Canadian ISP Rogers: We're a dumb pipe, except when we want to stop BitTorrent

Rogers, Canada's terrible, filter-happy cablemodem ISP, has just given testimony to its regulator saying that its lines are "dumb pipes" and it can't control what's on them (they're trying to avoid having to meet Canadian content rules that would require them to encourage Canadians to consume "Canadian" bits on the Internet, an admittedly redonkulous idea). But when they go to the regulator to ask for the right to clobber customers' downloads, they say they're a "smart pipe" who lovingly inspect every single packet for copyright naughtiness.

Net neutrality is frequently re-characterized as "network management," with ISPs arguing that they should be able to manage their networks in a manner that distinguishes between certain applications (and potentially content). Funny, though, what happens when groups ask that the same network management tools be used for alternate purposes such as Canadian content rules. When that happens, Rogers, the same ISP that acknowledges traffic shaping, now says "We're a dumb pipe. We don't know what you're downloading . . . so how can we be responsible for the content?" In other words, when Rogers appears before the CRTC during the new media proceeding it runs a "dumb pipe." When it returns several months later for the network management proceeding, it runs a smart pipe engaged in deep packet inspection to identify the traffic on its network.

Rogers - "We're A Dumb Pipe"

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Anonymous

Lots of reports out there about TekSavvy customers being able to circumvent Bell’s network management via use of Multilink-PPP.

Behold the Google: teksavvy+mlppp

Personally, I’m still with Bell for all my telecoms services, although at this point it’s not by choice. Beware when you’re bundling services with Bell or Rogers, as the small monthly discount you get comes at the price of a “stealth” contract that obligates you to pay back the cumulative discounts you’ve received if you drop any services within two years of entering the bundling arrangement.
zuzu

they’re trying to avoid having to meet Canadian content rules that would require them to encourage Canadians to consume “Canadian” bits on the Internet, an admittedly redonkulous idea

The Canadian government is really weird about this; so the regulations are such for television that instead of “Sci-Fi” there’s “Space”, instead of “Comedy Central” there’s “Comedy Channel”, etc.

At the same time, it seemed to me like everyone had a satellite minidish instead of cable anyway.
Ugly Canuck

Rogers!
Their HD TV boxes – which you can buy, but they’d rather rent them to you – are unavailable with 1080p resolution, and have been the same for five years….no upgrades on the horizon.
They were born a monopoly-provider of cable tv services, and that is how they would like to remain, as they undercut competition in the ISP/cellphone world using their protected-by-law cable TV monopoly profits…
delroy666

To my knowledge, the only alternative to Rogers (at least here in Ontario) is DSL from Bell, who also throttle bittorrent traffic. Yes, you can get DSL from an independent reseller ISP, but since Bell ultimately controls the infrastructure, your traffic is still throttled.
DaMamaJama

I’m a proud TekSavvy customer in southern Ontario – it’s cheap ($31.95/month), 200Gb/month (unlimited is $7 more), and they don’t send me bastard messages about content or bandwidth usage.
Anonymous

#6:

“I have been told, by Primus tech support, that they block all SSH traffic and we couldn’t possibly be having problems with anything SSH because it doesn’t exist on Primus.”

But, but, why? SSH is a genuinely useful technology, why would you possibly block it?
Itsumishi

200Gb!!?? For $32?!!? Jebus. I always knew Australia got shit internet deals but god damn.

Our internet deal is one of the best on the market and we’ve got a 30gb peak 30Gb off-peak cap with ADSL 2 speeds (about 8mb). It costs us $80 a month!!

It does include VOIP so we can use our landline without any extra charges (free local and national calls). Still you essentially get about 40GB a month for 3 times the price.
Kay the Complainer

As a former Rogers customer, I would like to cordially invite them to f*ck themselves. With a stick.

Oh, and I think I can definitively answer the question “are they a smart pipe or a dumb pipe?” – they are a dumb pipe. Very, very dumb.
ion_stasi

hypocrites!
Trent Hawkins

Ok, so does anyone have an acceptable alternative to Rogers? I’m looking to switch to a less Orwellian internet provider.
Anonymous

To be fair, there’s a difference between filtering content and blocking a P2P protocol.

Also, to be fair, Rogers practically owns the verb “to roger” (third-person singular simple present rogers, present participle rogering, simple past and past participle rogered) and they’re working hard on cornering the market for “scum sucking”.
Anonymous

I just made a switch to AEI’s High Speed DSL Internet from Rogers. I am extremely happy with AEI’s service. My d/l speed’s always above 4m. There are no bandwidth limits and contracts with AEI.
Kay the Complainer

Primus. They kind of suck too, but they’re much cheaper, and they’ve never tried to drill a hole in the exterior wall of my (rented) apartment.
Anonymous

Hmmm,
This may explain why P2P download speeds doubled in the past few days.

Bottom line: If commercial interests ruin the party — it will simply move someplace else.

If people escalate this issue the consequences could be tunnels over stateless transports. The top tier router efficiency could drop, and the Network Operation Center will fail.

Deep packet inspection is technically a violation of Canadian privacy laws. Anyone who supports US style MPAA/RIAA backed legislation is technically a traitor to their country — and has farty pants.
Anonymous

According to almost everyone, Teksavvy (and a bunch more resellers) are the ones who really try to run a ‘dumb pipe’ and even fight their overlords (aka Bell and Rogers) to do so!

I’ve never understood why cable, of all things, is granted monopoly protection. Shouldn’t cable TV, as a widespread but nonessential distributed service, been the first candidate for real competition?
Midnight Rambler

I have not used them myself, but I’ve heard good things about Teksavvy.

http://www.teksavvy.com/en/content.asp?ID=7&mID=1
Ugly Canuck

Hey Mama we’re all throttled now…
The Unusual Suspect

I’m still on Rogers myself, but seriously looking at TekSavvy based on many, many positive reviews.

TekSavvy runs on Bell Canada’s infrastructure so the bandwidth is throttled before it even gets to them, but at least they don’t seem to pile on any crap before passing the bandwidth on to their customers.
Jerril

Primus is cheaper, but their support is hell on wheels.

I have been told, by Primus tech support, that block all SSH traffic and we couldn’t possibly be having problems with anything SSH because it doesn’t exist on Primus.

Nuts to that, I say.
Anonymous

Rogers is a terrible company I hate with a passion. But at the same time I find it even more pathetic that the CRTC is trying to Cancon internet traffic.

Give me a break. That agency has existed for decades and they still hasn’t learned that no matter how much you cram it down the Canadian public’s throat, if its not quality music/television it won’t do that well.