Net Neutrality Event!

I am really excited to mention an event to discuss internet policy and the government, specifically the issue of net neutrality, that will be held on February 6 in Ottawa organized by the fab folks at LibrarianActivist.org. For those of you who have read my blog before, you know this is something that I have very strong feelings about. In the coming year I hope to become more active and vocal in my area in the hopes of making the issue better known.

The event details are below. Sabina from Librarian Activist, who emailed me about this event, also mentioned that they will have a video of the event up for those of us who can't attend. I will definitely be linking to it when it is available.

For any of you in the Ottawa area or who have friends in the Ottawa area, I would highly recommend dropping in. They have some excellent people on the panel and I'm sure it is going to be a facinating evening.

Any of you out there who are able to go, I would love if someone were able to blog it. Please let me know if you do!

Now I think it is time to see if we can get some more of these events organized across Canada. Anyone want to help me get something together for BC?

_________________________

Net Neutrality:
A Public Discussion on the Future of the Internet in Canada


Date and Location:
February 6, 2007 , 7 pm
Admission: Free
Ottawa Public Library Auditorium
120 Metcalfe St.

Moderated by:
Pippa Lawson: Executive Director, Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) at the University of Ottawa


Panelists:

Michael Geist: Professor of Law, Research Chair of Internet and E-Commerce Law, University of Ottawa
Ren Bucholz: Electronic Frontier Foundation Policy Coordinator, Americas
Andrew Clement: Professor, Faculty of Information Studies, University of Toronto; Principal Investigator, Canadian Research Alliance for Community Innovation and Networking
Bill St-Arnaud: Senior Director, Advanced Networks for CANARIE, Inc.


Event:
Please join us for a an important public discussion on the future of the Internet in Canada. Network neutrality recently became a major issue in the United States when telecommunications companies issued public statements asking for the ability to charge Internet content-providers for preferential access to Internet users. That meant that big corporations, especially media conglomerates, would get to Internet users fastest while smaller ones, which would be unable to pay the “tolls”, would be left trailing. Meanwhile, Internet users could be restricted from using certain applications, and would likely have to pay more to access content of providers that weren’t part of the telecommunications company’s exclusivity deals.

Net neutrality has been an issue in Canada for at least two years, but the release in March 2006 of the Telecommunications Policy Review Panel’s Final Report renewed both corporate and public interest in the topic. In the United States, net neutrality is currently on hold as legislators debate the issue; in Canada, the federal government is considering major changes to telecommunications regulation and its commitment to network neutrality is uncertain - hence the need for public debate before more decisions are made.

We are also inviting politicians to attend this panel discussion, and we hope that with a good turnout, our policy-makers will understand what an important issue network neutrality is for Canadians, and that the separation of telecommunications companies from content providers is in the interest of all Internet users. While the Internet has largely been managed as a democratic commons there are hints that it can become a privately-controlled medium. The 2005 move by Telus to block customer access to the “Voices For Change” Telecommunications Workers Union website is but one example of a private-sector threat to network neutrality.


If you are unable to attend, please note that a video of the event will be made publicly available.