I don't know if you've read or heard about Net Neutrality. It's a big issue right now. As small ISPs get gobbled up by the larger ones, there is less and less choice (especially in the USA) for the common bloke. The problem is that the large fish want a larger piece of the revenue pie. They're not happy gouging us for internet access as it is. They want a cut of the content revenue as well. Better yet, force you to buy their content. Rogers Communications (Toronto based cable tv, internet and wireless telephone operator) is notorious for this.
The days where a service provider just sold a connection are going away. Going back to Rogers. They lock down their phones so you have to pay for their ring tones (as just one example). They bandwidth shape their internet connections so you can't really get the 5Mb you pay for from anything you'd actually want to use it for. What right does my cell phone provider or ISP have to tell me how to use their product? Apparently, that's not very clear.
Net Neutrality in Canada
Being conservatives (read: pleasing to corporations and the rich), our government has been dragging on this issue for some time. They just don't think it's important. Equal access to all goes both ways. Everyone should be entitled to get the access that everyone else has. However, they should also have equal connection to anywhere on the net, not where their ISP chooses. Write your local MP and let them know that you demand a free internet and that Canada needs Net Neutrality legislation.
