Archive for Net Neutrality

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No Throttling On Bell DSL? Could It Be True?[UPDATED]

Posted in Commentary with tags , , on July 4, 2008 by itnerd

Reports have surfaced on DSLReports.com that the throttling of Bell wholesale DSL users has appeared to have stopped. If anyone has confirmation of this, I’d love to hear about it. Leave a comment if you have the 411.

UPDATE: Rumor smashed. Throttling is still in place.

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The Deadline For Comments To The CRTC is Tomorrow

Posted in Commentary with tags , , on July 2, 2008 by itnerd

If you’re ticked off at Bell for throttling your Internet so you can’t download porn as fast, the deadline to file a comment with the CRTC is tomorrow. Here’s how you do it:

  1. Surf to this website.
  2. Select “Telecommunications”
  3. Select “Part VII”
  4. The subject should be “Comment on file #8622-C51-200805153 – CAIP vs Bell Canada”.
  5. Make sure you indicate your position on the matter clearly (nothing rude).

Please make sure you send it as soon as possible! The deadline is for comments RECEIVED, and not comments SENT.

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ARS Technica Laughs At Bells P2P “Congestion” Claims

Posted in Commentary with tags , , on June 30, 2008 by itnerd

ARS Technica are latest people to show that Bell Canada’s claims of network congestion due to P2P applications are totally bogus. In the article that I linked to, they make the assertion that if Bell has any congestion problems, they can be solved easily and cheaply:

“If Bell’s upstream DSLAM links are too slow, the whole problem could be fixed quite cheaply by upgrading the networking board in the back of DSLAM to gigabit Ethernet. For a company already publicly pledging to spend $500 million in capital upgrades this year, such a fix would be pocket change.”

Clearly, Bell’s throttling is for only one purpose. It is an anti-competitive move aimed at killing off competing ISPs. If Bell throttles competing wholesalers, nobody can offer a superior, un-throttled competitor to Bell Canada’s Sympatico service.

If Bell were smart, they should fold up shop now and make nice with all the people they’ve ticked off. It would be great optics if they did that. Otherwise they could end up looking worse than they already do.

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My Thoughts On Bell’s Traffic Shaping Documentation [UPDATED]

Posted in Commentary with tags , , , on June 27, 2008 by itnerd

I’ve had a few days to digest the traffic shaping info that they submitted to the CRTC this week. My thoughts are as follows:

  • Over the two month period prior to their throttling, they had congestion on 2.6 and 5.2 per cent of their network links.
  • They don’t explain if this congestion is sustained congestion or not. (My guess is not)

So what that means is that Bell’s own data shows that unrestricted peer to peer access only slows down just over 5% of their network at any given time. So…. Where’s the congestion that requires throttling?

There isn’t any.

I think what you are seeing here is this:

  • Bell (just like every other ISP in the universe) oversells the bandwidth massively on the customer end and yet their backbones are not even close to being maxed out, so they just end up screwing over the consumer by throttling them.
  • Bell throttles it’s own customers, but independent ISPs such as Teksavvy don’t. People leave for Teksavvy because of that (and the fact that it’s cheaper than Bell with better customer service typically). As a result, Bell throttles independent ISPs so that it levels the playing field.

Hopefully the CRTC sees through their BS as easily as everybody else does.

UPDATE: A real network engineer looks at the Bell document and declares it bogus.

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CRTC To Bell Canada: Make Traffic Shaping Info Public [UPDATED]

Posted in Commentary with tags , , , on June 23, 2008 by itnerd

The CRTC may not be pushovers after all. I say that because they’ve ordered Bell Canada to make informaiton about its traffic shaping activies public by today. Bell originally filed documents relating to traffic shaping on May 29th, but Bell claimed that the info was “Confidential” for competitive reasons, and as a result the documents were heavily redacted. A Bell sock puppet spokesperson said that they are looking at the order, but they should have no problem complying.

I’m watching the CRTC website and as soon as the documents are posted, you’ll see a link to them here. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that unless Bell lies, these documents are going to show that the Bell network is not as congested as they say it is.

UPDATE: There is a new deadline for the public to comment on Bell’s traffic shaping activities. The new deadline is July 3rd. Ensure that your voice is heard!

UPDATE #2: The information was released and is being discussed on DSLreports.com. To nobody’s suprise, Bell does not seem to have a congestion issue according the the stats that they provided to the CRTC.

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Head Of CRTC Is “Thinking” About Creating Rules In Regards To Managing Internet Traffic

Posted in Commentary with tags , , on June 18, 2008 by itnerd

In today’s Globe And Mail, CRTC Chairman Konrad von Finckenstein admitted that he is thinking about coming up with rules to oversee the practice of throttling:

“The CAIP complaint is really only the tip of the iceberg,” CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein told the telecom conference. “Sooner or later – hopefully later – this is going to evolve into a major consultation … It seems to be inevitable.”

Interestingly, Rogers and Bell were at the same conference where von Finckenstien said those words. For it’s part, Rogers sock puppet head of regulatory affairs Ken Englehart said the following:

“We hardly get any complaints,” Mr. Englehart said.

I can explain why you never get complaints Mr. Englehart. Smart users ditch your service to go with a provider who doesn’t screw them over manage their network in ways that impacts on their ability to download porn and MP3s enjoy their Internet experience. The ones you’re left with either don’t know any better, or can’t switch because you’re the only game in town. Thus, no complaints.

I guess if you’re on Rogers, you should complain loudly so that Englehart knows that it’s not only Bell users who are ticked off over throttling.

UPDATE: Michael Geist has posted his thoughts on this.

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Rogers Explains Its Traffic Shaping Policies….What’s That Smell?

Posted in Commentary with tags , , on June 10, 2008 by itnerd

A co-worker sent me this link from the Globe And Mail detailing an “extraordinary” news conference that Rogers held to explain its traffic shaping policy. Here’s the highlights:

  • Their network management (as they call it) has been “misinterpreted and misunderstood”
  • Rogers does not actually block peer-to-peer file-sharing traffic, nor does it target other traffic.
  • They don’t use “deep packet inspection.” Instead they control traffic at the upload point by limiting the rate at which file-sharing programs upload data
  • They say that expanding network capacity will not solve the issue

I imagine that they are watching the Bell Canada circus and decided to do something so that they don’t become the next target. This despite the fact they have been one of the more aggressive ISPs in terms of screwing their customers over throttling their customers. Plus their throttling methods have nasty side effects such as slowing encrypted traffic and VPN traffic. I also don’t buy the fact that they don’t use Deep Packet Inspection. Most devices (if not all of them) that do packet shaping rely on Deep Packet Inspection to do their jobs. So as far as I am concerned, this is just spin from Rogers. What really ticks me off is this statement from Mike Lee of Rogers:

“At the end of the day,” Mr. Lee said, “customer satisfaction is what matters the most.”

Total B.S.! Their customer satisfaction is miserable, as evidenced by the fact that their corporate reputation is so bad. No wonder I dumped them three years ago to go to DSL. If there was another GSM provider (Fido is owned by Rogers so they’re not an option) in Canada, I’d dump my Rogers cell phones too. Rogers cable TV is another thing that I’d dump too. At the end of the day, they really don’t deserve my money…. Or yours for that matter.

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Listen Up Canada. There’s Only A Couple Of Days Left To Let The CRTC Know What You Think

Posted in Commentary with tags , on June 9, 2008 by itnerd

For those of you in the Great White North (which is close to 90 degrees today), if you want you voice heard in terms of the net neutrality issues before the CRTC you only have a couple days left to do so. Surf to the this link and make your voice heard today.

Thanks!

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Carolyn Bennett Hosts eTown Hall Meeting On Net Neutrality!

Posted in Commentary with tags , on June 6, 2008 by itnerd

Last night there was a eTown hall meeting hosted by Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett. Michael Geist was one of the main speakers and it was interesting to watch this.

If you missed it, the recording has been posted so take a listen. As I said, it was very interesting. It’s nice to see more politicians get involved in the fight for net neutrality.

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David McGuinty Has A Petition For Net Neutrality… Please Sign Up Today

Posted in Commentary with tags , on June 6, 2008 by itnerd

If you recall, Liberal MP David McGuinty has a private members bill in the House Of Commons that deals with the net neutrality issue. He’s now posted a petition on his website that allows you to express your support. At the time I write this, there are over 400 signatures on this petition. If you’re Canadian, you should add yours today as bills like his need all the help they can get. You should also pass this along to your friends so that they can get involved. Keep in mind that his bill does the following (among other things):

  • Outlaw the much-hated system access fee for cell phone customers
  • Force providers to provide more accurate information on network speeds
  • Force providers to implement greater transparency of network management practices on mobile and broadband networks
  • Force the CRTC to issue a net neutrality report on “network management practices that favor, degrade or prioritize any packet transmitted over a broadband network based on source, ownership, or destination.”

Make your voice heard today by signing this petition because now is the time to defend Canada’s right to a free Internet.

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