Internet data pricing battle heats up in U.S. with AT&T and FCC following Canadian hearing

"Stanford law professor Barbara van Schewick told CRTC commissioners they could “absolutely” set a precedent in other jurisdictions.

The CRTC must choose whether to deal with zero-rating complaints as it stands now on a case-by-case basis, ban it altogether or develop a set of guidelines on when it is acceptable.

“I do believe there is precedential value,” said van Schewick, whose warmly received presentation argued against zero-rating especially when service providers own the content, stating it could harm innovation and competition.

“I talk to many regulators and there is sort of this interesting game of chicken where everybody looks at what other people are doing and then sort of tries to position themselves.”"