The Tuesday interview in CARTT today is with Michael Geist on the topic of Net Neutrality.
Greg O’Brien of CARTT asked Dr. Geist why the issue hasn’t had the level of prominence in Canada that it attracts south of the border.
Michael answers:
I’d at least like to see a real debate take place… and it’s been frustrating. So you know this (diversity of voices) hearing is next week, and the fact that we had a couple people step forward, a couple major content organizations step forward and put it on the table, I think suggests that at least within some of the corporate community, there’s a growing realization that this is a relevant issue. And I think within the CRTC there is a realization that it’s an issue that they can’t avoid forever.
How should government address the issue?
From my perspective, the issues we need to be thinking about is not that the government come in and establish a wide layer of regulations for every issue under the sun, but rather recognize that the internet itself has changed dramatically really from a consumption-internet to a participatory internet. And from a policy and law perspective, we ought to be thinking about what kind of rules the government might consider to help facilitate some of that.
It is an interesting interview, worthwhile reading.
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Michael Geist, net neutrality, CARTT