Archive for April 17th, 2008

Does Bell Really Have a P2P Bandwidth Problem?

Bell filed its response to the CAIP submission to the CRTC on its throttling practices yesterday, unsurprisingly arguing that its actions are justified and that there is no need to deal with the issue on an emergency basis.  Several points stand out from the submission including its non-response to the privacy concerns with deep-packet inspection (it merely says that it does not retain or use the data, but does not deny collecting what could easily be interpreted as personally identifiable information) and its inference that P2P usage could be deemed using a connection as a "server" and therefore outside the boundaries of "fair and proportionate use" under typical ISP terms of use.

Most importantly, however, Bell provides data on its network usage that significantly undermines its claim that P2P usage is causing such havoc with its network that throttling measures that impact 100 percent of its (and some of its competitions') users are needed.  Bell again reiterates that the "problem" lies with 5 percent of its users that are heavy P2P users.  Yet that 5 percent apparently uses 33 percent of available bandwidth during peak periods.  That is a disproportionate use to be sure, yet it struck me as far lower than might have been expected. 

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April 17, 2008 36 comments News

Primus Jumps Into CAIP-Bell Throttling Case

Primus Communications has jumped into the CAIP – Bell throttling case, filing a submission in support of CAIP.  The Primus submission, which deals only with the question of interim relief (a fuller submission will come later), argues that the CRTC should grant CAIP’s request for an interim order directing Bell […]

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April 17, 2008 1 comment News

Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement Moves Forward

The DFAIT consultation on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement has still not concluded (you have until April 30th to file a submission), yet reports now indicate that the negotiations are moving forward at a rapid clip.  The European Council of Ministers have reportedly given their approval to the treaty which will […]

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April 17, 2008 1 comment News