Four Phases of Internet Policy Development: Risks to the Public Interest

Abstract

This article investigates what risks to the public interest may arise in Internet policy development facilitated by Canada's communications regulator, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). It finds that different risks exist in four distinct phases of CRTC policy formation. Although these threats are wide-ranging, they often relate to the strategic behaviors of well-resourced groups that advocate for policy positions that are adjacent or contrary to the public interest, a regulatory process in some ways unsuited for robust civil society participation, and the resource constraints of public interest groups that regularly participate in this process.