Canadia under attack!

[Dwood]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/tech-news/crtc-issues-small-isps-discount-on-usage-based-billing-fees/article1882339/


It's now illegal to have unlimited bandwidth plans... O.o

[ThePlague]

I hope that doesn't give the US ideas, or else I would use the amount of bandwidth given per month in a day.

[Hotrod]

Fuck this shit, just a way for the government to grab even more money from us. I even signed that petition the other day too. Good thing I'm still in res at university for the next three and a half years where I get all my internet payed for...

[Cagerrin]

fucking fuck fuckedy fuck fuck

Oh well, we've technically been bandwidth-capped for the past three years, but Telus has never once enforced it or charged us for it. They don't seem to give a shit. Would suck if this makes them actually care about enforcing the cap, but I sort of doubt it.

[TVTyrant]

Stupidest idea I've ever heard *puts on American flag bandana* "In America..."

[Phopojijo]

Fuck this shit, just a way for the government to grab even more money from us. I even signed that petition the other day too. Good thing I'm still in res at university for the next three and a half years where I get all my internet payed for...Wtf? That's not true at all. This is *Bell* and *Rogers*... not the Government. The Government is basically just letting Bell and Rogers dance and skip merrily at the expense of their customers (and in this case -- the customers of their competitors)

Bell and Rogers just lobbies really really effectively.

I don't think this would affect Telus... probably not Sasktel either, almost definitely not Eastlink -- but Primus, Shaw (I think), Teksavvy (I think), etc. are all affected by this.

All because Netflix jumped into Canada.

[Cortexian]

I'm with Shaw and although I technically have a cap, they give 0 shits about people breaking it. I go over my bandwidth cap every month on upload alone and they've never cared.

[Phopojijo]

I'm with Shaw and although I technically have a cap, they give 0 shits about people breaking it. I go over my bandwidth cap every month on upload alone and they've never cared.Yeah -- Shaw and Teksavvy and the rest didn't care... but BELL does... and ROGERS does... and the CRTC let them regulate the customers of other companies if their infrastructures are dependent on Bell or Rogers.

[n00b1n8R]

Welcome to Australia, circa FOREVER

[sleepy1212]

God knows about you australia

http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/images/news/photos/2011/01/31/cyclone-yasi-australia-rtxx.jpg

[Con]

I'm with Shaw and although I technically have a cap, they give 0 shits about people breaking it. I go over my bandwidth cap every month on upload alone and they've never cared.
me too, and boy am I glad

[Phopojijo]

I'm grandfathered in so I'm completely unlimited... provided I don't touch anything to do with my internet bill or move.

[Nero]

I am paying 134 dollars per month for internet. This is becoming ridiculous. I am also getting charged like 20 bucks extra for going over the bandwidth, as I download about 500+ gigs per month. :\
Someone mentioned america getting ideas from Canada, but its actually the other way around. Lol. Most of the time its some American who convinces the guys up above to try to make change. HURR.
Everyone are a bunch of greedy bastards!

[Warsaw]

Couldn't Telus theoretically set an insanely high cap that nobody could possibly reach under normal usage, therefore rendering it a mere formality?

[Amit]

I'm with Rogers and there's no better alternative or close competitor for cheaper. The service is good, but the bandwidth caps and upload speeds are crap. My cap is 95gb/month, but with 4 people using internet in my house, we go over and get charged about $50 every month. It's bullshit. I try to tell my sisters to wait to download their gay gossip girl episodes until the bill rolls over to the next month, but they don't fucking listen. We get charged $1.50 CAD for every gigabyte we go over. That's horse shit.

[Nero]

Amit: Rogers can only charge up to 20 dollars in extra gigs, after that its free. If they charge you more then that, you have to call them up.
*I am pretty sure its 20 dollars, or if not its really close to that number*

[Amit]

Amit: Rogers can only charge up to 20 dollars in extra gigs, after that its free. If they charge you more then that, you have to call them up.
*I am pretty sure its 20 dollars, or if not its really close to that number*

WHAT THE FUCK? We were charged $36 last month and $48 the month before!!!! FFFF ROGERSSS

[Nero]

Was that on top of you're normal bill?

[Warsaw]

Here in the US, the big telecom companies are actually moving to dump their landlines onto smaller companies while they focus on growing their mobile networks. You know, the ones where you have fuck all for rights and get charged an arm for measly bandwidth and a 25GB cap?

[Dwood]

Goodbye Comcast, AT&T. Landlines ftw.

[Amit]

Was that on top of you're normal bill?

Course it was. We have Rogers Extreme. $59.99/month is our current subscription. Our bandwidth cap is 15GB higher than it should be, but our download speeds are 5mbps slower! What the fuck rogers?

Proof of additional charges:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h262/amit9821/rog2.png

Oh and go ahead, slap us around some more:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h262/amit9821/rog.png

[Patrickssj6]

Wow that really sucks..never heard of a case where you have to pay for extra bandwidth. The only thing I know is that they cut down your speed if your are not using your Internet that much / using it too much.

[Mr Buckshot]

(when I'm at home) same as Freelancer and Con, use Shaw but no penalty for excess. For the most part we barely use even 75% of the monthly cap anyways, don't do much downloading or filesharing. The biggest downloads I ever get are when I buy the occasional new game from Steam.

I'm honestly not surprised, these bastards (especially Rogers) are already slapping hefty roaming charges if you use a cell phone registered in one province in a different province. Heck, using a 604 or 778 phone in Abbotsford or Victoria already counts as long distance. Only a matter of time before they start increasing their overcharges for internet.

Hard to believe Canada actually has a higher per capita internet usage than America does...

@Amit: Filter out the gossip girl websites so they're inaccessible in your home :D And hope your sisters don't know what proxies are.

[Patrickssj6]

Even better: Windows/System32/Drivers/Etc/hosts

Open it with notepad

add every site that you want to block e.g.


127.0.0.1 modacity.net
127.0.0.1 www.modacity.net


Save the hosts file as host2. Rename the old one, rename the new one to host again.

[Amit]

They use megavideo and megaupload to watch and download episodes >_<

I use those websites sometimes. And I can't be bothered to search for the other sites. I'll let dad do the yelling when the bill comes. But no! He doesn't because this has been happening for the past 6 months and he apparently doesn't look into it. He just looks at the bill and thinks its the usual jacking up of prices.

[Cortexian]

Hard to believe Canada actually has a higher per capita internet usage than America does...
Not really, Calgary is the most "wired" city in North America when it comes to internet infrastructure. Not sure about fiber though, since only new neighborhoods are just now starting to get Gigabit Fiber from Shaw.

[Dwood]

Hard to believe Canada actually has a higher per capita internet usage than America does...

It's because it's so cold up there that no one goes outside.

[TVTyrant]

The weather keeps the computers cool, so they run better.

[Cortexian]

Yeh, I can overclock farther than people South of me. Because the weather outside effects the preferred temperature in my home for sure, because if we had heaters out igloos would melt. In fact, we replaced the fireplace in our igloo with my computer because any more heat and the igloo would melt! This is also WHY Calgary is the most wired city in North America, it's very easy to dig a foot deep trench to lay all the required cable and then just shovel the snow back on top.

[TVTyrant]

Pssh. Most people in Canada live in houses you silly man/hilarity

[t3h m00kz]

Their health care balances it out.

[Amit]

Pssh. Most people in Canada live in houses you silly man/hilarity

You sir, are severely misinformed. My "house" is more of a shack/igloo hybrid. Very sturdy for when the snow hits, yet cozy if you light a fire in the wood stove. Of course the stove needs to provide it's own chimney, or our igloo would most definitely melt. The best part I think is that I can just slice a hole in the ground and start fishing for food.

[Patrickssj6]

Actually, they just want more money.

[TVTyrant]

You sir, are severely misinformed. My "house" is more of a shack/igloo hybrid. Very sturdy for when the snow hits, yet cozy if you light a fire in the wood stove. Of course the stove needs to provide it's own chimney, or our igloo would most definitely melt. The best part I think is that I can just slice a hole in the ground and start fishing for food.

http://files.myopera.com/fearphage/forums/the_more_you_know.jpg

[Nero]

We are being extremely serious Tyrant.

Also, whats this about the prices going up in March?? *it was in one of the things from you're bill, the last one* D=

[Amit]

After clicking the link, it only stated increased in modem rentals per month by $1. Knowing Rogers, however, they are probably going to try to raise those prices even. They already fuck me on my phone plan. And Bell is grabbing our other arm with their shitty home phone service, but my mom is too loyal to switch.

[Hotrod]

You sir, are severely misinformed. My "house" is more of a shack/igloo hybrid. Very sturdy for when the snow hits, yet cozy if you light a fire in the wood stove. Of course the stove needs to provide it's own chimney, or our igloo would most definitely melt. The best part I think is that I can just slice a hole in the ground and start fishing for food.
You're a lucky guy. I rebuilt my 6th igloo of the year just this morning. I wish I had the money to afford the shack/igloo hybrids, or even better a complete 100% shack! Too bad most of us aren't that rich...

[leorimolo]

If I were a billionare, id launch a worldwide internet satelite company guaranteed to be uncapped and have like 20mbs up and down for a the same fee. I mean shit we got dishes everywhere for cable why not for internet, and its affordable to some point, just not right now.

[Hotrod]

One problem with satellite internet is that the upload speeds are very slow...

[Patrickssj6]

One problem with satellite internet is that the upload speeds are very slow...
Nope. The problem is the Ping.

Upload is a matter of hardware, ping is a matter of Einstein.

[TVTyrant]

We are being extremely serious Tyrant.

http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/826/dscn3667c.jpg

Igloos huh?

BTW I have a feeling that all the members of the commonwealth of nations will succumb to the horrors of strictly enforced bandwidth limitations. Britain needs the money.

[Hotrod]

Nope. The problem is the Ping.

Upload is a matter of hardware, ping is a matter of Einstein.
Sorry, that's what I meant.

[Amit]

BTW I have a feeling that all the members of the commonwealth of nations will succumb to the horrors of strictly enforced bandwidth limitations. Britain needs the money.

In Canada, the Government and CRTC, specifically, allow this gouging to continue. It's almost like the show their their extremely long dinner. And I don't see what benefit they get. They regulate what the Service Providers can do, and when you don't impose limits on these providers, companies like Rogers fuck the consumers with all they got. They are smart enough to do it slowly, though. so it doesn't seem like they are actually reaching into our wallets and taking more than they should. How much of that does the government get? Nothing right? Just a bunch of angry citizens. Fuck. Conservatives and Liberals, they both suck. I wonder what would happen should the NDP grasp power in this nation, though...more empty promises, probably.

[Warsaw]

Empty promises don't start happening until the competition is dead. Keep competition alive, and you keep them on their toes.

[Phopojijo]

http://www.straight.com/article-370996/vancouver/stephen-harper-tweets-hes-very-concerned-about-crtcs-usagebased-billing-decision

Looks like all parties of Parliament are getting involved against the CRTC's ruling now... ... not a whole lot of support. Hopefully it'll get overturned and overpushed back.

((They did this the last time several several years ago when Bell pushed for long distance charges on website access outside of either Canada or North America -- it's been a while so I can't remember which -- that got their whole thing pushed. Dropping their request from 60GB to 25GB might just be the same greedy request that kills them again))

[Amit]

http://www.straight.com/article-370996/vancouver/stephen-harper-tweets-hes-very-concerned-about-crtcs-usagebased-billing-decision

Looks like all parties of Parliament are getting involved against the CRTC's ruling now... ... not a whole lot of support. Hopefully it'll get overturned and overpushed back.

((They did this the last time several several years ago when Bell pushed for long distance charges on website access outside of either Canada or North America -- it's been a while so I can't remember which -- that got their whole thing pushed. Dropping their request from 60GB to 25GB might just be the same greedy request that kills them again))

What? Bell wanted to charge people for viewing websites outside of North America? How the fuck does that work?

[dark navi]

What? Bell wanted to charge people for viewing websites outside of North America? How the fuck does that work?

They charge you extra for every hit that isn't Canada.ca.

[Warsaw]

And that, gents, is what happens when Net Neutrality goes out the window.

[Cortexian]

They charge you extra for every hit that isn't Canada.ca.
You can register a .ca domain name from Europe so that wouldn't work. There are ways of determining the origin of a server though, and it isn't hard.

[Phopojijo]

Parliament to CRTC -- Change your decision or we'll veto it.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/932571--ottawa-threatens-to-reverse-crtc-decision-on-internet-billing

See what happens when you piss off literally every Federal political party? You -- get boned. I believe the head of the CRTC will get called into review as well.

Frankly I think bit metering in general is a complete farce -- it'd be like Ford checking your odometer every month to see if they could charge you more. You're an infrastructure company -- you give me the cable... and I'll take care of what comes down it. If you want to provide special services like phone and licensed video (TV) then that's fine... but stepping on other people's attempts to do that is monopolistic... and charging extra if your customers use your competitors is even more blatant. And charging your competitors who partially lease your infrastructure whose customers use that infrastructure to view your competitors content is just plain nutty.

I hope the small ISPs actually do end up getting their own infrastructure laid in competition with Bell and Rogers. We need more than 2 major players (+ Eastlink and some more spotty-coverage players)

[Phopojijo]

http://openmedia.ca/drive

By the way -- (Canadians) -- there's a donation page for the OpenMedia.ca group that's petitioning Industry Minister Tony Clement. I donated a sizable chunk. He has substantially more power than the CRTC.

[Cortexian]

Bell and Rogers aren't big in Alberta at all, it's all Shaw and Telus FYI.

[Amit]

http://openmedia.ca/drive

By the way -- (Canadians) -- there's a donation page for the OpenMedia.ca group that's petitioning Industry Minister Tony Clement. I donated a sizable chunk. He has substantially more power than the CRTC.

I donated $10. Would that help?

[Phopojijo]

Sure? <Shrugs> They just wanted 10,000$. That's 1/1000th of the way there just from you.

[Phopojijo]

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2011/02/04/bernier-crtc.html

Well damn... don't know if I love this or hate this.

[Dwood]

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2011/02/04/bernier-crtc.html

Well damn... don't know if I love this or hate this.

More Competition == better deals and lower prices for consumers. You guys have been crying about the internet prices... Is that not a good way of getting stuff done?

Edit: And some of those comments are completely ridiculous. It's almost as though those people trust their government with the regulations of companies who "donate" largely to the regulating organizations...

[Phopojijo]

Well it depends... if Comcast and Verizon come up here and do the same crap that Bell and Rogers does and they tried to do in the US until the FCC said it was illegal but is industry-accepted up here... great, we got the same shit and chips just with less cheese and gravy.

If they actually legitimately compete then yes it's great. If they come in saying "Wow look at what Bell and Rogers managed to do. $$$$$$" then we might have problems. It might become and arms race to the bottom (yay) -- but it might not.

[Dwood]

TBH it really doesn't matter who, Comcast n' Verizon wouldn't be able to do the same things because they're new guys on the market, the first thing they'd do is try to get as much ground covered as possible asap. You wouldn't have to worry about them starting to do the same things for (what I'm guessing) to be about 3 years in the Canadian Marketplace when they've fully established themselves and their infrastructure.

[Amit]

Phone and cable companies have unleashed a deep-pocketed public relations campaign designed to confuse Canadians about new Internet usage fees.

At the same time, broadcasters and cable companies are meeting in Ottawa to hash out a plan to deal with online services that are "competing for customers".

We can't let them turn back the clock. We need a well-coordinated response to prevent these corporations from interfering in the upcoming CRTC hearing.


We urgently need to:

1. Support local organizers of the February 26th Stop The Meter Day Of Action.

2. Put together a united front of public interest groups, creators, indie ISPs, online service providers and half a million Canadians to put forth a well-researched, evidence-based submission to the CRTC.

Indie ISPs Acanac and Teksavvy have agreed to provide matching funds if we raise $15,000 in the next 48 hours.

The big telecoms are trying to strike back. Currently the meter is under $5000 away from the goal of $15000. I donated about $31 which was all I had in my paypal (I don't think I'm going to pre-order DOWII Retribution after seeing BF3 news, gotta conserve money). Donate for a better future! Also, I think people from any country can donate so that would help!

Go here to donate: http://openmedia.ca/drive

[Amit]

Well, usage based billing for independent ISPs has been overturned:

http://openmedia.ca/blog/letter-supporters-you-and-half-million-canadians-changed-internet

[Cortexian]

Got that email this morning, was pretty happy. I was thinking of switching over to one of the more indie ISP's in my area but none of them offer speeds like Shaw does. I'd rather have faster speeds and a bandwidth cap that I very very VERY rarely go over instead of slower speeds and no cap... Not to mention that the ISP I have now also provides our digital TV and phone in addition to TV hardware.

We also just setup a deal to upgrade our main TV's PVR and our secondary TV's HD box for a Shaw Gateway + 3 Portals (http://shaw.ca/Gateway/).

[Amit]

I'm gonna get my dad to switch from Rogers Bullshit Extreme to the TekSavvy Extreme Cable service. 300GB cap vs our 95GB cap right now, 24Mb/s connection speed vs 15Mb/s connection speed, and $42.95/month vs $59.95/month. We can't really go wrong except that we would have to buy a new DOCSIS 3.0 capable modem.

[Cortexian]

That seems better all-around, and I really suggest it.

[Amit]

Yeah, I was gonna tell my dad to splurge for the Unlimited, but I doubt we'd use that much bandwidth. Well, I know I could make full use of it, but I just don't have the hard drive space :(