Telus makes a good decision

Hi Everyone,
Some of you received an email that I sent out a few days ago. It was on some information that I received from Focus on the Family Canada about Telus' decision to add pornography downloadin as a service option to their cellular customers. Just as I asked those that received the email to, I wrote the CRTC requesting them to intervene to not allow Telus to go on with such a wreckless money ploy. Today I received a reply back from the CRTC with some helpful information as well as a link to a recent article stating that Telus had decided to back away from that business idea because of the negative response they received from some of their current customers. Hooray. It is preventing millions of people (including many minors) from having yet another easy source for the spread of pornography. I am copying the message I received from CRTC below for those that may be interested in reading...along with the link to the article about Telus.

Dear Ms. Hutchinson:
Thank you for writing to the Commission regarding your cellular telephone service.
While the CRTC regulates several areas of the Canadian telecommunications industry, the degree of the regulation varies depending on the services being offered and the degree of competition. The Commission has forborne from regulating, or has maintained a low level of regulation, for wireless, long distance and Internet services where we have found that competition is sufficient to protect the public interest. In other words, those services are subject to very limited regulation – we do not regulate the business practices of cellular companies.

Our Fact Sheet on Cellular (Wireless) Telephone Services sets out what is and is not regulated by the CRTC and contains information on a number of issues related to cellular telephone services. You can read it at the following address: http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/info_sht/t1021.htm

You should also be aware that the CRTC does not regulate the Internet and the ability of consumers to download materials from the Internet to their personal electronic devices. For content that is generated in Canada, there are tools to deal with material that may be considered offensive. These include industry self-regulation, content filtering software, and increased media awareness.

If a person believes that obscenity is the issue, he/she can ask the police to investigate. For obscene materials, Canadian laws are in place. The CRTC does not administer the obscenity provisions of the Criminal Code of Canada. The obscenity laws are administered by the provincial governments through their Justice departments.

In a telecommunications environment, which is becoming increasingly competitive, it is in the provider’s best interest to address the needs and concerns of its current and potential subscribers or risk the loss of that customer for all, or part of, its telecommunications services to a competitor. That is why when we receive customer complaints against such unregulated companies, we suggest the client contact the provider directly. For a recent update, you may be interested in the following newspaper article: http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/archives/story.html?id=41b45b94-59f5-4cf1-a153-5ebc95c730cb

If you have ongoing problems with Telus Mobility services, you can contact Telus by phone at 1-866-558-2273 (toll-free) or electronically by accessing Telus' "Client care - Contact us" webpage at the following address: http://www.telusmobility.com/

I hope this information is helpful.