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Canadian Heritage Committee Report Raises Net Neutrality

By Michael Geist

The Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage released its much anticipated report on CBC and public broadcasting.  While the immediate attention is understandably on the funding-related recommendations, the report features several pages on network neutrality.  The Committee notes that:

Network non-neutrality could have significant consequences for CBC/Radio-Canada since it is not in a position to respond to market changes through convergence on a sufficiently large scale. . . If the Internet evolves into a multi-tiered network, where content providers pay for different levels of service, the possible degradation of its content and services, or the requirement to pay additional fees for their online delivery, would put the Corporation at a significant competitive disadvantage and undermine its ability to meet its mandated goals.

In light of those concerns, the majority of the Committee (the Conservatives on the Committee issued a minority opinion dissenting from this aspect of the report on the grounds that it addressed the CRTC, not the CBC) agreed that "non-discriminatory access by Canadians to CBC/Radio-Canada online content and services is necessary to the fulfilment of the role of our national public broadcaster in the digital age."  It therefore recommended that the CRTC address the net neutrality issue as part of its New Media Project initiative.

Full post as published by Michael Geist on February 28, 2008 (boomark / email).