Throttled

The bastards at Bell Canada, in an affront to the principles of Net Neutrality, have destroyed my once-glorious high-speed Internet connection. It is now a mere trickle that leaks though my phone line like a few drips of water through a rusty faucet. What used to take 40 minutes to download, now takes 10 to 20 days. Why am I paying for a so-called high-speed connection with results like this? I want to strangle those stupid Bell Beavers we have been subjected to over the years.

What this country needs is a bill like US S.215: A bill to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to ensure net neutrality. Without such a law, ISPs are free to hamper your access to sites and services that they deem are inappropriate. Right now, it's like having Big Brother as an ISP.

This is at least the third strike against Bell Canada. I have already decided to change cell phone providers for many reasons, not least of which is the unspeakably horrible customer service. I have to laugh when the CSRs at Bell answer the phone with "how can I provide excellent customer service today." I think this must be a sick joke.

In case you are wondering what Net Neutrality is, Google sums it up nicely:

Network neutrality is the principle that Internet users should be in control of what content they view and what applications they use on the Internet. The Internet has operated according to this neutrality principle since its earliest days... Fundamentally, net neutrality is about equal access to the Internet. In our view, the broadband carriers should not be permitted to use their market power to discriminate against competing applications or content. Just as telephone companies are not permitted to tell consumers who they can call or what they can say, broadband carriers should not be allowed to use their market power to control activity online.

So, I'll likely be downgrading my service to basic DSL, since the high speed is really not high speed at all. And, I will begin to investigate alternatives, but I am under the impression that Rogers is interfering with web access as well.

I am off to speak to a group of 155 students...