SciTech Shark – Science & Technology News Reviewer

All major Canadian ISP’s throttling P2P

Posted on 22. Jan, 2009 by SciTech Shark in Web

If you live in Canada, you have probably noticed by now that those P2P files do not get loaded on your hard drive as quickly as they used to in the past. Why? It seems that all major ISPs have enrolled various techniques to discourage their customers from using P2P networks.

Although, the legal aspect of using P2P networks is still under heavy debate, it is clear that more people are using this method and usage numbers are growing every day.

Now, according to reports generated by ISPs, file sharing network slows down overall performance of Internet connectivity, hurting non-P2P users.

Canada’s Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) famously decided last year to allow Bell Canada to single out P2P traffic for bandwidth throttling between the hours of 4:30pm to 2am.

And how are the other ISPs doing. Here is a list:

• Bell Canada: Yes, between 4:30pm and 2am
• Cogeco Cable: Yes
• MTS Allstream: No
• Rogers Cable: Confidential
• Saskatchewan Telecom: No
• Primus Telecom: No
• Shaw: Yes
• Barrett Xplore: Yes
• TELUS: No
• Bragg: Confidential

Naturally, the network throttling is opposed by Internet users who say that blocking the P2P access is against their consumer’s rights. The question is: if ISP are able (and allowed) to block some portion of Internet what else may be blocked in future and who says what can be downloaded/uploaded and what is forbidden?

The answer to this question may be provided by CRTC who is holding a public hearing is set for July 6 in Gatineau, Quebec. After the hearing the CRTC will presumably rule on the question of just what sorts of bandwidth throttling measures Canadian ISPs will be allowed to take.

Tags: Allstream, Barrett Xplore, Bell, Bragg, canada, Cogeco, CRTC, ISP, P2P, Primus, Rogers, Saskatchewan Telecom, Shaw, TELUS