Bell Canada hit with class-action throttling lawsuit

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.

Filed under: industry, networking
Other story tags: Canada, lawsuits, Bell, net neutrality, privacy

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testudo

of course

-13

05/30, 1:35pm, EDT

it came from MS, so it must be bad. "Let's blast it, boys!" If it were Apple talking about this with .Mac accounts, you'd be struggling to keep yourselves from wetting your pants in glee at their innovations...

But, to those who can't seem to figure it out

1) This is different then speed-dialing by the dialer not needing to even have your phone number.

2) It would obviously be something you would sign-up for, and thus not some type of 'evasion' of privacy.

3) The point is not having to have a phone number that needs to be hacked into your device, which, if it changes, is no longer valid.

And, Jeronimo2000, what well-established system currently in place handles what is mentioned in the article?

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sixcolors

huh?

05/30, 1:38pm, EDT

What the hell are you on about testudo?

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mac??