I won’t reidderate my view on bandwidth caps.
this person over here, known as my roommate, does it quite well
for me.
while covering the crtc’s ruling and simarily blasting the hell outta of it, for what that’s worth.
Now, the federal government has simarily told the CRTC, either you recynd your ruling or we’ll
do it for you
it’s their choice.
Here’s that article, minus all the sighted advertisement shit.
CRTC will rescind ‘unlimited use’ Internet decision – or Ottawa will overturn it
STEVEN CHASE
OTTAWA— From Thursday’s Globe and Mail
Published Wednesday, Feb. 02, 2011 10:17PM EST
Last updated Wednesday, Feb. 02, 2011 10:59PM EST
The Harper government will overturn the CRTC’s decision that effectively ends “unlimited use” Internet plans if the regulator doesn’t rescind the decision itself.
Industry Minister Tony Clement made the surprise announcement late Wednesday night via his closely-followed Twitter account.
He confirmed reports by The Globe and Mail and other media that the Tories were prepared to take this step.
“True. CRTC must go back to drawing board,” he tweeted after being asked if it was true the government would act “if the CRTC does not back down.”
Given this ultimatum from the Tories, the options facing the independent regulator are to reconsider the ruling of its own volition or see the cabinet use its power to reverse it.
The Harper government has taken a keen interest in the CRTC ruling that’s sparked a massive consumer backlash and caught the attention of all political parties in Ottawa.
Mr. Harper has personally intervened on the file to signal his displeasure this week.
If the Harper government is forced to act, it would mean that independent Internet service providers would not be forced to switch to per-byte billing from “unlimited access” accounts.
It would also not prevent the big Internet providers from continuing to use metered billing as they have for years.
But the fact that smaller providers could offer unlimited accounts has likely acted as a competitive check on the market and helped keep prices from rising.
Earlier Wednesday night, Mr. Clement turned up the heat on CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein on the eve of the regulator’s Commons committee grilling over the decision.
The minister used his closely followed Twitter account to broadcast his unease about the ruling, raising the stakes for Mr. von Finckenstein’s appearance Thursday.
The regulatory chief has been called on the carpet before MPs to explain the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission ruling.
Mr. Clement, who only this week announced his government is probing whether to overturn the decision, late Wednesday served notice that he will be closely scrutinizing the comments of Mr. von Finckenstein, the very regulator whose decision he’s now second-guessing. The CRTC is independent but cabinet has the power to amend or rescind its rulings.
Using his Twitter instant messaging account – followed by more than 8,300 people, including journalists and many in political circles – Mr. Clement hammered home how skeptical he is of the CRTC decision concerning what Internet providers call “usage-based billing.”
“I’m looking forward to the CRTC chairman’s appearance before the House Industry Committee … to explain his support for the UBB decision,” the Industry Minister said via Twitter.
To drive home his point, Mr. Clement quickly added: “I remain very concerned by the UBB decision of the CRTC and look forward to my review being completed ASAP.”
Mr. Clement is the most avid Twitter user in the federal cabinet, having posted more than 2,500 messages. He’s shown a knack for careful tweeting that avoids missteps. While he discusses music and his personal life, his political-themed messages are normally worded to make a point rather than repeat blandishments.
Mr. Clement and the Harper cabinet have overturned the CRTC before, of course, by striking down the regulator’s ruling that Globalive, which now operates Wind Mobile, couldn’t launch service in the regulated sector because of foreign financial backing.
A CRTC official said this week the agency has received thousands of complaints about its decision, which allows large Internet providers such as BCE Inc.’s Bell Canada to charge smaller providers who lease space on their networks on a per-byte, or usage, basis.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper himself took the unusual step of intervening in the controversy, putting more heft behind Mr. Clement’s move to review the CRTC ruling – a strong sign of the Conservatives’ displeasure with the regulator’s decision.
It’s an unwelcome development for major Internet providers, which have fought for years for the CRTC ruling that effectively ends “unlimited” Internet download plans.
The Conservatives said the probe of the ruling will be finished by or before March 1.
While the Conservatives insist they have not yet decided what to do, the government is sounding very sympathetic to CRTC critics who say the verdict will hurt Internet commerce and consumers.
“We want to ensure that the Internet is available for consumers, small businesses, innovators and creators. That is what we are all about,” Mr. Clement told the Commons Wednesday.
needless to say, the CRTC’s been told, your choice, but either way, this will get reversed, either voluntarily or forcefully.
This is one thing I don’t mind eyeballing, and have been eyeballing since my last
primus
bill showed up wherein this was mentioned.
working off that, while I was putting the above together, we have
this
from
OpenMedia
The CRTC’s Usage-based billing rules will be reviewed by the CRTC, or overturned by the government.
We’re not at the finish line yet, but this is a massive win for all 330,000 of us who signed the Stop The Meter petition.
What we do not know:
1. Will the CRTC review all of it’s UBB decisions pertaining to Indie ISPs or just those pertaining to the specific billing rules?
2. Will UBB be suspended until the CRTC finishes it’s review?
3. Will the CRTC actually do a complete reversal in the end, or will they try to save face by doing a half-measured response (giving the Indie ISPs a better deal on UBB, but not removing it’s imposition)
What we do know:
1. From what the Globe reports, major telecom companies (Bell, Shaw, Rogers, Videotron), will still be allowed to impose UBB on their retail customers
2. They will now face more competition from indie ISPs who will, to some degree, be able to decide on their own pricing.
In short, this is an amazing and unprecedented victory for innovators, entrepreneurs and Canadians of all stripes…. But we are NOT at the finish line. There is nothing that big telecom would like more than to change the channel on this debate. Lets take a minute to pat ourselves on the back, but not this victory act as veil on the work that still needs to be done. Bi
The next round will likely be with the CRTC. We have momentum behind us, we have the government and major opposition parties behind us, we have over 330,000 of us who have taken a firm stand in favour of an accessible open Internet. If we keep the momentum going we can stop the meter, and fix the structural problems in our communications system.
Big telecom lobbyists are waiting to back to business as usual; the backroom meetings, the captured regulator, the uninformed citizenry. Lets not go back there – this has been too fun.
We’re just about there – please keep raising awareness amongst your friends, family and networks – let continue to grow our community of supporters:
To further the point, please submit the following form.
If the below form doesn’t work, go over
here
and fill it out.
Thanks for your continued support and let’s here your comments.
Mirrored from shane's rants.
