Telus is an ISP? I thought they only provided cell phone service. Harry
----- Original Message ----- From: Horace Heffner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Thursday, August 7, 2008 5:07 am Subject: [Vo]:Canadian ISPs Plan Net Censorship > From: > > http://www.zpenergy.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2964 > > > > Modernsteam writes: Canadian ISPs Plan Net Censorship > Concerns grow that Canada's plan will wipeout alt news sites and > spread to U.S. > > By Mike Finch > > A net-neutrality activist group has uncovered plans for the demise > of > the free Internet by 2010 in Canada. By 2012, the group says, the > trend will be global. > > Bell Canada and TELUS, Canada's two largest Internet service > providers (ISPs), will begin charging per-site fees on most > Internet > sites, reports anonymous sources within TELUS. > > > > "It's beyond censorship, it is killing the biggest ecosystem of > free > expression and freedom of speech that has ever existed", I Power > spokesperson Reese Leysen said. I Power was the first group to > report > on the possible changes. > > Bell Canada has not returned calls or emails. > > The plans made by the large telecom businesses would change the > Internet into a cable-like system, where customers sign up for > specific web sites, and must pay to see each individual site > beyond a > certain point. > > Subscription browsing would be limited, extra fees would be > applied > to access out-of-network sites. Many sites would be blocked > altogether. > We had inside sources from bigger companies who gave us the > information on how exclusivity deals are being made at this moment > > between ISPs and big content providers (like TV production studios > > and major video game publishers) to decide which web sites will be > in > the standard packageoffered to their customers, leaving all the > rest > of the Internet unreachable unless you pay extra subscription fees > > per every non-standard site you visit,Leysen said. > > We knew the sourceto be 100% reliable, but we also knew the story > would be highly controversial if we released the information. We > did > it because we knew that we get more official confirmations once we > > come forward with it. > > And indeed that is what happened. Dylan Pattyn, who is writing the > > soon-to-be published article for Time Magazine, received > confirmation > from sources within Bell Canada and TELUS after we released the > information. > > The plans would in effect be economic censorship, with only the > top > 100 to 200 sites making the cut in the initial subscription > package. > Such plans would likely favor major news outlets and suppress > smaller > news outlets, as the major news outlets would be free (with > subscription), and alternative news outlets, like AFP, would incur > a > fee for every visit. > > The Internet will become a playground for billion-dollar content > providers just like television is, said Leysen. It won'tbe > possible > for a few teenagers in their parents basement to start a small > site > like E-bay that then grows out to be the next big thing anymore. > Right now the Internet belongs to those with the greatest ideas. > In > the future, it'll belong to those with the biggest budgets. > > With plans in Canada uncovered, I Power thinks that companies in > the > United States and other nations are also planning similar actions. > > By 2012 ISPs all over the globe will reduce Internet access to a > TV- > like subscription model, only offering access to a small standard > amount of commercial sites and require extra fees for every other > site you visit. > > These other sites would then lose all their exposure andeventually > > shut down, resulting in what could be seen as the end of the > Internet, Leysen said. > > Such a subscription plan could possibly restrict free speech far > beyond even the current restrictions set by the governments of > communist China. Not only would browsing be limited, but privacy > would be invaded, as every web site viewed would likely be > recorded > on a bill in a manner similar to a phone bill. > > Why would the ISPs institute such a plan? One word: money. > > This new subscription model is commercially far more beneficial to > > them than how it is now, Leysen said. If Fox wants to launch a new > > television show online, they'll have to pay big money to all major > > ISPsto ensure that their new show will be offered and pushed in > the > standard package& of sites/services/channels that people will get > through their Internet access. Plus ISPs will also gain extra > revenue > out of people trying to access the rest of the Internet, as > they'll > pay extra subscription fees for every web site they visit. > > But it's not just the big ISPs that stand to gain. > > Marketing and big budget content-pushing just doesn't seem to work > on > the Internet, and this is something that several industries want > fixed. ISPs know this and will benefit greatly by fixing this for > the > marketing and entertainment industry, Leysen said. > > The ISPs are said to be confident they can institute such plans > through deceptive marketing and fear tactics. > > The Internet will be more and more marketed as a place full of > child > pornography and other horrible illegal activity in order to get > people on their [the ISP side once they start restricting it and > make > it safer, Leysen said. Unless we really make a stand for this and > make sure that mainstream media thoroughly covers the issue, the > whole thing will be eased in with proper marketing to make sure > that > most mainstream customers won’t make a big deal out of it. They > will > only realize what was lost long after it's gone. > > -------- > > For more information about this story see http://ipower.ning.com > > For more information about Internet freedom: savetheinternet.com > > Not Copyrighted. Readers can reprint and are free to redistribute - > > as long as full credit is given to American Free Press - 645 > Pennsylvania Avenue SE, Suite 100 Washington, D.C. 20003 > > >
