LumberCartel.ca ✉ Net Neutrality

The Lumber Cartel, local 42 (Canadian branch)

Glossary - Net neutrality

Net neutrality is about the fair distribution of information over the internet in an unbiased manner that ensures it is equally accessible to everyone.

Throughout the first 10 years of the 21st century, many large internet providers were reported in the media as planning to charge special restriction exemption fees to the owners of popular web sites. Essentially, any web sites that were exempt from non-neutral restrictions would enjoy a major competitive advantage over sites subjected to rate-limits and other such restrictions.

Many internet users were concerned that the quality of internet access would suffer under these policies, which some described as extortion tactics. Additionally, this could also be extended more directly to users by charging higher service fees for neutral service that automatically exempted all restrictions (this could be particularly profitable since web site owners and their users would both be paying for identical exemptions).