net neutrality

							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 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@elf.mcgill.ca) &
Sabina Iseli-Otto (sabina@alumni.uwo.ca), librarians at large