Imagine just for a second my American readers if Comcast sent you an email one day to let you know that while they still have caps in place you can still watch all the NBC online content and Xfinity content that you wanted because that won’t count against your caps; but things like Netflix will.
I’d be willing to bet that within minutes of that email hitting inboxes around the US the roar would start. There would be screaming to high heaven and calls to the FTC and anyone else that could make hay off of the move vote wise would be calling for investigations left right and center.
Yet here in Canada, well western Canada right now, this is exactly the move that has taken place thanks to Shaw Media announcing that they were exempting their own Movie Club content from counting against Shaw Media broadband customers data caps but services like Netflix would still count.
Now it should also be pointed out that all the major broadband providers, with the notable exception of Cogeco Cable, all own television networks, both standard and cable based networks. Rogers owns a large number of cable based television networks including OLN, OMNI, and CityTV along with being one of the countries largest wireless and cable companies, Bell Canada owns the CTVglobemedia network, Shaw Media owns the Global Television Network.
All the major broadband players in Canada have a vested interested in having data caps and traffic shaping practices, none of which benefit the consumer. Of course one would think that the Canadian governmental oversight agency; otherwise known as the CRTC, but the reality is that the CRTC is made up of hand picked commissioners who all have worked at one time or another for the very companies that they are suppose to be overseeing.
Instead nothing could be further from the truth and this is why Canadians have some of the highest cell phone rates in the world, the most onerous data caps next to maybe Australia, and now thanks to Shaw Media we are seeing a total manipulation of the Internet to benefit an individual company.
Only in Canada you say? Pity.
via electronista and GigaOM
