Quebec internet ban on online gambling attacked

Quebec’s notorious legislative attempt to force internet service providers to ban online gambling sites on the pretext of health issues (but in reality to protect its own online gambling monopoly) was under the microscope again this week at the 2016 ISP Summit in Toronto.

350 delegates at the final session Wednesday listened intently as a panel comprising lawyer and former CRTC commissioner Tim Denton; Public Interest Advocacy Centre counsel Geoff White; Canadian Network Operators Consortium lawyer Christian Tacit of Tacit Law; University of Ottawa law professor Michael Geist; and Globe and Mail telecom journalist Christine Dobby examined a number of priority issues, among them the Quebec ban promulgated in the province’s Bill 74.

Referring to the bill as “severely misguided” and questioning the morality of its motivation, the panel concluded that this sort of questionable legislation could be both costly for ISP’s and futile technically.

Former Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission commissioner Tim Denton observed:

“It will impose significant costs on ISPs and is likely to be technically futile, but they don’t know that yet… It’s a downright stupid approach to managing their gambling monopoly.”

Related and similar