[kwlug-disc] government record on tech, copyright

[Kyle Spaans]

2011/4/3 John Kerr <jkerr0102 at rogers.com>
> And the Conservatives did bring the CRTC to task about the UBB.

FWIW I watched the CPAC video recording from the Standing Committee on
Industry, Science, and Technology when they brought in the CRTC and
talked about UBB: Peter Braid asked some hard questions of the CRTC
and showed me that he "gets it".

A rough transcription. His questions came 61 minutes into the
recording (which I can make available if anyone wants it).
 - Is the purpose/rationale of UBB to help manage internet traffic?
(Answer: it's an economic incentive: you pay for what you use)
 - What evidence is there that internet traffic congestion is really
an issue? (Smiles from around the room, von Fincklestein gets a little
bit flustered: we have testimonials, internet use is increasing every
year, companies tell the CRTC how close they are to clogging their
tubes, other parties will come and contest the evidence given to use
by ISPs -- but the EXPLOSION of the use of the internet for video etc
makes it obvious that congestion is or will be a problem.)
 - Is there evidence that congestion is an issue at only particular
times of the day? (Answer: that's a big issue, we imagine it's worse
at peak hours so we tell them to only "manage" traffic during peak
hours)
 - Surely there are other ways to manage internet traffic? Software,
other technology? (Answer: as long as it's non-discriminatory)
 - Explosion of the internet? 14% users are 80% of traffic? Those
numbers can't be static? These are going to change, should the CRTC
not be more forward looking? (Answer: If you can tell me how to do it,
I'll gladly do it. (laughs from around the room) We always do it on
the best available data
 - You mentioned that one of the things you are going to ensure that
consumers will be protected. How? (Answer: what is the effect on
consumers? Is it going to be reasonable? We want to make sure that
heavy users pay for heavy use. We want to make sure that small ISPs
stay alive, they drive innovation.)