{"id":37376,"date":"2016-07-13T18:57:39","date_gmt":"2016-07-14T01:57:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=37376"},"modified":"2016-09-07T04:35:32","modified_gmt":"2016-09-07T11:35:32","slug":"quebec-isp-blocking-challenged-federal-consumer-rights-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/quebec-isp-blocking-challenged-federal-consumer-rights-group\/","title":{"rendered":"Quebec ISP Blocking Challenged by Federal Consumer Rights Group"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Quebec
Quebec\u2019s plan to block online gambling website faces a challenge that it is in direct conflict with federal law. (Image: gamingintelligence.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Quebec\u2019s plans to force ISP\u2019s to block access to unlicensed gambling is being put to the test by a federal consumer rights group. The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) this week filed an objection to a law, passed by the Quebec legislature earlier in the year, which aims to disconnect 8.2 million residents from the unregulated markets.<\/p>\n

The bill\u2019s supporters claim that its aim is to \u201cimprove public health\u201d by forcing state residents to play on Quebec\u2019s sole regulated online gaming site, Lotto-Quebec\u2019s Espace-jeux.<\/p>\n

But critics, which include net neutrality advocates<\/a>, technology lawyers, and the ISPs themselves, have accused the Quebec government of setting a dangerous precedent by putting commercial gain above the freedom of the internet. The plans, which were drawn up in the provinces March 2015 budget predict the scheme will boost government revenues by $13.5 million in 2016-2017 and $27 million in subsequent years.<\/p>\n

Cost to Consumers<\/h2>\n

These gains will come at the huge expense of ISP companies, which have said that the disruption to their infrastructures would be enormous as they would have to redesign their networks from the ground up. The cost of this would be passed onto consumers.<\/p>\n

The PIAC filing states that Quebec<\/a> is in direct conflict with the1993 Federal Telecommunications Act, which prohibits a communications provider from \u201ccontrol[ing] the content or influence[ing] the meaning or purpose of telecommunications carried by it for the public,\u201d unless it has approval from the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a risk that if Quebec is found legally competent to order ISPs to block certain content, other content may be added to the list of what\u2019s acceptable and what isn\u2019t, and other provinces could follow suit,\u201d said Geoffrey White, a lawyer for PIAC. \u201cGiven how vital the Internet is to preserving and promoting human rights, including free speech, one province\u2019s foray into ISP regulation could result in the steepest of slippery slopes.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Good Company<\/h2>\n

If Quebec is able to survive a federal challenge and proceed with its policy of internet censorship it will find itself in the auspicious company of states like China, Iran, and Russia, which employ similar policies to block access to gambling companies and other undesirable websites.<\/p>\n

Even so, they find the process difficult. It was reported that last weekend Russian PokerStars players found their access to the client blocked, although the online poker giant was able to solve the problem by posting a link to a new client that would quickly restore access.<\/p>\n

Despite its game of cat and mouse with the Russian government, PokerStars\u2019 parent Amaya\u2019s head offices are located in Montreal and the company had expressed support for the Quebec government\u2019s controversial proposals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Quebec\u2019s plans to force ISP\u2019s to block access to unlicensed gambling is being put to the test by a federal consumer rights group. The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) this week filed an objection to a law, passed by the Quebec legislature earlier in the year, which aims to disconnect 8.2 million residents from the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":37379,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,13],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nQuebec ISP Blocking Challenged by Federal Consumer Rights Group<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u00a0Quebec\u2019s plan to block access to online gambling websites is accused of contravening federal law by advocacy group.\" \/>\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 ISP Blocking Challenged by Federal Consumer Rights Group\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u00a0Quebec\u2019s plan to block access to online gambling websites is accused of contravening federal law by advocacy group.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/quebec-isp-blocking-challenged-federal-consumer-rights-group\/\" \/>\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=\"2016-07-14T01:57:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-09-07T11:35:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Access_Denied-lg.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"850\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"385\" \/>\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=\"2 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-isp-blocking-challenged-federal-consumer-rights-group\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/quebec-isp-blocking-challenged-federal-consumer-rights-group\/\",\"name\":\"Quebec ISP Blocking Challenged by Federal Consumer Rights Group\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/quebec-isp-blocking-challenged-federal-consumer-rights-group\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/quebec-isp-blocking-challenged-federal-consumer-rights-group\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Access_Denied-lg.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-07-14T01:57:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-09-07T11:35:32+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"\u00a0Quebec\u2019s plan to block access to online gambling websites is accused of contravening federal law by advocacy group.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/quebec-isp-blocking-challenged-federal-consumer-rights-group\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/quebec-isp-blocking-challenged-federal-consumer-rights-group\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/quebec-isp-blocking-challenged-federal-consumer-rights-group\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Access_Denied-lg.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Access_Denied-lg.jpg\",\"width\":850,\"height\":385,\"caption\":\"Quebec\u2019s plan to block online gambling website faces a challenge that it is in direct conflict with federal law. 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