(reprinted from Dylan Rhymer’s Facebook page)
Okay, I know this is a long-ish mesage, but it is very important. We need legislation to prevent Bell and Rogers from monopolizing on Canadians’ access to the internet. This WILL HAPPEN unless we pressure government to enact legislation immediately! Take a minute to get up to speed. Let people know.
“When I invented the Web, I didn’t have to ask anyone’s permission. Now, hundreds of millions of people are using it freely. I am worried that that is going end” – that is a quote from Sir Tim Berners Lee.
When people pool their information, expertise, and resources together – you often get amazing results. And that’s essentially what the Internet is – the world’s most amazing source of information. The web is democratic – it’s all about equality of access – it’s available to anybody with Internet access and no one is supposed to get preferential treatment. Unfortunately, some very powerful companies are trying to change all that.
Net Neutrality doesn’t sound very sexy – but at its core – it’s about Saving the Internet. Net Neutrality in Canada is the principle that consumers should be in control of what content, services and applications they use on the public Internet. It’s a pretty simple concept and it’s been working pretty well so far.
I love how the Internet works. Whether it’s a corporate retail site, a celebrity gossip site, or a Norwegian Folk Singer’s blog – all the pages are sent to my computer with equal speed. It’s democracy at its finest.
But what happens if ISP’s - Internet service providers like telcos and cable companies - start slowing down some traffic and speeding up others to make more money? What happens if they decide they don’t like what someone is saying and prevent people from getting to it? What if - suddenly, you can’t go where you want on the Internet and you have to pay extra to go in the fast lane with the big guys?
Well, if the Service Providers have their way and we lose net neutrality - surfing the Internet will be very different experience that it is today. These companies want to ability to slow down some Internet sites and block access to others. As Canadians – do we want to have less access to information than other countries? Do we want to make sure we give our kids, our businesses, and our entrepreneurs the tools they need to succeed in the digital age?
It doesn’t matter if you’re politics are left, right, or centre - we all love the Internet and we need to save it. Ottawa professor Michael Geist has great information on his website and there’s a campaign called netneutrality.ca gaining steam – just type in – savethenet.ca The CRTC has only given us till June 12 to make our voices heard.
This sort of discrimination would really hinder future innovations. A lot of really popular sites, like Google, eBay, and YouTube wouldn’t even exist if there hadn’t been net neutrality. And democracy is all about free speech – and the other frightening thing about this is that I.S.P.’s could censor speech they don’t like — in fact, we’ve already had examples of it.
In September 2007 in the States, Verizon Wireless refused to allow a Pro-Choice organization from sending text messages over its network. In 2005, Telus blocked access to voices-for-change.ca, a website supporting the company’s labour union during a worker’s dispute. Right now, Bell Canada is throttling (or slowing down) third party Internet service providers (ISPs)
The Internet should continue to offer equal access to everyone. Cable and telecos shouldn’t be allowed to say who gets the fast lane, who gets the slow lane, and where we’re allowed to go on the Internet.
Net Neutrality is about giving equal access to everybody – the net has become an integral part of the way we share ideas and information and has been an instrumental factor in digital innovation. We’ve got to fight to keep it that way. We’ve got to savethenet Canada.
You can learn more about net neutrality and make your voice heard at savethenet.ca and netneutrality.ca. And also please check out Michael Geist.ca – that’s G-E-I-S-T who has a really informative website with lots of excellent information.
www.savethenet.ca
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