Controversy over "traffic throttling" by Canadian ISPs heats up

The Campaign for Democratic Media has called on the CRTC to launch a "public proceeding" examining the practice of traffic throttling by facilities-based Canadian ISPs. But one Canadian expert says a change in this policy is very unlikely.
7/8/2008 5:00:00 AM By: Brian Jackson

The ongoing controversy over traffic shaping by leading facilities-based Canadian ISPs has intensified with more high-profile groups speaking out on the issue.

The Campaign for Democratic Media (CDM) has called upon the Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to initiate a "public proceeding" examining the practice.

CDM is a broad coalition of groups from across Canada that seeks to foster public participation in Canadian media policy formation.

Traffic or "packet shaping" refers to the practice of limiting the amount of available bandwidth for certain services such as peer-to-peer (p2p) file sharing applications.

Bell Canada Enterprises and Rogers Communications Inc. have both admitted to doing this.

They argue that managing the traffic flow in this way is needed so the bulk of Internet surfers don't suffer from slower service.

Net neutrality advocates, however, oppose traffic throttling saying the practice could be used by facilities-based ISPs to limit bandwidth of competing content or services.

Over the past few months, one aspect of traffic throttling received a great deal of attention in the media: its impact on third-party ISPs that buy connectivity on a wholesale basis from Bell and then resell it to consumers.

Traffic shaping by Bell has left these resellers with irate customers, who have complained of much slower bandwidth.

In April, the Canadian Association of Internet Providers (CAIP) - a group that represents 55 such resellers - petitioned the CRTC for an immediate cease-and-desist order on traffic-shaping.

While public advocacy groups also oppose the pratice, they call for a broader perspective on the issue, noting that resellers (such as Bell's wholesale customers) are not the only ones affected.

"We think the CRTC needs to look at the big picture," says Philippa Lawson, director of the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic in Ottawa.

She said the negative impact of traffic shaping "extends to other ISPs and other customers, not just wholesale customers."

"If ISPs want to have the benefit of being just carriers and not responsible for the content, then they shouldn't be looking at the content of the traffic," Lawson says.

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