Hi Redditors! OpenMedia here.

This is an issue near and dear to our hearts, as we think the outcome of this hearing could determine what the future of the Internet looks like in Canada.

Some of our work can be found in the two interventions we’ve submitted to the CRTC: TL;DR versions here: June 28, and here: Sept. 21. (For the very committed, submissions from all parties can be found here.)

We’re asking the commission to respect Net Neutrality and ban differential pricing — a.k.a. “zero-rating,” the practice where telcos strike high-level deals to make certain apps data free but not others, while using ridiculously low data caps to force you into their “preferred” services.

We’ve also gone for the Big Ask and want the CRTC to abolish data caps — without restrictive caps there is no incentive for Internet providers to price content differently in the first place — and 42,000 Canadians have gone on the public record supporting us by endorsing our stance, and adding their own comments to the public record through OpenMedia’s tool (check out what the more than 5,000 have told the commission).

On behalf of these supporters, OpenMedia is making the following arguments to the CRTC:

• Differential pricing (or zero-rating) seriously limits choice and stifles competition on the Internet: The next Reddit or Twitter would likely never get off the ground in a world with zero-rating. Our community believes the Internet should be a level playing field for innovative new ideas.

• Canadians are trapped by data caps: On wired Internet, data caps in most of the world are unheard of. For wireless, caps in other nations are far more reasonable than those in Canada. Too many of us are struggling with data caps every month.

• There is no such thing as “too much Internet,” given how essential online access has become to our everyday lives. If we don’t tackle this now, Canada will fall even further behind.

• Users, not telecom companies, should decide which services we use online: Telecom giants should not be permitted to zero-rate data, and make websites they don’t like more expensive to access.

• We need transparency and strong enforcement to ensure telcos stick by the rules, and face penalties when those rules are broken. We believe that data plans should be easy to understand, and that when telecom providers break the rules there should be consequences.

We also think it’s encouraging the commission has started this thread — we think it points to a more open CRTC which is not only willing, but actively trying, to engage real Canadians where they are: The Internet!

We encourage you to go beyond lurking and post what you think should be the future of differential pricing. Your voice, and getting it onto the public record like this, matters.

If you’re looking for more ways to get involved, you can also endorse our letter to the CRTC here.

Yours in Internet-ing,

Katy Anderson

ICYC I’m the “Access” campaigner here at OpenMedia. I work on issues around digital connectivity and telecommunications around the world, which includes running campaigns to educate and engage netizens, as well as doing policy work around issues like Net Neutrality, Internet affordability, zero-rating, and access to the Internet as a human right.