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Glaucus

Glaucus

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Canada wages YouTube war against metered Internet billing

Canadians can't stand going without coffee. Even worse? Not having a team in the FIFA World Cup event for 2014. Absolutely unthinkable, say eight of ten Canadians.

But you know what they really hate? Metered Internet pricing, or Usage Based Billing (UBB) as they call it—letting the dominant Internet Service Providers charge broadband subscribers and smaller competitive ISPs by the quantity of data use.

That's a practice that the government regulator, the Canadian Radio-Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), approved for Bell Canada in September.
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For all you Canadians out there, you can sign a petition against this here: http://openmedia.ca/meter

There's also the facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/openmedia.ca
 
Know what else the CRTC are doing? They want to change the "REGULATIONS RESPECTING SPECIALTY SERVICES TELEVISION NETWORKS" specifically,

3. No licensee shall distribute programming that contains

(a) anything in contravention of the law;

(b) any abusive comment or abusive pictorial representation that, when taken in context, tends to or is likely to expose an individual or a group or class of individuals to hatred or contempt on the basis of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age or mental or physical disability;

(c) any obscene or profane language or obscene or profane pictorial representation; or

(d) any false or misleading news.
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by amending 3.d to read

(d) any news that the licensee knows is false or misleading and that endangers or is likely to endanger the lives, health or safety of the public.
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Which means that telling lies becomes OK so long as no-one can prove that it endangers lives. You take a clear regulation and turn it into a feast for lawyers. Can this be in any way related to previous Prime Minister's Office interference with the CRTC in respect to the new Sun TV (otherwise known as Fox News North) channel that has Harper-Murdoch-Ailes behind it? Or is it just .... coincidence?

The process for submitting a comment seems to start with this page.
 
Ya, that also increases the burden of proof. In the original text it just says they can't present anything that's false. Now they can't present anything they KNOW is false. It's a lot harder to prove what someone knew at any given time. I think this gives them license to spew BS all day long. The bit about public health and safety is probably there to keep the WikiLeaks crowd unheard.
 
Glaucus said:
Ya, that also increases the burden of proof. In the original text it just says they can't present anything that's false. Now they can't present anything they KNOW is false. It's a lot harder to prove what someone knew at any given time. I think this gives them license to spew BS all day long. The bit about public health and safety is probably there to keep the WikiLeaks crowd unheard.
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I don't think so. If that was the intent then the writers would have used the word OR. Instead they use AND, i.e. the information must be known to be false AND be likely to endanger the lives, health or safety of the public.

The first part gives license not to fact check anything, in fact it encourages not fact checking because then there is no "knowledge" but furthermore the first part is voided by the second part. Even if a false story is knowingly propagated the lawyers can argue (for years if necessary) that no lives were directly endangered.
 
So I just got back from lunch with Anita Neville, my MP (Liberal). Back when Bill C-32 came out (the Canadian version of DMCA) I actually sat down and wrote her an email (not a form letter). Apparently she digged what I had to say and invited me and a handful of others (9 of us in total) to her constituency office for a quick lunch meeting on the subject. She admitted that the she was not fully knowledgeable on the subject but seemed interested. It was pretty much unanimous that the digital locks provisions need to go. I raised the issue that the statutory damages which are capped at $5000 are still to high. I argued that although it may seem reasonable compared to what we see in the US (no caps at all), even a $5000 cap is not enough to prevent the mass filings we're now seeing in the US. Since the cases almost never go to court, as it's almost always cheaper to settle for $1500-$3000 dollars then to pay lawyer fees and potentially still be on the hook for $5000, people will be manipulated into settling to make it all go away.

Other issues were also raised and overall I think we made an impression that none of us were really happy with C-32 as it is. Regardless of what happens next, it was still kinda neat to meet up with her. It's good to see her take the time and initiative to meet with us (and buy us lunch :mrgreen: ).
 
Glaucus said:
So I just got back from lunch with Anita Neville,
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That sounds pretty cool (and sounds like you have a pretty cool MP).
At one time or another I have sent emails to just about every member of parliament. Only a few have ever written back (or had me written back). Perhaps it's because I'm usually angry when I am moved to write :)
 
Glaucus said:
Canada wages YouTube war against metered Internet billing

Canadians can't stand going without coffee. Even worse? Not having a team in the FIFA World Cup event for 2014. Absolutely unthinkable, say eight of ten Canadians.

But you know what they really hate? Metered Internet pricing, or Usage Based Billing (UBB) as they call it—letting the dominant Internet Service Providers charge broadband subscribers and smaller competitive ISPs by the quantity of data use.

That's a practice that the government regulator, the Canadian Radio-Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), approved for Bell Canada in September.
Click to expand...

For all you Canadians out there, you can sign a petition against this here: http://openmedia.ca/meter

There's also the facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/openmedia.ca
Click to expand...

What a nightmare! Stop that crap in Canada, before it spreads south!
 
FluffyMcDeath said:
That sounds pretty cool (and sounds like you have a pretty cool MP).
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Actually, I got the impression that she's pretty cool when I realized her office is right next to my old hangout, Bar Italia - which she apparently frequents.
 
Well, I've done my bit for the metering issue and I finally got around to submitting my comment on the proposed rule change on 3.d

ah, civics. It's more than just voting. In fact, the voting is the least important part. Didn't manage to talk to any MPs yet though.
 
Apparently (according to the OpenMedia site), the Liberals and the NDP have come out against UBB. This of course leaves the BLOC and those idiots that actually have the power to change it.

Btw, forgot to mention that Anita kinda hinted that Bill C32 wasn't likely to see the light of day because.... <dramatic_pause/> an up coming election! You heard it here first folks. :D
 
Wow, the fight against UBB is well planned out. there even have a step by step guide on how to fight it: What can I do?
 
Agenda analysis

[youtube:3m0w1llw]IlHpHxRhNs0[/youtube:3m0w1llw]
 
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