p2pnet news view Freedom | P2P:-Bell Canada has finally responded to Union des Consommateurs cost claims.

Bell re-iterates in its not-humble opinion, costs should be awarded based on the cause of the proceedings (ie, the dispute between CAIP, ie, 55 Canadian ISPs who are Bell customers). It says:

“The Company would therefore be agreeable to the UdC’s suggestion that the Company absorb all of the costs, provided however that the Commission, also as per the UdC’s suggestion, rules that costs will follow the cause in this dispute. Accordingly, the Company is prepared to be responsible for all costs in this dispute, should CAIP succeed in its application.”

If the CRTC (Canadian Radio Television and Telecommunications Commission) rules the cause of the dispute was down to CAIP, or if the CRTC dismisses the case, CAIP (Canadian Association of Internet Providers) should cover all cost awards, figures Bell.

This will come as no surprise to anyone who’s been following the battle between Bell the Greedy and the people who keep it in business.

It’s been throttling their accounts, self-righteously blaming a tiny proportion of people who use P2P file sharing applications.

In the most recent happening,  “A new battle has started up between Canada’s largest ISP, Bell Canada, and CAIP, the organization representing some 55 smaller providers,” I posted recently, going on »»»

Like its counterpart in the US, Comcast, Bell started an all-out war with its own consumers having tried to throttle their accounts, claiming it was forced into the action by the activities of people who use P2P file sharing applications.

But this time the fight centers on costs, not Bell Canada’s attack on Net neutrality, or its practice of “managing” the bandwidth it’s selling to its users.

The Quebec Union des Consommateurs kicked things off by filing a claim of $14,950.00.

The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), acting for the Consumers Council of Canada (CCC), and National Anti-Poverty Organization (NAPO),  followed up with a claim of $13,709.38.

Then the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) demanded $10,355.00.

This brings it to $39,014.38 by public interest groups so far. But you can bet the $39K isn’t the end of it. And the groups — all of them — want the CRTC (Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission) to order Bell Canada to pay up.

In full.

The money wouldn’t even amount to pocket change for Canada’s largest ISP. Nonetheless, it’s saying CAIP (Canadian Association of Internet Providers), “given its level of interest and participation in this proceeding,” should pay a third.

However, CAIP doesn’t agree.

Stay tuned.

Ottawa Gal – p2pnet
[Ottawa Gal is a long-time p2pnet reader and comment poster who’d rather would be anonymous. She says she works in the University, likes her cat, reality TV, and Doctor McDreamy. Her favourite web sites are the Michael Geist blog and p2pnet.net. 'Privacy on the net is also important to me,' she says. 'I need a tinfoil hat ' She’s also the mother of, 'two darling little girls who tore down my ceiling fan thinking it would be fun to hang from it.' So she advises parents to, 'never have an armchair around from which little ones can reach fans'. (No one was hurt ) ]

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 at 5:06 pm and is filed under 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.

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