How repealing net neutrality in U.S. could hurt Canadian pocketbooks

Canada has policies in place to ensure the internet is equal for everyone, but if the United Statesgoes ahead with rolling back what's called "net neutrality" in that country, it could cost Canadians literally.

This week, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chief Ajit Pai said the commission will vote on Dec. 14 on whether or not to rescind net neutrality rules.

• FCC will vote to repeal net neutrality rules put in place under Obama
• Online sites across U.S. take part in protest to support net neutrality

The rules were brought in under former U.S. president Barack Obama's administration in 2015 and are supported by major tech companies including Google, Facebook and Twitter.

Repealing net neutrality could open up the doors to allow U.S. service providers to "carve up the internet and serve it to you in packages," Laura Tribe, executive director of the digital rights advocacy group Open Media in Ottawa, told CBCNews.

• Trump signs repeal of broadband internet privacy rules

"It will put all of the control of what we see online, what we are able to do online and access online, into those service providers," Tribe said. "[It takes] the control away from the customers and [is] actually giving that to the companies."

Cost passed to Canadians?

"Many of the content services that Canadians consume most highly are American," University of Waterloo professorAimeMorrisonsaid, citing sites likeYouTube, the video-game streaming site Twitch, Netflix or Apple Music.

Those sites will be negotiating with American internetservice providers to make sure their content is available in the U.S.

Pay-to-playinternetin the U.S. could hurt Canadian firms trying to compete."And they're going to do that by paying money," she explained.

"Extra costs just to get their content streaming in the U.S. is going to probably be passed along to both American and Canadian consumers in the form of higher subscription fees."

• Pay-to-playinternetin U.S. could hurt Canadian firms trying to compete

Tribe agreed Canadians could expect subscription fees to go up, but revoking net neutrality could also affectinternetusage in other countriesbecause many look to the U.S. to lead the way on telecommunications policy.

"This will have an impact on theinternetas we know it," Tribe asserted.

Canadianinternetproviders can't pick whichappsand services count against your data cap, says the federal communications watchdog.

• Yourinternetprovider can't pick whichappsand services count against your data cap, saysCRTC

"It's another day that we can all be happy we're Canadians because very recently theCRTC(Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission) in Canada positively affirmed net neutrality as an important value for Canadianinternet,"saidMorrison.

How net neutrality works

Currently, the internet is like your telephone, Morrison explained to CBC News.

• The net neutrality battle for equal access vs. pay-for-premium internet

You pay a company for access to the infrastructure and the fee doesn't change based on the call you're making whether you call your child to check in, order a pizza or call police in an emergency, it's all the same price.

"What you're paying your ISP for is simply access to the tube that the content moves through," Morrison said of the current system.

But if net neutrality is repealed in the U.S., the internet will work more like cable television.

• Day 6:Why you should be paying attention to the net neutrality debate

"With cable TV, what you're paying to access is the infrastructure that brings television content into your home, but you're also paying different fees based on what kind of content you want to access," Morrison said.

Listen to the interview with Aime Morrison:

It could be everyone gets basic or "skinny" internet with something like email, she said. But you may need to pay more for higher speeds, meaning if you want to stream YouTube or Netflix, expect to pay more.

• Net neutrality repeal will let big companies control what people do online: FCC commissioner

Pai, a U.S. Republican Party member appointed by President Donald Trump to therole as chief of the FCC, argues the change would give consumers more choice.

Itwould allow "companies of all kinds in every sector to compete and let consumers decide who wins and loses," he has said.

But Jessica Rosenworcel, one of two Democrats on the five-person commission, said the move will crush freedom and competition, not foster it.

Listen to Jessica Rosenworcel's interview on CBC Radio'sAs It Happens:

Censorship concerns

Tribe said there are also big concerns about censorship in the U.S.

"One of the big things that companies want to do, which also impacts their profits, is block out their competitor's content, slow down things that are not providing their own services," she said.

Many companies that sell internet services also own media companies, including television channels.

"If you're trying to access your competitor's content, or even a competing internet service, that could now be blocked and they have that ability to do that," Tribe said.