On Tuesday May 27, 2008 between 11:30 am and 1:30 pm, the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic at the University of Ottawa, and other prominent supporters such as Michael Geist, will be sponsoring a Net Neutrality Rally on Canada’s Parliament Hill.
The net neutrality rally is intended to foster greater Internet competition, innovation and consumer rights:
1. Canadian Competition:
- To stop vertical market leveraging at the expense of new entrants
- To prevent incumbent cable/telco duopoly control of the Internet
(see, for example Geist’s Bell’s Throttling Plan a Threat to a Competitive Net)
2. Canadian Innovation:
- To promote an environment conducive to the development of new and innovative content and web services by Canadian entrepreneurs
3. Canadian Consumer Rights:
- to promote ISP transparency
- to promote consumer privacy
- to demand that ISPs provide the advertised Internet access services that Canadian consumers pay for
If you live in the Ottawa/Hull area, please participate.
For more information see my net neutrality topic on my iMedia law blog. For a good primer, see Prof Ed Felten’s ‘Nuts and Bolts of Net Neutrality‘.
Dale Dietrich is a Toronto-based technology, video game, and interactive media attorney. Read more at The Daleisphere.
FYI … I have since updated this post on the Daleisphere:
http://www.daleisphere.com/2008/05/23/net-neutrality-rally-on-canadas-parliament-hill-may-27-2008/
to include three net-neutrality-related videos (2 specific to Canada) and links to related reference materials.
…Dale