{"id":34890,"date":"2016-04-04T16:12:46","date_gmt":"2016-04-04T23:12:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=34890"},"modified":"2016-04-04T16:24:23","modified_gmt":"2016-04-04T23:24:23","slug":"quebec-net-neutrality-advocates-decry-planned-online-gambling-sites-block","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/quebec-net-neutrality-advocates-decry-planned-online-gambling-sites-block\/","title":{"rendered":"Quebec Net Neutrality\u00a0Advocates\u00a0Decry Planned Block of Online Gambling Sites"},"content":{"rendered":"

Net neutrality<\/a> supporters in the Canadian province of Quebec<\/a> are outraged over the regional government\u2019s plans to force Internet service providers (ISP\u2019s) to block access to unlicensed online gambling sites.<\/p>\n

\"Carlos
Quebec’s\u00a0Finance Minister Carlos Leita is the man who wants to build a firewall around the province. \u00a0But critics are fighting back against blocking ISPs, saying the provincial government does not understand the Internet. (Image: citynews.ca)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Critics of the plan say it is an unconstitutional violation of the freedom of expression, and possibly even illegal.<\/p>\n

Bill 74, which is quietly beating a path through the legislative process, would give the provincial government the right to demand that Internet companies restrict access to sites that are not run or approved by the Loto-Quebec Corporation, which operates the Espace-jeux<\/em> (Space Games) website, the province\u2019s sole officially licensed gaming site.<\/p>\n

The website filtering measure was drawn up in the province\u2019s March 2015 budget and the government believes the scheme will boost Espace-jeux\u2019s<\/em> revenues by $13.5 million in 2016-2017, and $27 million in subsequent years.<\/p>\n

The province\u2019s online gaming operation has yielded significantly less revenue than was initially hoped, says Loto-Quebec, largely because of competition from gray market operators. A recent study suggested that two-thirds of Quebecers are unaware that Espace-jeux<\/em> is the official and legal site.<\/p>\n

Wider Implications<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Authorities also claim that the provincial firewall is aimed at \u201cimproving public health.\u201d Because unlicensed sites don\u2019t follow the same player protection guidelines as the province\u2019s own legal and regulated site, they have a competitive advantage, says Quebec\u2019s finance minister, Carlos Leitao.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re saying is, \u2018If you want to play the game, everybody has to follow the same rules.\u2019 \u201d he explained recently.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

But the issue has far wider social, political, and legal implications than simply blocking off a few gambling websites. Other preventative means can be implemented, such as barring financial institutions from processing transactions, much like what happened with UIGEA in the US.<\/p>\n

The University of Ottawa\u2019s Michael Geist, an expert in online law, says that the legislation of Internet censorship, unprecedented in Canada, sets a dangerous precedent.<\/p>\n

Government intervention into the open Internet, and its meddling in how ISPs govern their networks and the sites that Canadians can access, is fundamentally un-Canadian, he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the (Quebec) government doesn\u2019t understand the Internet and frankly doesn\u2019t understand the importance of an open and free Internet,\u201d he told TheStar.com.<\/p>\n

“We’re a free and democratic society and I think we don’t believe in Chinese-style approaches where the government shapes what kind of information, or what sort of sites people are entitled to access. To see the Quebec government do so here really runs counter, I think, to some of the fundamental values we have in this society.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And Is It Legal?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

There are also questions of legality and practicality. Critics have pointed out that issues of telecommunications are usually left to the federal government, and meanwhile the 1993 Telecommunications Act states:<\/p>\n

\u201cExcept where the [federal] Commission (the CRTC) approves otherwise, a Canadian carrier shall not control the content or influence the meaning or purpose of telecommunications carried by it for the public.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bram Abramson, of TekSavvy Solutions Inc., an ISP responsible for supplying broadband to 300,000 Canadian households, says the plans would be \u201cextremely complicated [to implement] and extremely costly [to carry out].\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat they\u2019re asking us to do is wall off Quebec and to run our network differently and separately,\u201d he told TheStar.com. \u201cIt\u2019s a question of redesigning our network from the ground up.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is not known whether PokerStars, whose parent, Amaya Inc. is headquartered in Montreal and which even provides technology for Espace-jeux<\/em>, would be included on a government blacklist.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Net neutrality supporters in the Canadian province of Quebec are outraged over the regional government\u2019s plans to force Internet service providers (ISP\u2019s) to block access to unlicensed online gambling sites. Critics of the plan say it is an unconstitutional violation of the freedom of expression, and possibly even illegal. Bill 74, which is quietly beating […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":34898,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,13],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nQuebec Pro-Net Neutrality\u00a0Advocates\u00a0Decry Planned Block of Online Gambling Sites<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Pro-net neutrality supporters are decrying planned Quebec online gambling ISP blocking, saying it violates freedom of expression and is unCanadian.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Quebec Pro-Net Neutrality\u00a0Advocates\u00a0Decry Planned Block of Online Gambling Sites\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Pro-net neutrality supporters are decrying planned Quebec online gambling ISP blocking, saying it violates freedom of expression and is unCanadian.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/quebec-net-neutrality-advocates-decry-planned-online-gambling-sites-block\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-04-04T23:12:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-04-04T23:24:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Carlos-Leita-Quebec-to-Block-Online-Gambling-Sites.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"878\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"494\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/quebec-net-neutrality-advocates-decry-planned-online-gambling-sites-block\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/quebec-net-neutrality-advocates-decry-planned-online-gambling-sites-block\/\",\"name\":\"Quebec Pro-Net Neutrality\u00a0Advocates\u00a0Decry Planned Block of Online Gambling Sites\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/quebec-net-neutrality-advocates-decry-planned-online-gambling-sites-block\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/quebec-net-neutrality-advocates-decry-planned-online-gambling-sites-block\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Carlos-Leita-Quebec-to-Block-Online-Gambling-Sites.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-04-04T23:12:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-04-04T23:24:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"Pro-net neutrality supporters are decrying planned Quebec online gambling ISP blocking, saying it violates freedom of expression and is unCanadian.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/quebec-net-neutrality-advocates-decry-planned-online-gambling-sites-block\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/quebec-net-neutrality-advocates-decry-planned-online-gambling-sites-block\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/quebec-net-neutrality-advocates-decry-planned-online-gambling-sites-block\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Carlos-Leita-Quebec-to-Block-Online-Gambling-Sites.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Carlos-Leita-Quebec-to-Block-Online-Gambling-Sites.jpg\",\"width\":878,\"height\":494,\"caption\":\"Quebec's\u00a0Finance Minister Carlos Leita is the man who wants to build a firewall around the province. \u00a0But critics are fighting back against blocking ISPs, saying the provincial government does not understand the Internet. 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