p2pnet news | Freedom:- “You have a lot of articles on the Canadian traffic shaping controversy,” said an email from Ottawa Gal, someone who’s played a major role in bringing the scandal to the attention of Canadians.

She goes on, “So it would be nice to have it also easy to find and see in one area, even if temporary!”

Fair enough So below are story headlines, with a few sentences as lead-ins. I think I found all the posts, but if I missed any, let me know and I’ll add them in. And I will, of course, keep this updated.And don’t forget to periodically check deslreports. It’s a US site, but it’s the largest online community centering on consumer broadband (and related) information and often has stories and forum posts with a Canadian slant —- such as this. In fact, the first mention of traffic shaping in Canada may have turned up there.

But the item which originally opened the throttling can of worms here in Canada, land of the fee, has to be Ottawa Gal’s Bell Sympatico P2P Black List.

Published back on November 3, 2007, it kicked off with >>>

Comcast in the US of A is currently, and rightly, getting it in the neck for meddling with file sharing.

Net neutrality? What’s that?

Throwing up its metaphorical hands in horror, it claims it would never dream of doing such a thing —- it’s just kinda, well, you know, delaying things a teensy bit.

Nothing to get upset about.

Members of the SavetheInternet.com Coalition and top Net scholars don’t agree, however. And to make their position unmistakably clear, they’ve filed a class action demanding the US Federal Communications Commission fine Comcast $195,000 for every affected subscriber

“Nobody gave Comcast the right to be an Internet gatekeeper,” says Marvin Ammori, general counsel of Free Press and co-author of the complaint. “And there is nothing reasonable about telling users which Internet services they can and can’t use.”

But Comcast isn’t the only villain in the piece, and the US isn’t the only country where The Biggies have decided they can do whatever they want and get away with it, a la the movie and music cartels.

In the States, users have people trying to look after their rights and interests, but there’s no one doing that in Canada.

If you’re signed on with Bell-Sympatico and you’ve been unsuccessfully trying to coax a little more speed out of your suddenly sluggish computer; or, if you’ve been calling Bell-Sympatico support only to be told it’s not them, it’s you —- it isn’t you, says Ottawa Gal. Because here, “Bell-Sympatico is now following the Rogers lead,” she states. “It’s traffic shaping and throttling.”

Bell-Sympatico says it’s now taking action against ‘network abusers’ and performing ‘Traffic Management during periods of peak usage’, she says, but since Bell-Sympatico “didn’t or won’t” explained in detail why, how, and exactly who is affected, here it is from Ottawa Gal ……………….

MAY

Parameters for CRTC throttling probe, May 15, 2008
p2pnet news | Freedom:- The CRTC (Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission) is opening an investigation into Bell Canada’s traffic shaping activities, p2pnet reported earlier today The company has until May 29 to respond. “Interested parties (other than Bell Canada and CAIP) may file with the Commission, serving a copy on Bell Canada and CAIP, comments with regard to the issues raised by CAIP in its application by 12 June 2008,” says the CRTC.

CRTC to investigate Bell throttling - May 15, 2008
p2pnet news | Freedom:- Canadians will have a chance to make their feelings even more clear on Bell Canada’s continuing efforts to stifle net neutrality and block its own customers from freely using the services they’ve paid for More than 1,100 people have already filed complaints in support of two CAIP submissions to the CRTC demanding Bell Canada be ordered to stop its traffic throttling activities, p2pnet posted yesterday, going on “Yet the CRTC (Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission) has, for the moment, at least, ignored their concerns “Instead, it’s turned down the CAIP (Canadian Association of Internet Providers) request for interim relief against the way in which Bell Canada is routinely throttling competitor ISPs’ ADSL traffic. The CRTC rejected appeals by 55 small Canadian IPS, represented by CAIP (Canadian Association of Internet Providers) but says it’ll open a public consultation on internet traffic throttling, says the CBC.

CRTC Bell throttling decision: full document, May 14, 2008
p2pnet news | Freedom:- More than 1,100 Canadians filed complaints in support of two CAIP submissions to the CRTC demanding Bell Canada be ordered to stop its traffic throttling activities. Yet the CRTC (Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission) has, for the moment, at least, ignored their concerns. Instead, it’s turned down the CAIP (Canadian Association of Internet Providers) request for interim relief against the way in which Bell Canada is routinely throttling competitor ISPs’ ADSL traffic. “We’ve lost our status as one of the world’s most connected nations and decisions like this should cause Canadians and the government serious concern,” says CAIP chairman Tom Copeland

Keep on throttling, CRTC tells Bell Canada, May 14, 2008
p2pnet news | Freedom:- Canadian regulators have decided it’s OK for Bell Canada to continue censoring its customers by bandwidth throttling, and to block Net neutrality efforts. Fifty-five smaller Canadian ISPs representing, by default, their customers, tried to put a stop to Ma Bell’s traffic shaping practices. Through CAIP (Canadian Association of Internet Providers), the ISPs asked the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to order Bell to cease and desist However, the CRTC says the companies hadn’t shown their businesses would be irreparably damaged by Bell’s activities.

CIPPIC assails Bell on Deep Packet Inspection - May 13, 2008
p2pnet news | Freedom:- How long can Bell Canada keep on sliding by with claims its efforts to block both Net neutrality and its customers’ online access are OK —- that it’s just bidnes so don’t worry about it? Industry minister Jim Prentice should be looking after the people who elected him but instead, as with other members of Conservative government, he appears to be far more concerned with cosying up to vested corporate interests, including Ma Bell. However, the CBC, Canada’s National TV and radio broadcaster, has now picked up the news that CIPPIC (Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic) has, “joined the assault on Bell Canada Inc and its traffic-shaping practices, urging an investigation by the country’s privacy commissioner”.

May 27 confirmed for Net Neutrality rally - May 13, 2008
It’s now confirmed that’s the date Canadians will rally at Parliament Hill in Ottawa to make their feelings about Net neutrality and broadband throttling known to their elected representatives.

Does Ma Bell spy on users online? - May 10, 2008
p2pnet news | Freedom:- On top of their efforts to neutralise net neutrality, large Canadian ISPs, including Ma Bell and Rogers Communications, may be spying on customers’ online, says a Canadian law group. The ISPs are already in effect censoring their customers by deliberately blocking access, and now the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) has filed a complaint with Canada’s Privacy Commissioner about Bell Canada’s alleged practice of monitoring internet subscribers’ internet activities without their knowledge or consent.

Liberal’s Telegdi on net neutrality - May 8, 2008
p2pnet news | Freedom:- Yesterday, CAIP (Canadian Association of Internet Providers) chairman and president Tom Copeland forecast the Liberals were getting ready to make their position on Net neutrality clear, and it seems the process may already have been started. Julianna Yau blogs on April 2, she sent a letter to her MP, Andrew Telegdi, on Net Neutrality.

May 27 - be there OR BE THROTTLED - May 9, 2008
p2pnet news | Freedom:- Click here and be there! It’s in your best interests  —- unless you want your Net controlled by a couple of big media, content-providing Telcos! The TekSavvy forum on dslreports.com was born to keep people informed about the rally on Parliament Hill slated for May 27, and it’s been the center piece for the voices of Canadian ISP customers as the debate rages in in the face of Rogers’ web-injections (and I thought only hackers interfered with you packets and performed web-injections ) and Bell’s total monopolization of what applications internet users on its own service and that on 3rd party ISP’s can use without restrictions and interference.

NDP really gets traffic throttling issue: CAIP - May 8, 2008
p2pnet news | Freedom:- “Comcast mulling Internet usage cap to discourage ‘excessive’ use,” says the Associated Press in its latest story on the US traffic shaping scandal. It makes it all look so, well, reasonable, doesn’t it? In fact, Comcast was caught red-handed with its pants around its ankles, not to mix metaphors, trying to both throttle bandwidth and put a stop to any thoughts of Net neutrality. Canadians have the same problem with Bell Canada and CAIP (Canadian Association of Internet Providers) is representing more than 50 independent internet service providers who are also Bell clients, and, in effect, the ISPs’ customers.

Support net neutrality, NUPGE tells Liberals - May 1, 2008
p2pnet news | Freedom:- Canadian opposition leader Stéphane Dion should support the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) campaign for government action to protect Net neutrality in Canada, says the union. “On behalf of the 340,000 members of the National Union, I am asking the Liberal Party of Canada to take a clear stand in support of seeing the principle of net neutrality enshrined in Canadian law,” NUPGE president James Clancy says on the union’s web site.

APRIL

Rogers ups the traffic throttling ante - April 30, 2008
p2pnet news | Freedom:- As Canada’s largest ISP, Bell Canada has been getting all the attention in the traffic shaping / net neutrality controversy. But Ted Rogers also shackles users and his company now seems ready to introduce a spy system leading to what amounts to a double hit on P2P file sharers, as well as a further blow against net neutrality. “Some of Rogers’ heaviest Internet users could soon be reaching for their wallets before they download ‘free’ movies or video games from file-sharing websites such as BitTorrent,” says the Toronto Star. For ‘heaviest users’ read P2P file sharers, and Rogers Communications is apparently on the verge of metering downloads, calling it a “utility-type model”. Under this second tier of traffic throttling, consumers would pay the company according to how much bandwidth was used.

Quebec union enters throttling fray - April 26th, 2008
p2pnet news | Freedom:- There’s a post on the CRTC site. CRTC is short for Canadian Radio Television and Telecommunications Commission and it’s on the receiving end a lot of Canadian displeasure. The post falls under “2008-04-03 - #: 8622-C51-200805153 - Canadian Association of Internet Providers (CAIP) - Application requesting certain orders directing Bell Canada to cease and desist from throttling its wholesale ADSL Access Services” and, from Wireless Nomad, it reads, simply:  Description: The Canadian Association of Internet Providers (CAIP) has requested that the Commission direct Bell Canada to cease and desist from “throttling” wholesale ADSL Internet services and in particular, the Gateway Access Service (GAS) wholesale internet service. Document: 895646.pdf - 1637KB It says, in part, “Wireless Nomad requests that the commission grant CAIP’s , a request for an interim orderdirecting Bell Canada to stop throttling its GAS service.” Great! Another company signs up to protect its own rights, and the rights of Canadians
But what isn’t on the CRTC’s website —- yet —- is the demand by the Quebec l’Union des consommateurs, the same consumer union which filed a class-action again Videotron for changing unlimited bandwidth to 100-gigs.

Bell CanadaBell Canada’s ‘5% of users’ claim trashed  - April 25th, 2008
p2pnet news | Freedom:- According to Danny McPherson, CTO of Arbor Networks, who “makes all sorts of network-management and traffic-shaping tools”, used by over 70% of the ISPs around the world: 0% of traffic comes from P2P applications; During peak-load times, 70% of subscribers use http; Only 20% are using P2P; Http still makes up most of the total traffic, of which 45% is traditional web content including text and images; Streaming video and audio content from services such as YouTube account for nearly 50% of the http traffic; and, streaming content such as TV shows and YouTube is on the rise. This clearly shows the “bandwidth hogs” are, in fact, ordinary, average http users during peak time, and NOT Bell’s fictitious 5% of “heavy” P2P users” who suck up around 50% of the total available bandwidth.s ‘5% of users’ claim trashed.

Canadians vs Bell Canada: CAIP, II - April 25th, 2008
Canadian Net users and smaller ISPs have become allies in a bid to force telco giant Bell Canada to stop using P2P file sharers as an excuse to shackle bandwidth. Called traffic shaping or throttling, the corporate ‘management’ action not only severely restricts services users have paid for, it also impacts net neutrality and prevents online freedom of speech, say critics. In its first submission to the CRTC (Canadian Radio Television and Telecommunications Commission) CAIP demanded Canada Bell be ordered to to immediately halt its traffic throttling activities.  Bell responded by virtually telling CAIP and Bell customers —- users and ISPs alike —-  to take a hike. CAIP has now come back with a second CRTC submission in which it asks for an interim order on an, ‘urgent and expedited basis’ telling Bell Canada to, ‘immediately cease and desist” from interfering with the wholesale ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) access services it sells to competitors, especially its tariffed Gateway Access Service (’GAS’).

p2pnet Q&A with ex-Bell Canada expert - April 24th, 2008
p2pnet news | Freedom:- On Tuesday p2pnet ran two posts, one based on a Reader’s Write from Invictus (right), and the second on a later email exchange. The subject was Bell Canada’s efforts to dictate to users what they can and can’t do with their accounts, in the process seriously interfering with freedom of speech and net neutrality. “Invictus is a former communications specialist —- and an ex-Bell Canada employee,” we said in the second post, continuing, “He’s worked as a consultant in England, Germany, Thailand, Vietnam, as well as for banks, and a major UK tourist company. “So when he says, ‘abolish the CRTC. Get on the next plane to Berlin, Germany and pick up a copy of the European rules and regulations —- Implement at once,’ he knows what he’s talking about.” p2pnet contributor Ottawa Gal had a few questions for him …

Net neutrality rally: Ottawa, April 29 - April 23rd, 2008
p2pnet news | Politics:- Canada’s traffic shaping / net neutrality battle is moving to the streets —- or, at least, to Parliament Hill in Ottawa. Rocky Gaudrault, co-owner of Teksavvy, the Ontario ISP that’s up front in the fight to make Canadians understand the bandwidth throttling issue centres as much on, “privacy, choice and ISP transparency,” as anything else, is organising an event on the Hill for April 29. “I’m working on putting together as big a rally as possible for net neutrality,” he says. “The Telco/Cableco monopolies in Canada have all recently accelerated their efforts in the resent weeks, since Bell’s throttling started.”

‘Insignificant person’ on traffic shaping -  April 23rd, 2008
p2pnet news | Freedom:- Invictus isn’t the only person to have contacted Canada’s regulators over bandwidth throttling, or ISP DRM consumer control, as it might be called. Jonathan did the same but unlike Invictus, he didn’t get an answer —- unless you call a form letter a answer.

p2pnet talks to Charlie Angus on throttling - April 23rd, 2008
p2pnet news | Freedom:- Before the Net, it was almost impossible for ordinary people to make themselves properly heard, unless they were involved in a movement with a certain amount of clout, say, had access to the mainstream media, or were unusually aggressive. But that was then …..

CRTC ‘inundated’ with ‘throttling’ calls, emails -  April 22nd, 2008
p2pnet news | Freedom:- Is all the attention focused on the bandwidth ‘management’ scandal making any kind of impression with Canada’s regulators?

Cogeco named in traffic throttling wars (Michael Geist) - April 22nd, 2008
p2pnet news | Freedom:- While Bell and Rogers have attracted much of the Canadian net neutrality attention in recent weeks, a study conducted Vuze, an online video site that uses the BitTorrent protocol, has placed another Canadian provider - Cogeco - in the spotlight. To better track ISP network management techniques, Vuze created a plug-in that allowed users to measure network interruptions. Interruptions - referred to reset messages - might occur in the ordinary course of network activity or might be the result of false messages used to hamper peer-to-peer file sharing. Vuze managed to collect an enormous amount of data - 8,000 users worldwide generating over a million hours of data.

Traffic shaping: ‘I am appalled …’ - April 22nd, 2008
“The ignorance of people claiming that traffic shaping is consumer friendly leaves me speechless,” he said in a Reader’s Write, continuing >>> I have send the following comment to the CRTC:Dear Sir / Madam, I have posted the following comment on the CBC website. As a former communications specialist I am appalled by the nonsensical approach of Bell Canada. Ultimately, this is not about the internet but the monopoly that both Bell Canada and Rogers Communications want to exercise in distributing contents. I further urge you to have specialists on your panel that are familiar with the rules and practices in other countries, especially countries in the EU, where traffic shaping of ANY sort is illegal and is being treated as anticompetitive and, in most countries, as an invasion of privacy, and therefore a criminal offense. Should Bell Canada be successful in maintaining traffic shaping, Canada, as far as I know would be the only country that legally allows this degrading of service. Under the threat of being re-regulated, Comcast in the US has abandoned the practice. Canada has the third highest internet rates in the world, and measured by speed, is dead last in Broadcom services of any industrialized country……SHAMEFUL!!!!

ISP traffic shapping - and bafflegab (Denis McGrath) - April 21st, 2008
p2pnet news | Freedom | P2P:- Does the name Denis McGrath seem familiar to you? If it does, that’s probably because you’ve watched one of the many TV shows he’s written, such as The Border or Across the River to Motor City. On his web page, Dead Things ON Sticks, he says: “This blog is entirely my opinion, and does not necessarily reflect the views of the half-dozen companies that control just about everything else you read.” Denis is Canadian and like a steadily moving number of other Canadians, he’s angry about the Net traffic throttling that’s going on here. “While there’s a pause in the CRTC Hearing bafflegab, let’s kick for a moment toward something that’s NOT being talked about, but that has EVERYTHING to do with what’s going on in the ‘review‘ of the TV system currently going on in Gatineau,” he posts …….

Bell throttling fairy tale, unravelled (Ottawa Gal) - April 21st, 2008
p2pnet news | Freedom | P2P:- Did you ever stop to wonder how an apparent 5% of the users who use up an apparent 33% of the available internal network bandwidth didn’t apparently pay enough for their usage to justify Bell upgrading its network? Did you ever stop to wonder how it came to be that Bell’s internal network congestion problem was so critical it didn’t need to inform wholesalers, instead deciding to throttle them? Did you ever stop to wonder how LITTLE Bell must be making on the network (both wholesale and Sympatico retail) to justify Bell spokesman Mirko Bibic’s comment that, “Bandwidth just doesn’t fall from the sky”? I have.

Throttling not about Net neutrality (Russell McOrmond) - April 21st, 2008
p2pnet news | Freedom:- The following was submitted as a letter to the Editor of the Hill Times.
It wasn’t included in the publication last week >>> Re: Federal government, CRTC right not over-regulating internet, says Cisco Systems. There is an interesting observation about the responses to the debate about throttling. Phone companies want the Internet to act more like phone services where people are charged per transaction (per call, per minute, per packet, per byte). Cable companies want the Internet to act more like cable service (bundles of “channels”, tiers of access services, etc). Cisco wants to sell more expensive routers which are capable of deep packets inspection and prioritization, even though in many situations increased fiber capacity is cheaper than these routers. Canadian Internet Service Providers, represented by CAIP, simply want to offer Internet Services without the packets of their customers being inspected or manipulated by third parties.

Bell Canada throttling could block free speech - April 19th, 2008
p2pnet news | Freedom:- Traffic shaping is front and centre with Canada’s national New Democratic Party. But the question isn’t merely whether or not Canada’s largest ISPs are deliberately blocking services their customers are paying for, using the activities of a tiny percentage of their client place as an excuse to do so. According to NDP digital culture spokesman Charlie Angus, it’s also a freedom of speech issue. Make sure consumers aren’t gouged and innovation isn’t stifled by laying lay down transparent ground rules on bandwidth throttling, Angus said in an open letter to industry minister Jim Prentice yesterday.

Add your 2 cents to the Bell throttling fight - April 18th, 2008
p2pnet news | Freedom:- If you’ve been following the Bell Canada scandal and thinking you’d like to contribute, now you can, thanks to Marc Bissonnette of Canadian ISP.com. For the two or three Canadians living in a cave who don’t know what’s been going on, Bell Canada, the country’s largest ISP, has decided to regulate its customers —- whether they like it or not. It’s called traffic shaping or bandwidth throttling or consumer management, and it’s being imposed because the company claims P2P application users, 5% of the company’s client base, are ruining things for the remaining 95%.

Bell ‘bandwidth problem’: is it real? (Michael Geist) - April 18th, 2008
p2pnet news view | P2P:- Bell filed its response to the CAIP submission to the CRTC on its throttling practices yesterday, unsurprisingly arguing that its actions are justified and that there is no need to deal with the issue on an emergency basis. Several points stand out from the submission including its non-response to the privacy concerns with deep-packet inspection (it merely says that it does not retain or use the data, but does not deny collecting what could easily be interpreted as personally identifiable information) and its inference that P2P usage could be deemed using a connection as a “server” and therefore outside the boundaries of “fair and proportionate use” under typical ISP terms of use. Most importantly, however, Bell provides data on its network usage that significantly undermines its claim that P2P usage is causing such havoc with its network that throttling measures that impact 100 percent of its (and some of its competitions’) users are needed. Bell again reiterates that the “problem” lies with 5 percent of its users that are heavy P2P users. Yet that 5 percent apparently uses 33 percent of available bandwidth during peak periods. That is a disproportionate use to be sure, yet it struck me as far lower than might have been expected.

3rd protester joins Bell ‘anti-throttling’ club - April 17th, 2008
p2pnet news | Freedom:- Primus Telecommunications Canada is the third entity to file a letter of support for CAIP (Canadian Association of Internet Providers), which acts for almost 60 smaller providers. CAIP was the first, followed by Vaxination Informatique. At issue is Bell’s so-called Net management technology, aka traffic shaping and bandwidth throttling, which amounts to unsanctioned industry ‘regulation’. The company puts the blame squarely on the shoulders of some 5% of its client base. They’re “heavy P2P users,” says Mirko Bibic, Bell Canada’s chief of regulatory affairs, claiming they’re spoiling things for everyone else. In a Q&A, the Montreal Gazette’s Roberto Rocha asked Bibic, “Now that Bell is offering a limited service at times, does this present a challenge in justifying rate increases?” “I’ll stick to the reasons we’re implementing network management initiatives, and they’re very compelling reasons: so that the 95 per cent of users who don’t consume inordinate amount of bandwidth aren’t held hostage,” said Bibic.

Charlie Angus to Jim Prentice on throttling - April 17th, 2008
p2pnet news | Politics:- Make sure consumers aren’t gouged and innovation isn’t stifled by laying lay down transparent ground rules on bandwidth throttling.So says NDP digital culture spokesman Charlie Angus in an open letter to industry minister Jim Prentice.In it, Angus emphasises the CRTC has already regulated third party competition online and, he says, Prentice should accept recommendations from the Telecommunications Review Panel which laid out a, “practical guide for CRTC involvement on maintaining fair and open access of the internet”.Open access, “is of such overriding importance that its protection justifies giving the regulator the power to review cases involving blocking access to applications and content and significant, deliberate degradation of service,” the panel declared.

Ottawa won’t help in Bell throttling row - April 17th, 2008
p2pnet news | Politics:- Bell Canada, “wants permission from regulators to penalize heavy bandwidth users with steep charges in a bid to curtail peer-to-peer file-sharing in peak hours”. Who says? The Hollywood Reporter, going on >>> Bell Canada on Wednesday told the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission that the serial file-sharers it seeks to “throttle” greatly slow the time it takes online subscribers to legitimately transfer music, video, software and other large files. The phone giant responded to an earlier request to the CRTC from the Canadian Association of Internet Providers to end Bell Canada’s use of ‘traffic-shaping’ technology to thwart bandwith hogs. “We have presented a variety of arguments, not the least of which is Net Neutrality, and asked that the Commission order Bell Canada to cease and desist from their current traffic shaping practices,” said Tom Copeland, president of Canadian Association of Internet Providers (CAIP), recently, as quoted by p2pne, which went on: “The filing provides additional insights into Bell’s action - the throttling has reduced speeds by as much as 90 percent - and marks an important milestone since the outcome will provide a clear answer on whether Canadian law currently protects net neutrality or if legislative reform is needed.”

Cisco on Canada Net throttling dispute - April 16th, 2008
p2pnet news | Freedom:- Cisco Systems is using the growing Net Throttling controversy in Canada to once again try to spin net neutrality as detrimental to both business and consumer interests. “As the internet becomes better, faster and more integral to our economy and personal lives, it is necessary for broadband internet access providers to use innovative technology to manage their networks in providing quality of service, new features, and new services to meet evolving consumer needs. There are legitimate reasons for use of network management tools by internet access providers to improve the internet experience as long as there is no anti-competitive effect.” That’s Morgan Elliott (right), Cisco’s Ottawa-based executive director, global policy and government affairs in a Hill Times letter. It all looks so very reasonable —- “it is necessary for broadband internet access providers to use innovative technology to manage their networks in providing quality of service, new features, and new services to meet evolving consumer needs”. But the “innovative technology” quoted by Elliott means, principally, traffic shaping, aka ‘bandwidth throttling’ and ‘traffic management’ which, the likes of Cisco claim, is absolutely vital as more and more people go online, demand for speed slyrockets and providers struggle valiantly to answer the burgeoning needs of the surfing masses.

Bell Canada to small ISPs on traffic shaping - April 16th, 2008
p2pnet news | Freedom:- Twelve days ago, CAIP (Canadian Association of Internet Providers filed a Part VII Application with the CRTC (Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission) Subject? Traffic shaping, aka traffic management and bandwidth throttling. “We have presented a variety of arguments, not the least of which is Net Neutrality, and asked that the Commission order Bell Canada to cease and desist from their current traffic shaping practices,” Tom Copeland, president of Canadian Association of Internet Providers (CAIP), told p2pnet at the time, going on: “The filing provides additional insights into Bell’s action - the throttling has reduced speeds by as much as 90 percent - and marks an important milestone since the outcome will provide a clear answer on whether Canadian law currently protects net neutrality or if legislative reform is needed.” Bell claims P2P file sharing activities on the part of 5% of users force it to shackle bandwidth in the interests of the remaining 95%. Bell’s response to the CAIP the demand? ‘Get knotted.’ Here it is in more detail >>>

Bell Canada tries to justify throttling - April 11th, 2008
p2pnet news | Freedom:- “Bell is Canada’s largest telephone and telecommunications company,” it says. “We provide consumer and business customers with phone and other communication services.” But it fails to point out its services are shackled and it’s been treating its users more like peons than valued customers. It’s those damned P2P file sharers! - it says. Ma Bell in Canada and Comcast in US have been caught red-handed using traffic shaping (throttling) to make sure Net Neutrality never becomes a reality, and to dictate to users —- including smaller ISPs —- what they can and can’t do with services they’ve paid through the nose for, p2pnet posted recently, going on: “So intense is public feeling that in Canada, executives have received death threats.”

Bell Canada backlash - Headline Roundup - April 5th, 2008

Bell Canada - ringing in the spins - April 7th, 2008
p2pnet news | Freedom:- Bell Canada is desperately hoping the throttling scandal will go away. But unless Bell admits it was wrong, seriously revamps its policies and business plans and starts treating its customers with care, it ain’t gonna happen, not as long as Ottawa Gal, who first broke the story last year, is around, keeping both eyes open for herself and other Net users. Here’s her latest >>>

Stop throttling users, ISPs tell Bell: CRTC doc - April 4th, 2008
p2pnet news | Freedom:- Back in the good old days before the Net gave P2P —- people to people —- real meaning and strength, the corporations could get away with anything, including murder. But that’s changed. Now we’re our own news providers, totally bypassing the traditional print and electronic media. Thanks to blogs, IM, texting, chats and all the other means of communication available in the 21st digital century, unspun information is reaching everyone, everywhere, keeping us informed minute-by-minute. The mainstream media are still playing catch-up as they cynically try to figure out how to regain their former power and how to ‘monetise’ the Net to their own advantages. But until they realise the answer lies in partnership, not control, they’ll continue to flounder.

It’s up to you: Prentice to Canadians on traffic throttling - April 3rd, 2008
p2pnet news | Freedom:- Industry minister Jim Prentice (right) has told Canadians it’s up to them if they want to do anything about the Net traffic throttling imposed by the major ISPs. ‘Shaping’ removes any chance of Net neutrality for customers, and seriously reduces bandwidth, particularly for people using P2P applications. Accused by NDP digital issues critic Charlie Angus of failing to understand the importance of maintaining a fair and neutral Net, Prentice yesterday avoided Angus’ questions about the government’s stance, “on practices employed by Canadian Internet service providers that restrict the flow of certain types of Internet data,” says the Globe & Mail. As p2pnet reported earlier today, Angus asked Prentice what the government was doing to about concerns over, “when it should be permissible for telecom companies to regulate or ’shape’ the flow of traffic on their networks,” as the story puts it. But, “At this point in time we will continue to leave the matter between consumers on the one hand and Internet service providers on the other,” the Globe and Mail quotes the minister as saying.

Charlie Angus slams Bell over traffic ‘throttling’ - April 3rd, 2008
p2pnet news | Freedom:- NDP spokeman on digital issues Charlie Angus has slammed Bell Canada for throttling Net traffic. “Net neutrality is a cornerstone of an innovative economy,” he declares. “The consumer and the innovator need to be in the driver’s seat. Not Ma Bell. Not Videotron. Not Rogers.” Accusing industry minister Jim Prentice of allowing telecom giants such as Bell to choke off Net traffic from smaller third party competitors, consumers and innovators are, “at the mercy of a few large Telecom empires,” Angus told the House of Commons yesterday, going on >>> “Consumers who have paid for access are being ripped off. “Badly needed competition is being stifled and most of all, this government is sitting back while a few Telecom giants are given free reign monkey wrench with the flow of ideas.” Angus says industry minister Jim Prentice apparently doesn’t understand the importance of maintaining a fair and ‘neutral’ net that allows the free flow of all information. In the meantime, we (many other ISPs) are going to prepare as well. I guess the high road is the path taken in this case. Spread the word one and all as this topic needs to reach every level possible. There’s now officially an issue and action must be taken by all if we’re to rectify things.

Bell throttling threatens a competitive Net (Michael Geist) - April 1st, 2008
p2pnet news | Freedom:- The CRTC has long acknowledged that Canadians enjoy limited competition for high-speed Internet services. In response, it has supported independent ISPs by requiring incumbents like Bell to provide wholesale broadband Internet service at regulated rates. While it is difficult to price-compete - the Bell wholesale pricing creates an effective minimum price - independent ISPs such as Chatham-based Teksavvy and Ottawa’s National Capital Freenet have carved a niche in the Canadian market through attention to customer service, innovative bundling approaches, targeted network investments, and community ownership. Last week, this important piece of the Canadian Internet connectivity puzzle learned that its future viability has been put at risk due to Bell’s plans to “throttle” its wholesale services. Last year, Bell began installing “deep packet inspection” capabilities into its network. The DPI capabilities - which allow ISPs to identify the type of content that runs on their networks - did not go unnoticed by the independent ISPs since DPI is also used to “throttle” Internet content by scaling back the amount of bandwidth allocated to particular applications. While Bell employed these throttling technologies with their own Sympatico customers, some independent ISPs sought assurances that it would not be applied to the wholesale services.

MARCH

Bell Canada traffic shaping: update III - March 31st, 2008
p2pnet news | Freedom:- “Traffic shaping” by Canadian ISPs must be investigated by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), says the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE). “The National Union has become increasingly concerned about the issue of network neutrality and Canada’s lack of action to protect consumers and producers of Internet material,” NUPGE president James Clancy states in a letter to CRTC chairman Konrad Von Finckenstein. The Bell Sympatico traffic “management” debacle was first revealed by p2pnet in November, 2007, and now, “I am writing to you regarding recent revelations of Internet ‘traffic shaping’ being conducted by Rogers Communications and Bell Canada,” clancy writes, going on >>> On behalf of the National Union of Public and General Employees, one of Canada’s largest trade unions, I am asking the CRTC to conduct an investigation into these practices and the implications for Canadian consumers.

New Bell Canada scandal looms - March 30th
p2pnet news | P2P:- Canada’s largest ISP, Bell Canada, is powering ahead with its traffic shaping ‘traffic management’ plan. It might have been a virtual fait accompli by now had not p2pnet’s ‘Ottawa Gal,’ and Canadian ISP TekSavvy first blown the whistle in November, 2007. With the story now receiving widespread coverage, p2pnet has unconfirmed reports a new explosion is ready to occur, and one with even more severe implications for net neutrality. The explosion will include a stop-sell on Bell’s current $25 Unlimited Usage Plan, says an official March 13 document seen by p2pnet.

Bell Canada and The Letter: update II - March 29th, 2008
p2pnet news | Freedom:- With the Bell Sympatico throttling fiasco still generating well-deserved headlines across Canada, congratulations are in order for Rocky Gaudrault, co-owner of Teksavvy and his brother, Marc. Their home base is in Chatham, Ontario, and there, they’ve been named entrepreneurs of the year. Sponsor?Bell Canada. True

Bell, Teksavvy & Battle at the Big Barn! - March 28th, 2008
p2pnet news | Freedom:- I have to regularly check p2pnet comments for hand-posted spam and I just came across this Reader’s Write from Teksavvy CEO Rocky Gaudrault under Bell download throttling: update. “Here is a copypasta from the e-mail sent to all Teksavvy customers from Rocky,” he says, going on >>> As many of you may have heard of late, there have been quite a few activities through Bell that have caused some negative performance on P2P and BT traffic for us and all other DSL providers in Ontario and Québec. TekSavvy is committed to fighting this injustice. For more details on this matter, go to: http://www.dslreports.com/forum/teksavvy for various discussions. In trying to bring a little bit of both humour and fun to this stressful week, we sat down and came up with a fun event to hold/get us We’ll be setting up a gaming server to be ready for Saturday morning.

For whom does the Bell (Sympatico) sound? (Michael Geist) - March 27th, 2008
p2pnet news | P2P:- For months, I’ve been asked repeatedly why net neutrality has not taken off as a Canadian political and regulatory issue. While there has been some press coverage, several high-profile incidents, and a few instances of political or regulatory discussion (including the recent House of Commons Committee report on the CBC), the issue has not generated as much attention in Canada as it has in the United States. I believe this week will ultimately be seen as the moment that changed. Starting with Rogers new pricing schedule without much needed transparency on its traffic shaping practices, followed by the CBC’s BitTorrent distribution of Canada’s Next Great Prime Minister, and now the revelation that Bell has quietly revamped its network to allow for throttling at the residential and wholesale level, there is the prospect of a perfect storm of events that may crystallize the issue for consumers, businesses, politicians, and regulators. The reported impact of traffic shaping on CBC downloads highlights the danger that non-transparent network management practices pose to the CBC’s fulfillment of its statutory mandate to distribute content in the most efficient manner possible.

Bell download throttling: update - March 27th, 2008
p2pnet news | Freedom:- As predicted, the CBC’s decision to release the Next Great Prime Minister online so people can download, copy, and share it freely has been seriously marred by Bell Canada’s scheme to throttle P2P downloads. “One user received a notice that it could take 2½ hours to download, while another was quoted 11 hours,” says the CBC. “The bottleneck is occurring because ISPs such as Rogers and Bell limit the amount of bandwidth allocated for file-swapping on BitTorrent. “The controversial practice, called traffic shaping, is meant to stop illegal downloading through BitTorrent. But it also slows the times on legal downloads such as Canada’s Next Great Prime Minister.” But not for everyone. In fact, Bell’s determined implementation of the measure is driving customers away in droves.

Bell-Not-So-Sympatico: throttling P2P - March 26th, 2008
p2pnet news | P2P:- “Ok.Here’s the deal.” That’s Rocky Gaudrault, CEO of Canadian ISP of Teksavvy Solutions, as quoted in dslreports. The subject? As p2pnet’s Ottawa Gal was the first to reveal last year, Bell-Sympatico is throttling wholesale Net services. Teksavvy, however, doesn’t cap its bandwidth and Gaudrault goes on >>> They’re now openly acknowledging that they are rolling out a full throttling process. They plan to have things fully throttled by April 7th. All BT and P2P traffic will be affected. They claim they are allowed to do so according to their Terms and Services under the Fair Usage Policy in the tariffed contracts. We’ll be looking into this shortly. The meeting was with Sales and Product Management. They will be preparing a formal letter before end of week.

Bell-Sympatico P2P throttling: more - March 25th, 2008
p2pnet news | Freedom:- p2pnet was the first to report the Bell-Sympatico P2P Blacklist and now we have what appears to be a newly leaked Bell-Sympatico Business Office Retentions document, a dialogue Bell-Sympatico reps are apparently supposed to use with customers who call in to cancel their service citing a “material change”. Someone says on dislreports: “If you buy a 5-meg or 7-meg or 16-meg profile you are paying damn good money for this. If you are sold a 5-meg, 7-meg or 16-meg service, do you expect to get 30kB/s? No, You expect to receive what you pay for, bought and were sold.

Is your ISP filtering your P2P traffic? - March 25th, 2008
p2pnet news | P2P:- “Do ISPs filter Internet traffic?” It’s a rhetorical question, and this time around it’s on Italy’s Gemini Project. Does Howdy Doody have wooden eye-balls? Some providers are (either openly or secretly) applying “traffic shaping” policies, tracing their users’ bandwidth usage and intervening directly to limit their transfer speeds, notes the site. Comcast is currently in the public eye for messing with customers, but it’s happening everywhere, and p2pnet was the first to reveal a P2P Bell-Sympatico P2P Blacklist in Canada. “In the States,” we posted, “users have people trying to look after their rights and interests, but there’s no one doing that in Canada,” going on, “If you’re signed on with Bell-Sympatico and you’ve been unsuccessfully trying to coax a little more speed out of your suddenly sluggish computer; or, if you’ve been calling Bell-Sympatico support only to be told it’s not them, it’s you —- it isn’t you, says Ottawa Gal. Because here, “Bell-Sympatico is now following the Rogers lead,” she states. “It’s traffic shaping and throttling.”

Rogers - new caps and fees (Michael Geist) - March 17th, 2008
p2pnet news | P2P:- Earlier today, I spoke to representatives from Rogers, who advised that they are implementing new caps and fees for broadband customers. In letters going out this week, the company will advise that their “Express” service will have a 60 GB monthly cap with an overage charge of $2 per GB up to $25 per month. The company promises to provide customers with email warnings as they approach their cap and to provide tools to easily identify Internet usage. While I have no particular problem with this approach, when I asked whether it would be combined with an end to traffic shaping, the response was no. When I asked whether Rogers would at least provide greater transparency about its network management practices, I was advised that it was working on the issue. In my view, that just isn’t good enough - transparency should extend beyond how much data subscribers consume (and pay for). Hitting consumers with new fees was the right time to address Rogers’ transparency shortcomings on traffic shaping and its failure to do so suggests yet again that the CRTC and elected officials should follow the FCC lead by prioritizing the issue.

Canada: stuck in Slow on traffic shaping (Michael Geist) - March 4th, 2008
p2pnet news | Politics:- Last fall, the Associated Press and the Electronic Frontier Foundation reported that Comcast, the largest cable provider in the United States, was actively interfering with network traffic by engaging in traffic shaping. The practice - largely undisclosed by the company - resulted in reduced bandwidth for peer-to-peer file sharing applications and delayed the delivery of some Internet content. The revelations sparked an immediate outcry from the public and U.S. officials. Class-action lawyers filed lawsuits, members of Congress introduced legislation mandating greater transparency and neutral treatment of Internet content and applications, state law enforcement officials issued subpoenas demanding that Comcast turn over information on its network management practices, and the Federal Communications Commission, the national telecommunications regulator, launched hearings into the matter. Last week, the FCC devoted a full day to the issue as companies such as Vuze - an online video provider that uses peer-to-peer technology – along with public interest groups argued that the commission needed to use its regulatory muscle to ensure greater transparency in the broadband market and to preserve an open, non-discriminatory Internet.

Jon Newton - p2pnet

Slashdot it! Stumble It!

tiny percentage - 3rd protester joins Bell ‘anti-throttling’ club, April 17, 2008
transparent ground rules - Charlie Angus to Jim Prentice on throttling, April 17, 2008
London Topic - MP speaks out against ‘net throttling’ during London visit, April 19, 2008|

---

Use free p2pnet newsfeeds for your site. It’s really easy!

Subscribe to p2pnet.net | | rss feed: http://p2pnet.net/p2p.rss | | Mobile - http://p2pnet.net/index-wml.php

---

Net access blocked by government restrictions? Use Psiphon from the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto. Go here for details. Download here.

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 19th, 2008 at 3:53 pm and is filed under Politics, Freedom, P2P. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

HOME

Viewed 3232 times