Internet in Canada a Wasteland

[Hooch Tan]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.cbc.ca/searchengine/blog/2008/11/is_canada_becoming_a_digital_g.html' target='_blank'>http://www.cbc.ca/searchengine/blog..._digital_g.html</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"This growing list of backwards policies is already creating a sense of digital isolation: Canadians can&rsquo;t stream the videos Americans stream, download the files Americans download, remix the media Americans remix, or tweet the way Americans tweet. With the election of Barack Obama, digital culture in the U.S. hit a tipping point, where a robust online public sphere proved itself capable of changing the world. Meanwhile, here in Canada we&rsquo;re approaching our own tipping point, where a series of ignorances and capitulations threaten to turn our country into a digital ghetto."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/dht/auto/1228268725.usr20447.jpg" /></p><p>Living in Canada, the digital climate has a direct impact on me and my concerns echo a lot of what Jesse Brown has posted.&nbsp; Internet access, both wired and wireless, in Canada is relatively expensive and slower than our friends south of the border.&nbsp; This in combintion with a growing effort on DRM restrictions makes Canada a less inviting atmosphere for innovation.&nbsp; One case in point mentioned in the article is Twitter recently shutting down outbound SMS messages in Canada.&nbsp; Canadians, well, anyone, needs to make an effort to make sure that their country strives to keep its Internet access as cheap and open as possible.&nbsp; With the impact that a pervasive Internet can have on our lives, it's worth that effort.</p>

[Joel Crane]

Quick question, and I don't mean to start any arguments, endorse or bash any politicians, but what does our future president have to do with this article?

[Darius Wey]

Quick question, and I don't mean to start any arguments, endorse or bash any politicians, but what does our future president have to do with this article?

I think that's a question for Jesse Brown at CBC. He was the one who mentioned a certain politician. ;)

[Darius Wey]

"This growing list of backwards policies is already creating a sense of digital isolation: Canadians can&rsquo;t stream the videos Americans stream, download the files Americans download, remix the media Americans remix, or tweet the way Americans tweet."

I can understand why Brown feels digitally isolated, but he makes it sound like it's all Canada's fault. It's not. There are many barriers in place that prevent a non-US citizen from viewing US content. Such is the nature of licensing and copyright laws. Being border buddies with the US doesn't necessarily confer privileges of a US citizen.

He really should hop on a plane and discover the digital restrictions present in other countries. They make Canada seem like digital heaven.

[Joel Crane]

Just surfing the internet in another country is interesting. In Turkey, Thoughts wasn't blocked but just about everything else seemed to be.

Maybe Mr. Brown was just using the election as a mile marker.

[Hooch Tan]

I can understand why Brown feels digitally isolated, but he makes it sound like it's all Canada's fault. It's not. There are many barriers in place that prevent a non-US citizen from viewing US content. Such is the nature of licensing and copyright laws. Being border buddies with the US doesn't necessarily confer privileges of a US citizen.

I don't think Brown means that Canadians should have access to US content. At least, I don't think that's his only point. I interpreted it largely as the high cost and limited options available to Canadians prevent them from being able to innovate using the Internet as a platform.

For example, many mobile applications couldn't really help the average Canadian because of the, until recently, high cost of wireless internet access. The data transfer caps that Canadians have means that nice things like Internet TV aren't really practical, assuming we could attain the speeds necessary to support it. What that comes down to is that Canada is falling behind in the technological race, and I for one, see it as vital to keeping competitive in today's economic landscape.

To be fair, Darius, you are quite right that some countries definately have it worse. Australia comes to mind when it comes to EXTREMELY prohibitive Internet access costs.

As for the reference to the President-Elect, I believe he's referring to his party's use of blossoming technologies like Twitter, to reach out and communicate his party's intentions and stance on various topics. Basically, he's been recognized by some technology blogs as embracing these new medias that otherwise might not exist in a more restrictive telecom environment.

[Darius Wey]

To be fair, Darius, you are quite right that some countries definately have it worse. Australia comes to mind when it comes to EXTREMELY prohibitive Internet access costs.

It's getting better, but it still punches big holes in one's pockets.

It's mostly due to the cost of data to and from Australia, plus the cost of infrastructure needed to service the rural population spread across this giant land mass. When you divide the aforementioned costs by Australia's relatively small total population, the reasons behind expensive Internet access become apparent. Oh, and the money-hungry telcos don't help much either. ;)