Canadian ISPs Limiting Access To CBC Shows

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.

This is bigger than comcast

[deathguppie]

I mean it is in the way that. Limiting access at this level is akin to harming your competition. Not that it wasn't in the Comcast situation, but this is so blatant.

What is offered to the smaller isp's in Canada?

[AHuxley]

A shared best-effort capacity service?
Or do they pay for a part of a pipe ie
high quality path-diverse circuit capacity?

Defeating traffic shaping, at least poltically.

[Hamster Lover]

I was discussing strategies to overcome ISP traffic shaping with a colleague, at least politically or on a public relations level, and it occurred to me that one way to give ISPs a black eye over the issue would be to obfuscate otherwise legitimate traffic as file sharing traffic, such as peer to peer gaming. When such legitimate traffic gets snared in the traffic shaping net, we could point out that it's the evil ISPs that are blocking grandma's card game with her friends.

Someone with greater expertise in this matter could point out the flaws in my brilliant plan.

Re:i've used bt since 2004 in the us...

[__NR_kill]

In Europe the BT is shaped too. My ISP - ownership of the largest multinational ISP outside the US - Liberty Global - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Global [wikipedia.org], is shaping the TB traffic during the peak hours, giving just 1000KBytes/s for the torrents, when pure ftp and http downloads get to the full 2400KBytes/s. I suspect that they apply the same policy to all of their customers/isp's.

Re:Just an expansion of an existing program

[Anonymous Coward]

Cept for the lil fact that you cant lay your own hardware in Canada. The reselling program exists entirely because there's a monopoly on the lines.

Re:This is bigger than comcast

[Goldberg's Pants]

It seems rather convenient that Bell, who own a shit load of TV stations across the country, happen to be messing with CBC, their competition...

I can only speak for my ISP in Canada (Shaw). They throttle Bit Torrent on the default ports it would appear, but not on any other ports. (This is based on my own informal speed tests.)

Nice to see people standing up, but the fact remains that nothing will happen. The CRTC won't do a damn thing. They are the lapdogs of the industry and no more than whores.

Re:I forsee the CRTC's response...

[Anonymous Coward]

I doubt it will be that easy for the CRTC this time. Wholesale [bcenexxia.com] GAS service is covered by a CRTC tariff, tariff 5410 [www.bce.ca]. Nowhere in that tariff does Nexxia have the right to throttle traffic. Nexxia is claiming it is under Section 8 - Restriction on use of service of the general tariff that covers abuse of the phone system causing disruptions in service (specifically section 8.3, check your white pages, "Customers are prohibited from using Bell Canada services or permitting them to be used so as to prevent a fair and proportionate use by others."). That rule is clearly intended to cover only landlines, and even if it did cover anything else, other traffic has been working fine on most all access points where the throttling is occurring, negating the use of this rule.

Can't wait to see what the lawyers do about this...

Re:i've used bt since 2004 in the us...

[flyonthewall]

Shapers operate on a white list. Any traffic not recognised is throttled by default.

Re:i've used bt since 2004 in the us...

[Anonymous Coward]

I think all the people on the throttled Canadian services (which are maximum 6mbits) would be completely overjoyed to be "limited" to 1Mbyte. ;-)

Re:This is bigger than comcast

[Goldberg's Pants]

I'm wondering if it's a regional thing. I've heard folk on Shaw say they're screwed whatever they do. Others there's no problem, even on the default port.

Upstream throttling is murder if you're on any ratio sites. Yet another reason ratio sites suck. (Though that's a rant for another day.)

Re:Censorship? How?

[Anonymous Coward]

How about the fact that the American web site from Comedy Central is not available in Canada?

Access to the domain comedycentral.com brings you to the Canadian channel thecomedynetwork.ca

Re:I forsee the CRTC's response...

[mevets]

The action should come from customers of Bell-branded services. Bell has become a brand-outsourcing company over the past decade - they sell their name to satellite, internet and wireless companies because it is a known success. The slightest hint that the brand has 'gone south' (oblique reference to southern neighbour) will result in more action than 10 CRTCs, 9-RIAAs a leaping, 8-Royal commisssions .... and a pissed of drunken hoser....

Kudos to teksavvy; I have been a customer for 5 years, and couldn't be happier. Hopefully starchoice and fido will work out as well......

Government run ISP

[Redrover5545]

You know, if more stuff like this happens, I could see a provincial (or even the federal) government start their own crown-company ISP. I mean, there is a large tradition in Canada of creating companies to serve the public instead of regulating private ones, just look at Hydro-Québec, Bell Canada (back in the day), the SAQ and the SAAQ, public health, Petro-Canada, etc.

Re:Defeating traffic shaping, at least poltically.

[Digestromath]

Thats like saying: If everyone would just buy a gun and shoot themselves in the foot, we could get some gun control laws passed!

Nobody would deliberately check the "throttle my bandwidth" option. Thats not to say that the premise is wrong, you just putting the onus on the consumers. Doing so also makes it a commercial issue. That opens it up to government regulation and all the red tape.

Instead I would propose setting up a website, preferably with either political or religious content using BT to distribute its message. Now if it was throttled, it would open them up to a human rights violation. It would bypass the CRTC and end up directly in court.