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<TITLE>FW: [cracin-discussion] ACTION ALERT: Demand net neutrality now</TITLE>
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<P><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Since there has been a continuing discussion on issues related to Net Neutrality on this list I think the discussion which follows below is worth passing along...</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Brian Beaton is the co-ordinator of a very significant Canadian aboriginal organization (</FONT></SPAN><A HREF="http://knet-ca"><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">http://knet-ca</FONT></U></SPAN></A><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">) which is managing a terrestrial, microwave and now satellite based infrastructure, servicing very remote (fly in) communities in Northern Ontario (and soon to include Northern Manitoba and Northern Quebec) through the Northern Indigenous Communities Satellite Network (NICSN)) (I'm advising the network on a major long-term community informatics impact assessment and research capacity building activity (NICSN: RC) alongside this network).</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">What is crucial to know about K-Net is that by having control over their own network they have been able to design, develop and deploy a very broad range of highly innovative services into their communities including telemedicine, </FONT></SPAN><A HREF="http://health.knet.ca/"><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">http://health.knet.ca/</FONT></U></SPAN></A><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> a northern based and indigenous controlled high school (e-learning) </FONT></SPAN><A HREF="http://kihs.knet.ca/"><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">http://kihs.knet.ca/</FONT></U></SPAN></A><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> , and a range of (mostly videoconference) supports to local development and e-governance </FONT></SPAN><A HREF="http://media.knet.ca/taxonomy/term/50?page=1"><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">http://media.knet.ca/taxonomy/term/50?page=1</FONT></U></SPAN></A><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">I think what Brian is articulating is the position of any indigenous Internet carrier anywhere who is trying to use the Internet infrastructure to achieve a variety of socially beneficial "effective uses" and in that I would include a range of other parallel activities in other remote regions and in a variety of Less Developed Countries. </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">For Brian the avaiability of bandwidth to support telemedicine services in the absence of sufficient overall bandwidth trumps abstract notions of "Net Neutrality".</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">So, as the Net Neutrality discussion goes forward, mostly pressed by those with access to bountiful bandwidth resources the issue becomes either to support what will ultimately be a damaging policy for folks like K-Net or to include measures to ensure sufficient bandwidth FOR ALL in the Net Neutraliy equation.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">(BTW, if it needed repeating, this should reinforce the necessity to include a much broader range of voices and particularly the voices of those working on using Internet for socially beneficial uses on the ground in any of our discussions concerning Internet Governance, ICT for Development or whatever.)</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">MG</FONT></SPAN>
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<P><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Michael Gurstein, Ph.D.</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Centre for Community Informatics Research, Training and Development</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Ste. 2101-989 Nelson St.</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Vancouver BC CANADA v6z 2s1</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"></SPAN><A HREF="http://www.communityinformatics.net"><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">http://www.communityinformatics.net</FONT></U></SPAN></A><SPAN LANG="en-ca"></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">tel./fax +1-604-602-0624</FONT></SPAN>
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<P><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">-----Original Message----- </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">From: Brian Beaton [</FONT></SPAN><A HREF="mailto:brian.beaton@knet.ca"><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">mailto:brian.beaton@knet.ca</FONT></U></SPAN></A><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">] </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Sent: March 28, 2008 7:55 AM</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">To: 'Alison Powell'; cracin-canada@vancouvercommunity.net</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Cc: 'Lyle Johnson'; 'Jeannie Carpenter'; pennycarpenter@knet.ca; 'Adi Linden'; 'Terence Burnard'; 'Jamie Ray'</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Subject: RE: [cracin-discussion] ACTION ALERT: Demand net neutrality now</FONT></SPAN>
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<P><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Alison … Thanks for asking and for caring about this issue. </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Maybe some of the things that these efforts need to include is a parallel effort to:</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Deliver equitable access to the required telecom infrastructure to support broadband connections for all Canadians at the same cost. Today, this net neutrality debate seems to me to be more for those who can afford broadband connections and for the most part for those who live in over-served urban environments where there are all these different choices for network services. </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Support the ability to throttle (I did not say kill [smiles] but that is what I think about) those people who want to abuse the network services for their own benefit (ie all those illegal downloads and P2P abusers) at the expense of other network users who just want to check out my web page [smiles]. There are lots of alternatives for these network abusers, for example they might be forced to wait an hour for their movie instead of getting it in 30 seconds, so the rest of us can check the weather or whatever [smiles]. </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Take the necessary steps in the proper order, ie. equitable infrastructure comes before equitable access IMHO, required to get the same infrastructure and service options in place instead of simply assuming that everyone is at the same place and wants these same things that the folks in positions of privilege assume we want. </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Ensure that any policy or legislation respects the different realities that exist across the country. </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">What else?</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Brian Beaton, K-Net Coordinator</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Keewaytinook Okimakanak</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Box 1439, 115 King Street</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Sioux Lookout, ON, P8T 1B9</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">T: 807-737-1135 x1251</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">F: 807-737-1720</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">IP and ISDN video conferencing</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">E: brianbeaton@knet.ca </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">W: </FONT></SPAN><A HREF="http://knet.ca"><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">http://knet.ca</FONT></U></SPAN></A><SPAN LANG="en-ca"></SPAN>
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<P><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">From: Alison Powell [</FONT></SPAN><A HREF="mailto:a_powell@alcor.concordia.ca"><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">mailto:a_powell@alcor.concordia.ca</FONT></U></SPAN></A><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">] </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Sent: Friday, March 28, 2008 9:01 AM</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">To: brian.beaton@knet.ca</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Cc: cracin-canada@vancouvercommunity.net; 'Lyle Johnson'; 'Jeannie Carpenter'; pennycarpenter@knet.ca; 'Adi Linden'; 'Terence Burnard'; 'Jamie Ray'</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Subject: Re: [cracin-discussion] ACTION ALERT: Demand net neutrality now</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Thank you so much for this important reminder Brian. I see the Net Neutrality as an issue of fair and equal access for all Canadians - but I would like to correct any urban bias I might be working with. Do you or anyone else at K-Net have any specific suggestions on how to frame access issues for rural and remote communities within lobby campaigns?</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Thanks again,</FONT></SPAN>
</P>
<P><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">alison.</FONT></SPAN>
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<P><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Brian Beaton wrote: </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Thanks for this Alison. I feel it is important that EVERYONE understand that K-Net and the community networks we serve are FORCED to do traffic shaping on our network because of the lack of infrastructure and the cost of bandwidth serving remote and rural communities across Canada. </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Our reality is affected, in part, by the folks in the cities who are fighting to prevent the telcos from utilizing the Telecom Deferral Fund for infrastructure upgrades. City-based “consumer” groups are leading a legal battle to get that fund reassigned so “joe public” can get a $5 or $6 rebate on their telephone bill rather than supporting the development of the necessary infrastructure to support equitable access in remote and rural communities.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">I fear that any policy on Net Neutrality that is created in the cities to serve urban dwellers will only once again make it very difficult for the rest of us to do the work we need to be doing to live and work in remote and rural communities across the vast parts of Canada.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">I hope everyone will include our reality in their letter writing campaigns and maybe once in a while think about us as these types of campaigns and publications are distributed.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Brian Beaton, K-Net Coordinator</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Keewaytinook Okimakanak</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Box 1439, 115 King Street</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Sioux Lookout, ON, P8T 1B9</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">T: 807-737-1135 x1251</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">F: 807-737-1720</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">IP and ISDN video conferencing</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">E: brianbeaton@knet.ca </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">W: </FONT></SPAN><A HREF="http://knet.ca"><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">http://knet.ca</FONT></U></SPAN></A><SPAN LANG="en-ca"></SPAN>
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<P><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">From: Alison Powell [</FONT></SPAN><A HREF="mailto:a_powell@alcor.concordia.ca"><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">mailto:a_powell@alcor.concordia.ca</FONT></U></SPAN></A><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">] </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Sent: Friday, March 28, 2008 8:18 AM</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">To: cracin-canada@vancouvercommunity.net</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Subject: [cracin-discussion] ACTION ALERT: Demand net neutrality now</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Time for Canada's Net Neutrality fight! An action alert from Campaign for Democratic Media.</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">ACTION ALERT: Demand net neutrality now</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">As recently reported by various news outlets, Bell Canada plans to have its ‘third-party ISP traffic shaping’ policy implemented across its entire network by April 7. This policy is more accurately referred to as ‘throttling’, or the practice of shaping Internet traffic by selectively limiting bandwidth.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">According to a press release issued by the Campaign for Democratic Media today, without government intervention to prevent this practice, "Internet users will have much less choice in online media, will be restrained in their ability to freely communicate and could end up with a largely prescribed menu of ‘choices,’ many of which will only be available from these very same ISPs."</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">The Council of Canadians is a founding member of the Campaign for Democratic Media and supports the network’s call for enforceable legislation on net neutrality – a principle that requires Internet service providers not to discriminate by speeding up or slowing down Web content based on its source, ownership or destination.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">To learn more, see:</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">- The Campaign for Democratic Media, </FONT></SPAN><A HREF="http://democraticmedia.ca/netneutrality"><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">http://democraticmedia.ca/netneutrality</FONT></U></SPAN></A><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">- An insightful blog entry by Michael Geist on the matter, </FONT></SPAN><A HREF="http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/2787/125/"><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/2787/125/</FONT></U></SPAN></A><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">- ‘Bell Sympatico Throttles Internet Access’ video, </FONT></SPAN><A HREF="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlMbxosLtaY"><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlMbxosLtaY</FONT></U></SPAN></A><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">TAKE ACTION</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">You are encouraged to send the following sample letter to Industry Minister Jim Prentice demanding legislation on net neutrality that would prevent big service providers from restricting our ability to communicate and access information freely on the Internet.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">CONTACT INFORMATION</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Industry Minister Jim Prentice (MP, Calgary Centre-North)</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Ministry telephone: 613-995-9001</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Ministry fax: 613-992-0302</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Constituency office telephone: 403-216-7777</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Constituency office fax: 403-230-4368</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">E-mail: Prentice.J@parl.gc.ca or Minister.Industry@ic.gc.ca </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">SAMPLE LETTER</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Minister Prentice,</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">I am deeply concerned about Bell Canada’s recent announcement that it will make its practice of throttling official starting April 7.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Canada does not have strict enforceable net neutrality legislation and so there is very little structure in place to prevent the big ISPs from discriminating by speeding up or slowing down Web content based on its source, ownership or destination.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">I am outraged that Canada does not have a policy to protect my ability to communicate and access information freely on the Internet and urge you to take action on this matter immediately.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Sincerely, </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"><your name></FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Meera Karunananthan, Media officer, Council of Canadians</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">MEDIA RELEASE</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">March 27, 2008</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Canada must adopt legislation to stop Bell Canada from shortchanging the public, says coalition</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">The Campaign for Democratic Media! is outraged at Bell Canada’s recent announcement that it will begin throttling Internet service providers (ISPs) starting April 7 – a policy uncovered and made official after Canadian ISPs realized they were being shortchanged by the telecommunications giant which had begun selectively limiting the ISPs’ bandwidth.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">“The problem is that Canada does not have strict legislation to prevent big ISPs from turning the Internet into a network resembling a tolled highway with a slow lane and a fast lane,” says Steve Anderson, coordinator for the Campaign for Democratic Media. “This means Internet users will have much less choice in online media, will be restrained in their ability to freely communicate and could end up with a largely prescribed menu of ‘choices,’ many of which will only be available from these very same ISPs.”</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">The organization, a coalition of civil society organizations, academics and grassroots media activists, is calling for the federal government to adopt enforceable net neutrality legislation that would require Internet service providers not to discriminate, including speeding up or slowing down Web content based on its source, ownership or destination.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">“Net neutrality protects our ability to direct our own online activities,” says Anderson. “With net neutrality in place, a network's job is to move data in a non-discriminatory manner, based on what people want.”</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">About us: The Campaign for Democratic Media! (CDM) is a network of civil society organizations, academics and grassroots media activists from across the country who are interested in helping to create the conditions for diverse, accountable and quality Canadian media.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">-30-</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> </FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">For more information, please contact Steve Anderson at: 604-837-5730; stephena@sfu.ca</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN LANG="en-ca"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> </FONT></SPAN>
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