Thread: Attention Canadians! Internet About to Drastically Change in Canada

I've found an ISP called Distributel, has unlimited bandwith with 15mbps/1mbps for the same price as my current plan, so I want to switch to that. Still need to call them and ask if they're going to be effected by the CRTC. I found this ISP (Future Link Communications | Allstream | Telephone Systems | Cabling | Telecommunications | PRI | PBX | ISP - Business Telephones | Internet | Phone Systems) who claim they won't get effected by the CRTC. But their plans don't interest me.

some people have it worse

Well, it seems we're making progress.

It’s another step towards an open and competitive internet in Canada, and it's thanks to you.

Late last night, news broke that Tony Clement will ask the Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to reverse their decision on usage-based internet billing – a decision that allows internet service providers to impose download limits and new fees.

Our work is not yet done. We need to keep up the pressure until the CRTC’s decision is reversed once and for all.

Canadian families and businesses need open, affordable, unlimited internet access. The future of our economy depends on it. The Conservative government should have known that from the start.

When messages like yours reached us this past weekend – on Twitter and Facebook, by email, phone and fax – my Liberal colleagues and I knew what we had to do.

On Tuesday morning, we sided with you against the CRTC’s decision. By the end of the day, Liberal MPs on the Industry Committee had already begun an investigation. Then, yesterday, we kept the pressure on the Conservative government during Question Period in the House of Commons. At tonight’s meeting of the Industry Committee, Liberal MPs will tell CRTC Chair Konrad von Finckenstein to reverse course.

This isn't the first time that you’ve stared down the Conservatives over an open internet — and that's why tens of thousands of you visited our action page at http://www.liberal.ca/ubb/, to join our digital policy email list and help carry the fight into Parliament.

This is your movement. You rallied on Twitter. You wrote emails and called Tony Clement’s office. You made the difference.

We all know that there are wider issues at stake here. After five years of Stephen Harper, Canada still has no digital plan. The Conservatives’ proposed copyright bill contains unfair digital lock provisions. Canadians are less connected and face higher internet costs than citizens of other OECD countries. And don’t even get me started on the long-form census.

Liberals have been engaged on these issues. In 2009, we worked with the Openmedia.ca / Save Our Net Coalition on Net Neutrality, a position that we support wholeheartedly. Last fall, we announced our Open Government Initiative, which will make government data accessible to all Canadians.

At the heart of our digital policy is a core Liberal value: we must make Canada more competitive and more innovative. That means expanding high-speed internet access to every region of the country, fair and equitable wholesale access, and transparent pricing.

We must build a digital strategy for Canada that embraces the energy, entrepreneurial spirit, and innovative creativity of consumers, businesses and digital influencers like you.

We'll keep the pressure on the Conservatives in Parliament to make sure they follow through and reverse the CRTC’s decision on usage-based billing. This victory is just a taste of what we can accomplish, if we continue this fight together.

I hope you’ll join the Liberal Party's digital policy email list at http://www.liberal.ca/ubb/. Let’s build a more open, more competitive future for Canada.

Thank you for being engaged.

Michael Ignatieff

It was a standard business model for ISP in Russia not so long time ago. ISP charge hard for every 1 Mb.
But competition between ISPs forced them to cut prices, now i pay $15.00 for 12 Mbit/s, and I'm far from capital.

For anyone on the west coast, Shaw has announced the same crappy deal with anyone going over there limit being charged $1-2 per GB of overage. They have also HALFED their plans download caps, making it WAY easier for this bullshit cash grab.

As a loyal shaw customer of over 15 years, and i mean every service they have... i am finally thinking about switching to telus internet once they impose this garbage. Telus has publicly said that they will not be charging for overages.

Here's a interesting video.

CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein and vice-chairman Len Katz discuss their recent decision on usage-based Internet billing.

CPAC - Video on Demand

^ That's a long video, and he repeats everything he says in french. Could you recap it? I'm not watching all that.

Originally Posted by twon

^ That's a long video, and he repeats everything he says in french. Could you recap it? I'm not watching all that.

lol I only watched a couple parts myself, but basically, they ask CRTC's president question about how the decision they made. He can't answer any of them properly.

For example, they ask him for proofs of internet congestion which is why they put these bandwidth caps in the first place, and the only thing he can say is that Bell and other companies came into his office and told him that their network was congested because of heavy users :| no proofs, no nothing, besides the fact that internet is increasingly popular...

Also, some politician sees this as a kind of tax towards consumers, because it's quite obvious people will bust those caps and end up paying extras. CTRC's answer : this is not a tax; customers can upgrade to a better plan..... nice answer doucher

Originally Posted by nivlac

wow...i feel your pain. i hope other countries dont get any ideas from this! to be fair, this is an extremely smart way to lower the population that torrents.

i am not arguing you here. i agree with you, i just have something to add.
this is true about lowering torrenting populations, but it will also lower the population that needs higher bandwidth.

think hd-video editing students, workers, etc that need to transfer insanely large files

implementing metered bandwidth, etc. doesnt just deter torrent users.

i have friends that work for companies that make them transfer incredibly large files (100+ gb, sometimes 1TB+)

while most of the time this is done through VPN and uses the employers ISP, sometimes they are forced to transfer large files over their home connection, which counts towards their bandwidth limit if they have one (comcast/xfinity imposes 250gb limit in US) some cable companies in US are down to about 50gb i believe (no sources here so apologies if this is misinformation)

basically, it can lower the torrent population, but it also may have an adverse effect on legal transfers of huge files necessary for students, employers, workers, etc..

again, not arguing.. just wanted to add that while it reduces torrenters, it reduces legitimate use of internet bandwidth.. feel me?