BlackBerry boss takes aim at Netflix in neutrality battle

BlackBerry Ltd. CEO John Chen said the battle for net neutrality in the United States should not only focus on service providers' traffic management practices, but should also include companies, such as Netflix Inc., that create content distributed through the Internet.

Americans want wireless exceptions to net neutrality: survey

Most Americans say mobile communications should be treated differently than wireline connections when it comes to enforcing net neutrality principles, according to recently released survey.

A poll commissioned by CTIA-The Wireless Association, which represents wireless-related companies in the United States and elsewhere, found 78 per cent of respondents support different regulations for net neutrality imposed on mobile than wired Internet services, the organization said in a press release Friday.

Music streaming in Canada ramps up

In the past six months, Canadians’ usage of streaming music services seems to have jumped, in a trend that’s not only good news for streaming services, but wireless companies as well.

Nielsen Co. only began tracking music streaming in Canada in July 2014. By September, when Spotify AB entered the market, streaming had increased by 18 per cent, according to numbers provided to The Wire Report by independent broadcast consultant Andrew Forsyth, who collected the data for Nielsen.

FCC boss leaning toward Obama’s position on net neutrality: reports

U.S. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler could be hinting toward a net-neutrality policy along the lines of what President Barack Obama has suggested, categorizing broadband Internet as a public utility, reports indicated.

"We're going to propose rules that say that no blocking (is allowed), no throttling, no paid prioritization," Wheeler said Wednesday at the International Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas, according to Reuters.

Obama asks FCC to impose net neutrality rules

U.S. President Barack Obama put out a statement in favour of net neutrality Monday, and asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to implement a plan that would “safeguard competition and user choice.”

FCC to examine U.S. Internet traffic management

Tom Wheeler, chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, said Friday that his organization is looking into whether Internet service providers are purposely diminishing, for their own benefit, the flow of content from sources such as Netflix Inc.

In a statement posted online, Wheeler referred to recent disputes between Netflix and ISPs such as Comcast Corp. and Verizon Communications Inc.

FCC backs down on net neutrality proposals: reports

Tech giants call for FCC to protect net neutrality

Almost 150 U.S. technology companies, such as Google Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Facebook Inc. and Microsoft Corp., have written a letter to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission calling its proposed net-neutrality rules a “grave threat to the Internet.”

Two-tier Internet would face ‘tough regulatory road’ in Canada: Geist

Canada’s net neutrality rules could provide a “competitive advantage for Internet companies seeking a market without paid prioritization,” Michael Geist, Canada research chair in Internet and e-commerce law at the University of Ottawa, said in a blog post.

CRTC reports fewer throttling complaints

The CRTC said it received fewer complaints about Internet traffic management practices, otherwise known as throttling, in the first three months of 2014 than the three months before that.

The commission said on its website Wednesday it received 11 complaints about throttling between Jan. 1 and March 31, down from 13 in the October-December quarter and 17 in the July-September period.

EU votes to enshrine net neutrality, end roaming charges

The European Union voted on Thursday to end roaming charges by December 2015 and enshrine net neutrality in all 28 member nations as part of its efforts to build a “connected continent,” according to a statement.

The vote in the European Parliament closed loopholes in proposed legislation critics said would have created a two-tier Internet, according to media reports.

CRTC’s consumer focus not at odds with industry: Blais

GATINEAU, Que. — The reviews the CRTC will be holding over the coming year, which include proceedings covering wholesale access to wireless and fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) networks, the future of television and commercial radio, could set the direction for the CRTC over the next decade, said CRTC Chairman Jean Pierre Blais.

Netflix CEO attacks ISPs that demand payment for connectivity

Netflix Inc. CEO Reed Hastings said in a blog post on the company’s website Thursday that a stronger sense of net neutrality is needed to prevent situations like the one that has his company paying Comcast Corp. to ensure customers get a more reliable connection to Netflix content.

CRTC idea could violate net neutrality: experts

A question posed by the CRTC in its review of television services, focusing on exempting over-the-top (OTT) services from Internet data caps, could have implications on net neutrality, according to some industry experts.

U.S. net neutrality rules struck down

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on Tuesday struck down Federal Communications Commission rules that require Internet service providers to treat similar traffic equally in its transmission.

The decision also throws out a regulation that prevented ISPs from outright blocking some Internet content, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The court found that the FCC does not have the authority to regulate the way ISPs regulate net traffic because the Internet is not classified as telecommunications like traditional phone service.

CRTC requests meeting with Rogers regarding net neutrality

The CRTC has requested a meeting with Rogers Communications Inc. after discovering another potential breach of the net neutrality rules in the company’s Internet throttling practices.

CRTC suggests Rogers broke net neutrality rules

The CRTC has informed Rogers Communications Inc. that, based on preliminary evidence, it believes the company's Internet throttling practices violate Canada’s net neutrality rules and has given the company two weeks to prove it wrong.

Stick to your principles, question everything, CRTC chair advises successor

OTTAWA—Outgoing CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein offered up two key pieces of advice to his yet-to-be-declared successor at a conference Tuesday: stick to the commission’s principles and question everything.