[Mr. X]

Originally Posted by SaltyDawg

Again, that is illegal in the USA. That is exactly what the FCC smacked down Comcast for. They were slowing down bit torrent traffic, and the FCC made them stop.

Not only was it against Comcasts terms of service to use file sharing over bit torrent, but in a lot of cases (piracy, illegal porn, etc) it was also against the law. And the FCC still made Comcast stop that practice.

I understand what you are saying. I actually work or a lartge ISP and completely understand what you are talking about. I'm just telling you that ISP's are not allowed to do that in the USA. They may be in Canada, I don't know anything about the laws in Canada (or any other country). But here in the states what you are talking about is not legal. And the specific example you give (cable companies slowing down bit torrent traffic) has already been addressed by the FCC here in the states and the largest cable company in the nation was forced to stop the practice.

The FCC is further investigating net nuetrality right now and the rules could change in the future. There is also a net nuetrality bill before congress at the moment. The cable companies and telcos all have a bunch of lobbyists trying to push their agenda. But as of right now, under the temporary rules that we are operating under (as ruled by the FCC) it is not legal for an ISP to block (or slow) protocols.

Now, there are exceptions- such as an ISP can require you to use their SMTP server. But they can't block the SMTP protocol altogether and prevent you from using it (without giving you access to their own SMTP server).

ah well, it is what it is for you guys i guess but here telus employs network shaping like a mofo and its lame