UPDATE: The Government has reacted, after more than half a million Canadians signed the petition against UBB. The CRTC and the Government have asked the big ISPs to reconsider their UBB plans.
Meanwhile, Citywest has ignored the CRTC and the national petition, and is still planning on introducing a metered internet in the near future.
Let’s show them that Northwest BC, like the rest of Canada, doesn’t want a metered internet.
Sign the facebook petition at facebook.com/nothankscitywest – it just takes a second – click the “like” button.
(older post below)
[ialign=left]http://dl.dropbox.com/u/76069/dynamic/2011/02/meter.jpg[/ialign]The CRTC has decided to let your Internet Service Provider put a meter on the Internet! Bell Canada and other big telecom companies can now freely impose usage-based billing on independent Internet Service Providers (indie ISPs)and YOU.
This means we’re looking at a future where ISPs will charge per byte, the way they do with smart phones. If we allow this to happen Canadians will have no choice but to pay more for less Internet.
Big Telecom companies are obviously trying to gouge consumers, control the Internet market, and ensure that consumers continue to subscribe to their television services.
This will crush innovative services, Canada’s digital competitiveness, and your wallet.
We need to stand up for the Internet.
Sign the Stop The Meter petition by “liking” the petition on Facebook
*You can also sign the petition through Twitter or online here: StopTheMeter.ca/
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/76069/dynamic/2011/02/stop-meter-01.jpg
Want to know more? Here’s the lowdown:
This decision is a blow to consumer choice, to access, and to free expression. Independent Internet service providers (ISPs), such as TekSavvy, pay incumbent telecoms like Bell for access points in their networks. In applying usage-based billing (UBB) to these indie ISPs, the CRTC has allowed Bell to determine and limit how many gigabytes of usage their independent competitors can provide to their customers.
This severely limits competition in the telecommunications market, which is bad for innovation and diversity of content.
This also means that the cost will necessarily be passed down to you, the consumer.
Usage-based billing, or metering discriminates against certain forms of information insofar as it charges consumers more for content that requires the use of a large amount of gigabytes, such as audio and video.
This also means that those who produce media-based art, and depend on the Internet to show the world their work, are less able to produce and disseminate their content freely. This means less innovation and more control of art, film, music, and other forms we may not yet know of!
Sign the petition and save the freest medium we have ever known (again!). Stop the meter and save our net!
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Read more at SaveOurNet.ca: saveournet.ca/content/what-does- … neutrality
Read more at OpenMedia.ca: openmedia.ca/blog/crtc-decision- … illing-all
Read TV Versus The Internet by Steve Anderson: thetyee.ca/Mediacheck/2010/10/06 … sInternet/
Read more at CBC.ca: cbc.ca/technology/story/2010 … ernet.html
Read the full text of the CRTC decision: crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2010/2010-802.htm
En Français: facebook.com/notes/openmedia … 3822504798