The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission announced the new powers today, explaining that ISPs should be able to restrict activity that hinders the overall experience for all users.
“Canada is the first country to develop and implement a comprehensive approach to Internet-traffic management practices,” said Konrad von Finckenstein, the commission chairman. “The centerpiece of our approach is a framework of analysis that will be employed to determine whether economic and technical practices are acceptable.”
Tech analysts see this as a move against peer-to-peer file sharing, which often gets blamed for slowing down online performance because a few users hog all the bandwidth.
ISPs participating in this new program include three of the nation's largest: BCE Inc., Rogers Communications Inc. and Telus Corp. According to the Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission new edict, companies will have to give users 30 days notice before they disable or block any of their applications.
In the U.S., the Federal Communications Commission is set to consider a contrasting set of rules this week. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has proposed new rules that would block ISPs from slowing lawful Internet traffic over fixed or wireless connections.
