Just Say No To Bell

I know most of my readers live in the U.S., but this is important. And I say this not just because I grew up in Canada, a.k.a. America's Funky Hat.

See, Canada is a vast and very regulated place. Our banks were so regulated, in fact, that they couldn't pull the wool like the American banks got away with (read: sub-prime mortgages) and there is no foreclosure crisis as a result. See! Regulation can be good!

However, the agency in charge of regulating telecommunications in the Great White North, the CRTC, is out to lunch. They're in charge of all the phone, radio, TV and Internet, and recently made a big, big mistake.

They told Bell Canada (think Verizon or Comcast; they're a phone, cable, Internet provider for the masses) they could start billing for Internet by usage—inother words, they gave them the green light to stop offering unlimited Internet to customers.

Imagine having to monitor and ration your Internet usage, like you would a cell phone if you had a shitty plan. And no, Bell made no indication that they'd offer free evenings or weekends.

Consumers who use services like Netflix were about to be especially screwed, since downloading movies (or music or anything else)—especially in HD—would suddenly cost a lot more. Netflix's CEO, Reed Hastings, weighed in, voicing his concerns, and an online petition quickly attracted hundreds of thousands of signatures.

Under the CRTC's decision, Bell also planned to apply Usage Based Billing (or UBB) to their sub-contractors (the little, independent ISPs who sell Internet access to customers, too)—at the same price, less 15% that they would charge regular consumers. Could you run a profitable business if the maximum profit you could make was 15% of every sale? I think not.

Thankfully, the Canadian government, which oversees the CRTC, stepped in. MP Tony Clement announced last night—via Twitter, no less—that Bell would have to "go back to the drawing board."

Clement, who serves as Minister of Industry, demanded CRTC reverse its decision. If it doesn't comply, Clement says the federal Cabinet will step in.

"It's a huge issue for a country that wants to move forward on the internet for jobs, for creativity, for innovation," he told the CBC. "[We] felt the CRTC ruling would have a huge impact on consumers and would hurt small businesses, would hurt innovators and creators."

So that, the entire country—and Internet advocates everywhere—can breathe a big sigh of relief. Phew!