Canada to permit end of net neutrality

INTERNAL DOCUMENTS dug up by the Canadian press indicate that the Tory government is planning to drop net neutrality in a bid to prop up the telcos who offer Internet access.

The documents show that senior advisers to Industry Minister Maxime Bernier, who has previously declared a "consumer first" approach, say he should really be listening to those nice people at the large telecommunications companies like Videotron and Telus.

They have been calling for an end to Net neutrality which means that punters can view the smallest blogs just as quickly and easily as the largest corporate websites. Net neutrality also stops telecos from charging more to companies to have their pages load faster than any others.

Bernier was advised that major telecom companies were "determined to play a greater role in how Internet content is delivered" and that "they believe they should be the gatekeepers of content, with the freedom to impose fees for their role."

Michael Geist, law professor at the University of Ottawa said that the documents reveal that in Canada, the industry minister and his policy people appear unlikely to provide Canadian Internet users with similar protections to those being offered in the United States.

He added that they are word for word a lobbying document crafted by the telecommunications companies.

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