Canadian ISPs Limiting Access To CBC Shows 108
An anonymous reader sends word that, even as ISP interference with BitTorrent traffic is easing in the US, the issue is heating up in Canada. Major Canadian ISPs are limiting access to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's shows, made available online using BitTorrent. This issue has burst onto the scene due to smaller ISPs, such as Teksavvy, blowing the whistle on the fact that Bell was expanding its traffic-shaping policies to smaller ISPs that rent Bell's network. These events have sparked a formal complaint by the National Union of Public and General Employees, which represents more than 340,000 workers across Canada, to the regulatory body, CRTC, and calls for change in Parliament.
relevant bit (Score:5, Insightful)
Censorship? How? (Score:3, Insightful)
( of course there is still the problem that a private company cant censor if you go by its true definition, but i wont start that debate up )
Gotta change the system (Score:2, Insightful)
The current method of getting bits over a pipe seems so archaic (although I'm probably jaded by too much Star Trek). If enough people get (a) fed up, and (b) innovative, solutions could emerge.
If enough people don't care and just want to be spoon-fed their Internets by "the man", well, then we've lost the battle anyhow. Sadly I suspect that is the case.
Re:Censorship? How? (Score:5, Insightful)
You want to watch a live 1 mbit video feed. Your access is 5 mbits, but the throttle makes the maximum usable speed 300kbits.
The live video feed is effectively censored, since you can't watch it, even though you have a fast enough connection.
The same way your mail would be "censored" if the post office screwed a 1/8" slot over your mailbox. Anything bigger than that (newspapers) won't go in the box. And no, removing the slot is not possible. And the mailman isn't allowed to open the box to put in the mail. And you aren't allowed to buy a bigger slot, but you are welcome to buy a box the size of your garage if you'd like, but the 1/8" slot will still be installed.
Re:This is bigger than comcast (Score:2, Insightful)
Ultimately, I think these stupid throttling issues will be short-lived, as they are explicitly targeting one type of activity (p2p) which just so happens to be one of the most popular uses for residential broadband access. That's kind of like McDonalds deciding they will no longer sell any burgers, and go out of their way to harass burger lovers. That kind of business attitude is not sustainable in the long term.
Re:Defeating traffic shaping, at least poltically. (Score:3, Insightful)