[Facil] Invitation to Attend Panel Discussion on Net Neutrality

[Stéphane Couture]

Net Neutrality: A Public Discussion on the Future of the Internet in Canada
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:
* 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
* Michael Geist:  Professor of Law, Research Chair of Internet and 
E-Commerce Law, University of Ottawa

* Bill St.Arnaud from CANARIE will also be speaking about the proposed 
construction of a fiber optic network in Ottawa.

Sponsors to date: Ottawa Public Library, Ontario Library Association

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.

For more information on the topic, please visit the following websites 
and online news articles:

* "Battle over 'net neutrality' arrives in Canada"
http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2006/11/02/tech-neutrality.html

* "The Telecom Policy Review: The Rest of the Story"
http://michaelgeist.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1181&Itemid=85 


* The Alternative Telecommunications Policy Forum
http://www3.fis.utoronto.ca/research/iprp/cracin/alttelecompolicyforum.ca/

* Net Neutrality in Canada
http://www.neutrality.ca/

* Net Neutrality in the United States
http://www.savetheinternet.com

If you are unable to attend, please note that a video of the event will 
be made publicly available. Please contact us for link information.

We hope to see you there! Please do not hesitate to contact us if you 
have any questions, comments, or suggestions.

Cheers,
Danielle Dennie  (danielle.dennie at elf.mcgill.ca)  & Sabina Iseli-Otto 
(sabina at alumni.uwo.ca), librarians at large

-- 
Stéphane Couture :: http://stephcouture.info