Two years ago, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications
Commission conducted a much-publicized hearing on net neutrality, which
examined whether new rules were needed to govern how Internet providers
managed their networks. While many Internet users remain unaware of the
issue, behind the scenes Internet providers employ a variety of
mechanisms to control the flow of traffic on their networks, with some
restricting or throttling the speeds for some applications.
The Commission unveiled its Internet
traffic management practices in
, establishing enforceable guidelines touted as the
first net neutrality regulations. Where a consumer complains, Internet
providers are required to describe
their practices, demonstrate their necessity, and establish that they
discriminate as little as possible. Targeting specific applications or
protocols may warrant investigation and slowing down time-sensitive
traffic likely violates current Canadian law.
While there was a lot to like about the CRTC approach, the immediate
was absence of an enforcement mechanism. Much of the
responsibility for gathering evidence and launching complaints was left
to individual Canadians who typically lack the expertise to do so.
Nearly two years later, my weekly technology law column (Toronto Star
) posts an investigation into the system that
concerns were well-founded.
Although the CRTC has not publicly disclosed details on net neutrality
complaints and the resulting investigations, I recently filed an Access
to Information request to learn more about what has been taking place
behind the scenes. A review of hundreds of pages of documents discloses
that virtually all major Canadian ISPs have been the target of
complaints, but there have been few, if any, consequences arising from
the complaints process. In fact, the CRTC has frequently dismissed
complaints as being outside of the scope of the policy, lacking in
evidence, or sided with Internet provider practices.