Today, Industry Minister Tony Clement sent a response to those who had emailed him through SaveOurNet at http://saveournet.ca/action

In this latest email, Clement seemingly attempts to justify the status quo: He writes that though the CRTC is not obligated to conduct audits of Internet Service Providers' traffic management practices, it has in the past "followed up" with ISPs to ask those practices be made more transparent.

The NDP has sent another email to those who have emailed Tony Clement asking him to make the open Internet a reality in Canada. The message reiterates the New Democrats' existing position on Net Neutrality issues, but for the first time includes the following line:

"We have called on the CRTC to conduct regular compliance audits of ISP traffic management practices."

As you read in our report, Internet Openness - Where Do the Parties Stand, the Liberals Party of Canada does hold that Net Neutrality should be enshrined into law.

Today, let's send them a friendly reminder of how important the issue is to us. And let's use Twitter to do it!

1. Sign in to your Twitter account (or create one)
2. Send a tweet that reads: @M_Ignatieff When will there be #NetNeutrality legislation in Canada? #cdnpoli #cdnmedia via @SaveOurNet Please RT!

It seems like it's been a long time since the uproar about the Google-Verizon joint policy proposal. Though the framework did include many provisions that support Net Neutrality, it was heavily criticized for excluding mobile wireless Internet from many of the proposed regulations.

Just hours after the release of the SaveOurNet Coalition’s report, Internet Openness - Where Do the Parties Stand?, the Liberal Party of Canada and the NDP both addressed Net Neutrality in Canada and the Conservative government’s failure to take initiative in enshrining the open Internet in law.

Both parties cited SaveOurNet’s report.

If you didn’t know there were holes in Canada’s rural broadband policies before, be prepared to have your mind blown.

Earlier this month, OpenMedia.ca contributor Jesse Betteridge wrote a flaming critique of the CRTC’s decision to expand broadband Internet service to 287 rural and remote communities, many of which, it was reported, had been receiving such services for years.

A report to be filed by the International Broadband Commission (IBC) will issue a declaration on “broadband inclusion for all”, which will include a number of recommendations that could go so far as declaring internet access a right.

The IBC, a joint project of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), will address the UN Secretary General on September 19.

The problematic proposal put forth by the newly collaborative Google and Verizon has led to public interest lobbying efforts in both the United States and Canada.

Vint Cerf, Google's vice president, was interviewed by the CBC on Friday about his company's joint proposal with U.S. telecommunications giant Verizon. The proposal had created anxiousness and anger for the internet community when it was announced four days prior.

Cerf suggested in the interview that Google's conversations with Verizon were not a betrayal, but instead a worthwhile "exploration of how two rather polarized views of net neutrality could ultimately end up reaching some sort of compromise that both parties would be equally unhappy with."

Despite the FCC’s public promise of an open Internet, the FCC has, and continues to hold secret meetings with corporations to discuss the two main net neutrality proceedings: broadband reclassification and open Internet proposals. The FCC has allegedly summoned lobbyists from corporations such as AT&T, T Mobile, Sprint, Verizon, Google, Skype, and the Motion Picture Association of America, to give their two cents in hopes that a compromise could be reached.

In the United States, Comcast is the leading ISP in fastest broadband speed, at an average speed of 16.23Mbps, followed by Charter and Cablevision.

As an entire country, the U.S. has an average download speed of 9.87Mbps, placing the U.S. at 27th place internationally. South Korea has the fastest average speed of 31.39, followed by Latvia and Netherlands. Canada is 32nd with a speed of 8.33Mbps.