Net Neutrality

Author: Jeff Semple Source: CBC News Date: Thursday, December 3, 2009 | 11:20 PM ET Jayhaed Saadé says he has applied for a licence for his radio station in Ottawa but plans to continue broadcasting while he waits. (Jeff Semple/CBC) Industry Canada has ordered a 14-year-old Ottawa boy to shut down the unlicensed radio station he started a week ago. Jayhaed Saadé received a note from Industry Canada a few days after he began broadcasting his all-music pirate radio station MIX 91.9 FM from Greely, a community in Ottawa’s south end. “They said I need a licence,” Saadé said. “I didn’t know. I said, ... Read Full Story

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted unanimously today to begin the process of crafting formal rules for "net neutrality," the principle that all content on the Internet should be equally accessible to all users, and that companies cannot discriminate or block one set of content in favor of another. The Commission agreed at its monthly open meeting to publish a "Notice of Proposed Rulemaking" that would solicit public comment on how best to create rules for ensuring net neutrality, while enabling Internet service providers and telecom networks to continue policing their systems for spam and illegal content. "Any rules we adopt must preserve our ... Read Full Story

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A key U.S. lawmaker said on Wednesday that he backs a Federal Communications Commission proposal to establish an open Internet rule and would consider legislative action if the industry challenged it in court. "The FCC is moving in exactly the right direction," said Rick Boucher, chairman of the House of Representatives' Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet. Boucher, a Virginia Democrat, spoke with reporters after an event that highlighted the successful deployment of high-speed Internet to a rural community in his district using airwaves vacated by broadcasters that are now using digital signals. His comments came on ... Read Full Story

AT&T Inc. is encouraging employees to join its lobbying campaign against proposed federal rules that would restrict the ways broadband companies can manage traffic on their networks. The Federal Communications Commission has asked the public to be part of an online conversation as it begins writing "network neutrality" rules, and has set up a blog to gather comments. AT&T's top lobbyist, Jim Cicconi, sent a letter to the company's U.S. managers on Sunday urging them, their families and their friends to use the blog, http://blog.openinternet.gov, to call on the agency "not to regulate the Internet." He offered tips on what points to make in ... Read Full Story

Federal regulators are expected to take a step forward Thursday on rules that would prohibit broadband providers from favoring or discriminating against Internet traffic. The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission says "network neutrality" regulations would prevent phone and cable companies from abusing their control over broadband connections. He says that's necessary to ensure subscribers can access all legal Web sites and services, such as Internet calling applications that compete with the broadband companies' offerings. The chairman, Julius Genachowski, has the support of the two other Democrats on the five-member commission, enough to formally launch the net neutrality proceeding. That would likely produce rules ... Read Full Story