Parliament enshrines net neutrality
Canadian parliamentarians strengthened their support for net neutrality this week, throwing their weight behind the principle that internet service providers treat all content equally as the government prepares to shake up the telecommunications and broadcasting acts.
The House of Commons voted unanimously late Wednesday in favour of Liberal MP John Oliver’s private members’ motion to support an “open internet free from unjust discrimination and interference” and enshrine net neutrality in legislation when it reviews the acts that govern the $66.6-billion communications industry.
Net neutrality laws are meant to prevent a scenario in which big players can pay extra to deliver their content at high speeds while smaller players or cash-strapped upstarts have their content throttled. Fears that internet providers could act as gatekeepers have escalated in a digital era where people increasingly rely on the internet for entertainment, education, business and social connections.
Canada already has strong net neutrality laws, but Oliver told the House “we cannot rest on our laurels.”
“Requiring that net neutrality be a guiding principle in the review and update of these acts signals a clear commitment to placing consumers and content providers first,” Oliver said. “That is a very important signal to send to the industry.”
It’s unclear when the government will formally revamp the acts, but it announced its intention to do so in spring 2017. Since then, it asked the federal telecom regulator to report on future content distribution models for audio and video content in a world where telecommunications has converged with broadcasting.
The industry and regulators are grappling with how legislation should apply to services such as Netflix that fall outside traditional models. The Ministry of Canadian Heritage and Ministry of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, departments that deal with broadcasting rules and telecommunications infrastructure, have both committed to net neutrality principles that favour an open internet.
It’s a stark contrast to the United States where there’s an ongoing battle over net neutrality rules. They had been repealed in December because of concerns that overregulation could hamper network investment. But this month, the U.S. Senate voted to reinstate it. Congress and the president must agree in order to save the rules.