.
Why the dramatic change to a policy described by providers as essential
only two and a half years ago?
Part of the change can be attributed to the rapidly evolving habits of
Canadian Internet users. In 2009, Internet providers claimed
peer-to-peer traffic was a major source of network congestion. Today,
the emergence of Netflix and other services has made streaming video
the dominant traffic source. Much as some providers might like to
throttle streaming video (for competitive and network reasons), the law
won’t allow it.
Yet changing traffic patterns alone would not have been enough to alter
Internet provider practices. Enter the net neutrality guidelines that
limit traffic shaping to instances that are demonstrably necessary and
discriminate as little as possible. Since peer-to-peer traffic is no
longer a significant source of traffic congestion, it is increasingly
difficult for providers justify throttling it.
Once the CRTC demonstrated its willingness to enforce the guidelines,
it was game over for traffic shaping. In September, the
commission issued an advisory on responding to complaints and enforcing
the rules. The Canadian Gamers Organization followed up with complaints
about guideline violations at Rogers and within months, the company
threw in the towel, grudgingly promising changes by end of the year.
Michael Geist holds the Canada
Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of
Ottawa, Faculty of Law. He can reached at mgeist@uottawa.ca or online
at www.michaelgeist.ca.
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