Jay Goldman

I got pinged this morning by Steve from SaveOurNet.ca, who asked me to help spread the word about their Take Action campaign. This is of critical importance to all Canadians who use the Internet, which works out to being most of us (84% of the population according to the International Telecommunications Union).

SaveOurNet.ca is a coalition of citizens, businesses, and public interest groups fighting to protect our Internet’s level playing field. We’re calling on lawmakers and industry to protect openness, choice, and access for ALL Canadians — and stopping lobbyists and special interests from ruining Canada’s Internet.

Their efforts are largely focused around two areas:

1. Stop the Throttlers: a response to Bell and Rogers from using ‘traffic shaping’ technologies to control network bandwidth for all carriers. This also includes things like inserting ads into web content as you browse the net, as Rogers has been known to do (will they stop at nothing?).
2. Net Neutrality: this issue should be of utmost concern to anyone who loves freedom and the net. To quote SaveOurNet’s FAQ:

What is net neutrality?
Net neutrality or network neutrality is a founding principle of the the internet. With a few small exceptions, it is the standard that has governed the transit of information over the internet up to this point. Put simply, net neutrality means non-discriminatory treatment of traffic. That is, outside of limited exceptions such as spam and known viruses, the companies that deliver information over the internet have treated all information the same, delivering each package of information as quickly and efficiently as possible (often referred to as the “best efforts” internet). Under this regime an internet user is free to use any equipment, content, application or service on a non-discriminatory basis without interference from the network provider. Network neutrality means that the network provider’s only job is to move data – not to choose which data to privilege with higher quality service.

More from Wikipedia.

Please get involved. I contributed to help the campaign cover ads and legal costs, and if it’s within your means, you should donate too.