A STAND FOR NEUTRALITY

Federal Liberals emerge as champions of open internet as U.S. rethinks 2015 rules

Canada restates commitment to an open internet as change brews in the U.S.,

Canada will remain steadfast in its defence of an open internet even after U.S. telecom regulators have confirmed plans to roll back Obama-era rules designed to protect net neutrality, Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains said Wednesday.

“Canada will continue to stand for diversity and freedom of expression,” Bains said in an email. “Our government remains committed to the principles of net neutrality.”

The federal Liberals have emerged as leading proponents of an open internet, standing against a twotiered system where certain content is favoured for paid subscribers, while other streams are blocked or slowed.

But that resolve could be tested in light of the U.S. move, said John Lawford, executive director of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre.

On Tuesday, U.S. Federal Communications Commission chair Ajit Pai proposed a reversal of 2015 rules that prevented internet service providers (ISP) from discriminating in their routing of internet traffic. Instead, the FCC would require ISPs to voluntarily maintain an open internet.

The FCC is expected to rescind the rules in a vote next month.

“Under my proposal, the federal government will stop micromanag- ing the internet,” Pai said in a statement. “Instead, the FCC would simply require internet service providers to be transparent about their practices so that consumers can buy the service plan that’s best for them, and entrepreneurs and other small businesses can have the technical information they need to innovate.”

In Canada, the Canadian Radiotelevision and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has ruled that ISPs cannot exempt content such as streamed music or video from counting toward wireless data caps. The decision by the telecom regulator followed a complaint against wireless carrier Videotron.

“Internet service providers should be offering more data at lower prices,” then-chair Jean-Pierre Blais said in a statement accompanying the decision in April.

Lawford said that the subsequent appointment of former telecom executive Ian Scott as CRTC chair introduces a “wild card,” adding that moves by Canada’s telecom regulator to strengthen net neutrality protections are comparatively recent.

He also noted the180-degree difference in approaches between Canada and the U.S. in the regulation of bandwidth blocking and slowing. It’s a practice to be allowed in the U.S. that could affect Canadians, since major streaming services and social media companies are U.S.-based.

A spokesperson for the CRTC said the regulator’s commitment to “a framework that sets a level playing field” has not changed, regardless of varying policies around the world.

Major wireless carriers in Canada could seek a review of CRTCpolicies, arguing that harmonization with the U.S. to protect investment here is now warranted, Lawford said. He said that the CRTC had also previously ruled against a Bell Mobility product that favoured certain content, although Bell says the decision was consistent with its operations.

A Bell spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Rogers Wireless has supported principles of net neutrality, with regulatory affairs chief David Watt at a 2016 hearing saying that ISPs “should not be allowed to act as gatekeepers and give privileged access to a select few.”