Is there something wrong with making a buck?
A couple of weeks ago, Michael Geist pointed out that a number of submissions to the CRTC’s Diversity of Voices Proceeding provide fertile reading material on net neutrality proposals from the content sector. To date, much of the net neutrality dialog in Canada has been heard from carriers, end users and academics.
It is good to see the discussion engaged by other groups with a perspective of content production.
In the submission from the Canadian Media Guild, I think that some of their language is unfortunately chosen. For example, among their recommended measures, they are seeking:
A guarantee of “net neutrality,” by establishing a rule prohibiting internet service providers from controlling clients’ access to websites for commercial gain.
Personally, I don’t see a problem with commercial gain.
In fact, I’d like to think that the ISPs are achieving some commercial gain; unlike the model for subsidized media creation of Canadian content, ISPs have to make a profit or they will be forced to shut down. Commercial gain is necessary to ensure long term viability and ongoing investment.
Network management control is commonly invoked because of commercial issues – it allows cost effective deployment of resources. The alternative is to vastly increase the assets such that capacity is never constrained, and recover the costs from subscribers or go out of business. The Media Guild’s proposal would seem to prohibit network management.
Isn’t the real issue whether ISPs control access in an unduly discriminatory manner? Undue discrimination is very different from commercial gain. Let’s not take a stand against profit.
We’ll look more at this proceeding later on.
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net neutrality, CRTC, Michael Geist