Bell Canada Dropping P2P Internet Shaping Policy

Net neutrality. Throttling. Shaping. Data discrimination. Lots of weird terms, and plenty of headaches for Internet users. ISPs are looking to all sorts of methods in order to curb usage and abuse where possible, but Bell Canada is taking a rather unusual approach. But now, according to a letter to Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission, the ISP has decided to "withdraw the shaping of P2P traffic" on their networks starting March 1st. Here's the reasoning:

With the increasing popularity of streamed video and other traffic, P2P file-sharing, as a proportion of total traffic, has been diminishing. This is not to say that it no longer has an impact on network congestion. Nevertheless, and in light of the extensive investments the Companies have made in additional network capacity, and given economic ITMPs in the marketplace."


It's a brilliant step in the right direction so far as we're concerned, and we certainly hope other ISPs take notice. Will this single instance change the direction we're headed in? Doubtful, but it's great to get a little resistance every so often.