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What the US Can Learn From Canada's Internet Policy

Posted by samzenpus on from the great-white-north-policy dept.

blottsie writes As the U.S. continues to debate how best to establish net neutrality regulations over Internet service providers, author and journalist Peter Nowak explains how how Canada has already dealt with these issues, and what the U.S. can learn from its neighbor to the north."[Canadian Prime Minister Stephen] Harper has made the connection between telecom policy and actual votes, and that has had enormous impact on public policy," says Michael Geist, the Canada Research Chair in internet and e-commerce law at the University of Ottawa. "This is a ballot-box or pocket-book issue that hasn't really been seen yet in the United States."

10 of 144 comments (clear)

  1. Was impressed until.. by waspleg · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "The rules prohibited ISPs from interfering with internet traffic, except as a last resort, and urged them to instead combat network congestion with âoeeconomic measuresâ such as new investment or usage limits.

    Those limits have resulted in relatively low monthly caps for Canadians, but the rules have kept neutrality violations to a minimum."

    If given the choice between investing in infrastructure and usage limits what do you think American ISPs would do?

    Also, all the speed in the world doesn't do much good with low caps.

    1. Re:Was impressed until.. by RobinH · · Score: 4, Informative

      At least in Canada I know what I'm buying then. I get X GB per month, and there is (at least in my area) 3 different ISPs (1 cable, one DSL, and one independent) that I can go to. I go to the one that gives me more bandwidth, higher caps at a lower price (duh). It's $48/month for 300 GB, and there's an unlimited package for about $60, but we just don't seem to ever break that cap. (We came close once but reduced it by lowering the bandwidth settings on my wife's Netflix profile :)

      --
      "I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." - Mark Twain
    2. Re:Was impressed until.. by iCEBaLM · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I live in Ontario. I have the choice of about 25 ISPs, multiple DSL, multiple Cable, a few wireless, some satellite...

      The problem with DSL is the last mile belongs to Bell, the others just rent the lines at wholesale prices. Same with Cable, it's either Rogers or Cogeco, depending on location, for the last mile.

      However, unlike Cogeco, I get to pay an "indie" ISP $50/mo for a 20mbps/10mbps uncapped package, where Cogeco wants to charge $100 for the same thing.

    3. Re:Was impressed until.. by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 3, Interesting

      We don't need 2000 pages for this...

      Hmm, seems to be a reference to the ACA. Note that we didn't need 2000 pages for that, either.

      Start with "Age of eligibility for Medicare decreases by one year for every 90 days after the date this legislation becomes law".

      Then, "All individuals under the age of majority (currently 18 in the USA, last I looked) are eligible for Medicare as of the date this legislation becomes law".

      At that point, we're on a 12 year transition to Single-Payer, and everyone should be happy (except possibly the Insurance Companies that bought the ACA).

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
    4. Re:Was impressed until.. by JMJimmy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Sounds like you are benefiting more from the competition than from the regulation.

      Competition introduced by regulation.

    5. Re:Was impressed until.. by JMJimmy · · Score: 3, Informative

      And what regulation, exactly, enabled that competition? Simply declaring ISPs as utilities will certainly not encourage that type of competition.

      Forcing the incumbents to, simply put, "wholesale" to IISPs. We went from a choice of 1 DSL provider and 1 cable provider per area to over 200 registered ISPs across the country. It's no where near as good as functional separation but it's better than the US system.

  2. And it won't be by NoNonAlphaCharsHere · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "This is a ballot-box or pocket-book issue that hasn't really been seen yet in the United States."

    Not while the mega-conglomerates control the news AND the cables it runs on. And, of course, the Senators who would vote on it.

  3. Change Last Mile by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 4, Insightful

    IF you really want to fix the Internet, and fix Net Neutrality, fix the last mile issue.

    Right now I have a choice of the following Comcast Cable, AT&T DSL, or Wireless Internet. Comcast has the higher speeds, DSL is unusable where I am located, and wireless is too flaky. Comcast has no real competition on delivery.

    My Solution: Upgrade the Municipality to FIOS service to a COLO facility. Bring Fiber to each home (one time bond build out) and have several providers offer service out of the COLO. Net Neutrality issues go away, you can pay for exactly what you want/need. Bandwidth issues become points for competition, "We've Peered with Netflix so SUPERHD videos now available!"

    We do not need new laws to fix this, we need better understanding of how to build competition into the marketplace, rather than build in regulations that only serve the vested interests who can afford politicians.

    --
    Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    1. Re:Change Last Mile by NotSanguine · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Or it will never happen until you can figure out how to pay for it. Higher taxes? Higher fees?

      Paying for it is not a big deal. Pay for it the way all public works projects are paid for, with a twist.
      1. Create a non-profit corporation to implement and manage infrastructure owned by the local government.
      2. Issue bonds to pay for the infrastructure.
      3. Sell access to the infrastructure to ISPs who sell internet access and compete on price/service/features.
      4. Use the revenue for maintenance, bond repayment and upgrades.
      5. Profit^H^H^H^H^H^H High speed last mile with lots of competition.

      Well, that was easy. Next!

      --
      No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
  4. Re:You mean keep talking but don't make changes by phishybongwaters · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Ahh, good ole Slashdot, were people with absolutely no knowledge or understanding feel the need to post comments...... I'll give you this much, Rogers is the Canadian version of Comcast, that's a fact right down to the traffic shaping (and denials). I also agree the CRTC is a joke. But I'll take my "crappy" Bell Aliant connection that is unthrottled and unrestricted compared to ANY major US ISP. Our handful of crooked corporations did the same BS the US carriers did, convinced the tax payers to subsidize their infrastructure upgrades (which never happened) and now they are scrambling. Bell has been on a major roll out finalizing their fiber network in my province, and offering pretty epic deals compared to any other competitors, including US ISPs. I have no monthly CAP, I don't know anyone who does. I torrent, I pirate, I stream, I take absolutely no measures to protect myself in that regard and have no complaints since, seriously, 2001.