Bell Canada hit with class-action throttling lawsuit - Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums

superx · 2008-05-30, 01:33 PM

http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/2979/125/

Bell Canada is facing a class-action lawsuit as a result of its Internet access policies, an announcement reveals. A Quebec group called L'Union des consommateurs, along with Bell customer Myrna Raphael, are accusing Bell of false advertising, as a result of its practice of throttling traffic at peak hours. Raphael is said to have signed a three-year ADSL contract in 2006, partly on the basis of Bell's claim of "constant speed" at all times; by enabling throttling last fall, says Raphael, Bell broke its agreement.

Bell is further accused of violating users' privacy, by using a technology called deep packet inspection (DPI) as part of the throttling process. Although DPI may be used for beneficial purposes, such as the control of spam, viruses and hacking, it has also been implicated in more sinister uses such as censorship, net neutrality violations, and government spying in countries like China and the US.

As punishment for Bell, Raphael and the UDC are seeking 80 percent of customers' monthly subscription fees, a figure said to be proportionate to Bell's throttling. Subscribers would additionally be eligible for $600 regarding false advertising, and $1,500 as compensation for privacy violations.

hugh · 2008-05-30, 03:04 PM

FYI: I have put in the link to the Micheal Geist site. The previous link was essentially a cut and paste job from the Geist site and I think its important to have proper attribution.

superx · 2008-05-30, 04:20 PM

I think these company's should get slammed pretty hard.

They tell us you have the internet for whatever you want then throttle it.

That is like eating at an all you can eat buffet and the restaurant putting out only the cheap food and only putting little bits of the lobster on the table. and they advertise the lobster.

i hate tv · 2008-05-30, 07:18 PM

Bell sells Lobster??

I don't download alot of torrents, but did notice throttling until recently
I was only getting 30mb/s , and now its back up in the 300kb/s + range
I am interested on how this will affect ISP's throttling tactics

I_Want_My_HDTV · 2008-06-02, 11:42 AM

Quote:

That is like eating at an all you can eat buffet...

and being told you can only have 3 slices of meat. (Actually happened to me.

) Bell has been taking the meat out of their DSL service for years and charging extra to get it back. How about their "unlimited" internet that was limited all of a sudden? It's about time Bell got put in their place for their deceptive practices, including throttling.

granduncle · 2008-06-02, 08:10 PM

This is one of those cases when the very idea of beating up somebody using a 2x4 sounds very reasonable...
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post...hrottling.html

i hate tv · 2008-06-02, 10:14 PM

Wow, is dialup really 60kbps??
If so, I may consider going that route

2008-05-30, 01:33 PM	#1
superx Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Richmond Hill, Ontario Posts: 75	Bell Canada hit with class-action throttling lawsuit http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/2979/125/ Bell Canada is facing a class-action lawsuit as a result of its Internet access policies, an announcement reveals. A Quebec group called L'Union des consommateurs, along with Bell customer Myrna Raphael, are accusing Bell of false advertising, as a result of its practice of throttling traffic at peak hours. Raphael is said to have signed a three-year ADSL contract in 2006, partly on the basis of Bell's claim of "constant speed" at all times; by enabling throttling last fall, says Raphael, Bell broke its agreement. Bell is further accused of violating users' privacy, by using a technology called deep packet inspection (DPI) as part of the throttling process. Although DPI may be used for beneficial purposes, such as the control of spam, viruses and hacking, it has also been implicated in more sinister uses such as censorship, net neutrality violations, and government spying in countries like China and the US. As punishment for Bell, Raphael and the UDC are seeking 80 percent of customers' monthly subscription fees, a figure said to be proportionate to Bell's throttling. Subscribers would additionally be eligible for $600 regarding false advertising, and $1,500 as compensation for privacy violations. Last edited by hugh; 2008-05-30 at 03:02 PM.

2008-05-30, 03:04 PM	#2
hugh Member #1 Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Toronto Posts: 47,492	FYI: I have put in the link to the Micheal Geist site. The previous link was essentially a cut and paste job from the Geist site and I think its important to have proper attribution. __________________ As of January 2012, I am no longer the owner of the Digital Home website. If you have questions about the operation of the site, please contact VSAdmin. For personal inquiries contact me at the Hugh Thompson website.

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2008-05-30, 04:20 PM	#3
superx Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Richmond Hill, Ontario Posts: 75	I think these company's should get slammed pretty hard. They tell us you have the internet for whatever you want then throttle it. That is like eating at an all you can eat buffet and the restaurant putting out only the cheap food and only putting little bits of the lobster on the table. and they advertise the lobster.

2008-05-30, 07:18 PM	#4
i hate tv Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 2,317	Bell sells Lobster?? I don't download alot of torrents, but did notice throttling until recently I was only getting 30mb/s , and now its back up in the 300kb/s + range I am interested on how this will affect ISP's throttling tactics

2008-06-02, 08:10 PM	#6
granduncle Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 1,051	This is one of those cases when the very idea of beating up somebody using a 2x4 sounds very reasonable... http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post...hrottling.html

2008-06-02, 10:14 PM	#7
i hate tv Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 2,317	Wow, is dialup really 60kbps?? If so, I may consider going that route