Citing a draft proposal to the CRTC, Canadaland is reporting that Bell is leading a coalition of Canada’s biggest media companies, that intends to to put an end to net neutrality in the name of blocking piracy.
According to the documents obtained by the source, the companies are pushing the telecom regulator to create a not-for-profit corporation called the “Internet Piracy Review Agency” (IPRA), that will be responsible for maintaining a blacklist of alleged pirate sites, and will force all internet service providers in the country to block access to them.
The source has revealed that the coalition includes broadcasters, movie studios, and cinema operators from across Canada. After Bell, some of the biggest names include Rogers, Cineplex, and Quebec theatre chain Cinémas Guzzo.
The coalition, which expects to file its application to the CRTC on December 19, doesn’t want to get U.S. studios and broadcasters as official applicants to the CRTC. Instead, it expects the American media giants to join the application after the process is initiated.
A spokesperson for Bell said he “couldn’t comment on any documents you might have,” but did go on to say that piracy was increasing, posing a threat to both creators and consumers. “We hope government, the content community, and consumers can come together to help deal with an issue that impacts all of us,” Marc Choma says in a statement.
While not saying the government would outright reject a piracy-blocking system, spokesperson Karl Sasseville says, “Our government supports an open internet where Canadians have the ability to access the content of their choice in accordance to Canadian laws.”
“While other parts of the world are focused on building walls, we’re focused on opening doors?.”
Meanwhile Geist, a University of Ottawa law professor and internet policy expert, believes that website blocking isn’t all that effective, saying that when you block one site, there are a number of others that pop up in the vacuum that’s created.
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Whose office should we be emailing/calling to put a stop to this? We cannot let Bell and other evil (not to mention incredibly stupid) corporations decide how we should use the internet. I know this is not a political website, but it would be great if future articles about net neutrality included some info about how to take action.
CRTC would most likely be the way to go. CRTC has historically welcomed comments from the public. You could also contact your MP
So we should place government in control of how we should use the internet? I believe in a fully free internet without control from companies or government. We don’t need more rules or regulations, we need open internet and the government can’t give us that either. Especially the CRTC
I would hope the government would not let Telco’s decide what content we have access to or to allow them create fast lanes for certain types of content. Their job should be to ensure that the Internet remains a public utility like telephone lines. I would hate to see the internet become another version of Cable TV. A system that has made very little technological progress due its own form of state sanctioned balkanization.
Hey genius, the CRTC is the only one capable of granting a free and open internet by making it illegal for companies to make blacklists.
And with government control, they will have the ability to block as well and even shut down a countries internet altogether. I believe no one should have control of the interwebz, but I trust private business slightly more than government.
You shouldn’t, Rogers has already been caught throttling before.
All this ‘government control’ everyone cries about is making it illegal for companies to throttle or shape traffic. It basically legally mandates a ‘fully free internet’ as you put it which is a good thing for consumers.
Then you are a fool. If you cannot observe the history and intent of the telcos thus far you deserve your 1984 reality brought to you by PRIVATE corporations.
The Canadian government has repeatedly STOPPED telcos from limiting our internet and hiding content behind their paywalls. The government has been the only thing preventing telcos from doing exactly what bell is now trying to do again. How is it that conservatives constantly ignore or forget this??
Burn in hell, Bell.
I’m currently with bell five 50. Paying 69 a month . Any suggestions same price or less with same speed ?
is cable an option ? teksavvy or cannettel have decent alternatives.
or even robbers cable.
Kable seem like such an downgrade from fiber optics . Thanks I’ll give it a go
You might pay a few dollars more if you’re outside of Quebec, but I’m getting Fibr 150 Mbps (around 95 in reality) unlimited for $69.95/month after a $15/month credit until some time next year. I also have cell service with them, but no landline or cable. I call them a couple of times a year and talk nice to customer support. Every time I do this, I get a bit more taken off my bill.
I don’t like their stand on net neutrality but will continue as a customer because I’m getting a good deal. And I’ll also continue to express my support for net neutrality by commenting to the CRTC.
And that’s why you lose.
can easily get 150 on cable ( and 150 in reality ) for same cost, or less.
I see
Thats good but Ontario will be way more exp
Thankfully the others Rogers,Shaw are against it
They’ll eventually collude when they realize they can profit more abandoning net neutrality.
I’ll invest in tunnel bear
They might just want us to think they against it but in reality they all in
Somebody did not read the article!
Your wrong ..Bell, Rogers, Cineplex Linked To ‘Radical’ Website Blocking Plan
bell finds a way to make extra cash sure why not. worst service and slow speeds everywhere. wish Canada had more providers so everyone would be able to get the best service. but some people are stuck.
If you want a better way to stop piracy how about working with copyright holders so we can actually buy the stuff we want. So many shows I just can’t buy because no one carries them physically or digitally. Not all of us are interested in expensive tv packages just to watch a show.
Excellent point. I run into this all the time. Ordering DVDs from the UK to watch a show you should be able to get online is ridiculous.
I will gladly welcome 2005 and go back to a flip phone if this ever goes through. Not that they’re my provider, but the likes of them won’t see my money.
Wtf what next they want to take away from consumers. And obviously it’s for profit , first rule of business is to make a profit
This is exactly why Bell was the most complained about services provider in Canada last year. There is nothing good about them. They only care about strengthening their financial bottom line at the expense of fairness to the customer.
Was some Bell executive watching how screwed up the states is and following suit?
The CRTC will likely support net neutrality, but we should never assume this will remain so forever. It’s up to all of us to go to the CRTC site and express our opinions.
Your letter is contradictory. Saying “This type of control would be left to the ISPs, not even to the governments” means you want Bell to control the Internet. That’s what Bell wants. That’s not a free and open internet.
I said “would”, not shall ou should 😉 I don’t want ISPs to take control, but if NN is over they could and certainly shall 🙁 which would be a baaad thing for all
Please. This has nothing to do with piracy for Bell and Rogers. It is about Bell giving free access to their services like CraveTV, TSN and Bell Fibe TV while charging data on Netflix, Amazon, Crackle and other competitors. Sorry jerks but the Internet in Canada is a basic right so Net Neutrality must remain.
Bell, Rogers, Cineplex Linked To ‘Radical’ Website Blocking Plan
The sad part about this is that most Canadians won’t do a thing. Just that extremely annoying passive aggressive nature we have. I’m pretty sure Bell and the others will get their way eventually; Canadians seem to enjoy taking it up the
This is a content based price hike scam. Just look at what they are doing in the USA. This has NOTHING to do with piracy and really is a sneaky way to increase ineternet prices!!! Don’t fall for that bullshit. In Portugal people have to pay more or less based on the content that they consume like YouTube vs Facebook vs Web vs Spotify and the list goes on.
People make sure to not let Canada become another USA.
If this happens. I’ll go with the most basic internet service. Email. Maybe netflix.
They ain’t getting more money out of me. We all spend too much time online anyway. I’ll just as gladly spend my time playing an offline video game vs streaming stupid shit, online.
You don’t understand net neutrality then. Buying a cheap internet plan only means you will be even greater punished by throttling and paywalls, it doesn’t solve or even avoid the problem at all
As much as I hate to see net neutrality laws being canned, I think it’s the only real way to end Google’s monopoly stranglehold on online advertising. Why should one company dictate which ads will reach most consumers and which ones won’t? The ISP’s should have the power to veto the Ad Slinger. Only then will the Ad Slinger’s revenues be shared by other companies. Overall, net neutrality may be a bad for the consumer in the short run but in the long run, it may just make the internet a more vibrant, innovative, and competitive place .. especially for Canadian companies who also deserve their own fair share of online ad rev’s that is currently being siphoned off by an advertising monopoly.