Stephen Downes

Canada's internet is in crisis, although most people do not yet realize it. Both Bell Canada and Rogers Cable have made significant changes to service and there are widespread - and substantiated - charges that the providers are 'throttling' internet access, that is, deliberately slowing online services they disagree with. The services throttled are typically voice communications and video sites - not coincidentally, Bell is a telephone company while Rogers provides cable television. From this report: "Experts also say there is plenty of capacity left on the networks - a fact Bell admits to - so the traffic-shaping is being done merely to interfere with internet applications the companies see as threats to their own businesses." Michael Geist has written about this (not surprisingly) as has Rabble's Wayne MacPhail (disclosure: I donate financially to Rabble). Learn more about net neutrality and throttling in Canada.