Bell Asks Employees to File CRTC Submissions to Support Website Blocking Proposal

[Len]

Last month, Bell and a coalition of other media companies, including Rogers, CBC, Quebecor, Corus and more, announced the launch of FairPlay Canada, which is urging the CRTC to create a website blocking service to blacklist piracy websites.

This non-profit organization FairPlay Canada wants to create, would be called the Internet Piracy Review Agency (IPRA), and its mandate would have Internet service providers comply to block nefarious websites which spread piracy, which results in fewer users subscribing to cable TV or paying for content.

Now, according to Ottawa Law Professor and Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law, Michael Geist, Bell has started to encourage its own employees to file submissions to the CRTC to help support the website blocking proposal from FairPlay Canada:
 

The corporate memo was shared with Geist from one of his sources and reads “help stop online piracy and protect content creators.” Bell informs employees to “make your voice heard” and to send comments to the CRTC online, encouraging support for FairPlay Canada.

Currently, the CRTC is holding public consultations on the matter and to date, thousands of Canadians have submitted comments opposing the website blocking plan, which many argue endangers net neutrality in Canada.

According to FairPlay Canada, “online piracy is theft, plain and simple”, which apparently affects 630,000 Canadian jobs.

Back in 2015, Bell was fined $1.25 million by the Competition Bureau, for having employees post fake glowing reviews of the company’s apps in the App Store. Now, it is encouraging employees to post CRTC submissions supporting FairPlay Canada, which appears disingenuous.

Earlier today, Geist argued on his blog, a website blocking service would most likely erroneously over-block thousands of legitimate websites, as has been the case in other jurisdictions around the world, who have tried similar setups.