Bell Wireless slows customer internet speeds on purpose

The CRTC has ruled that Bell Canada Inc. is not breaking the law by purposefully slowing internet speeds and will be allowed to continue to do so.

Bell, Canada's largest internet service provider, has two million high-speed customers in addition to smaller companies that rent portions of Bell's network and resells them. “Based on the evidence before us, we found that the measures employed by Bell Canada to manage its network were not discriminatory," said CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein in a release. "Bell Canada applied the same traffic-shaping practices to wholesale customers as it did to its own retail customers.”

The regulator's investigation, which began in May, was limited to Bell's wholesale practice and did not consider whether internet throttling should be allowed in general.

As such, the CRTC also announced it was opening a new probe into the larger issue of throttling, which is also done by other large internet service providers such as Rogers Communications Inc. and Shaw Inc. Interested parties will have until Feb. 16 to submit their thoughts and a public hearing will be held on July 6 in Gatineau, Que.

"The broader issue of internet traffic management raises a number of questions that affect both end-users and service providers,” von Finckenstein said. “We have decided to hold a separate proceeding to consider both wholesale and retail issues. Its main purpose will be to address the extent to which internet service providers can manage the traffic on their networks in accordance with the Telecommunications Act.”

Bell and the others say they need to throttle customers who use peer-to-peer applications such as BitTorrent because they are causing congestion on their networks.

For the full story, go to CBC article

Do-Not-Call scam circulating through email

Cellphone providers are warning against a scam circulating via e-mail regarding the CRTC's recently implemented do-not-call telemarketing list.

The e-mail warns recipients that cellphone providers are releasing their customers' numbers to telemarketers, so they should expect calls that will inevitably waste their airtime. Recipients are urged to call one of two phone numbers purportedly attached to the national do-not-call list, which the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission launched on Sept. 30, in order to block such unwanted calls.

"All cellphone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies and you will start to receive sale calls," the e-mail says. "You will be charged for these calls."

The e-mail suggests the release of number databases has been confirmed by Telus Corp. and urges recipients to pass the message on to their friends.

Telus, however, issued an advisory on Tuesday evening warning that the e-mail was "fraudulent and dangerous" and urged customers not to respond to it or forward it.

Spokesman Shawn Hall said the company has no intention of releasing wireless numbers to telemarketers.

"We have no plans to do that ever," he said.

Telus is working on determining the source of the e-mail. Marc Choma, spokesman for the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association, said a similar scam was run a few years ago in the United States when the country rolled out its own do-not-call list.

One of the numbers in the e-mail is in fact the CRTC's do-not-call contact number, but the other has been linked to telemarketing scams going back a number of years, Hall said.

The do-not-call list allows Canadians to add their phone numbers — both landline and wireless — to a database that is circulated to telemarketers. A telemarketer that calls a number on the list is liable for a fine up to $15,000.

While the CRTC requires landline providers to list customers' numbers in the phone book, it is illegal for wireless companies to release cellphone numbers without their subscribers' express consent.

Telus has polled customers as to whether they would want their wireless numbers published in the phone book but found the majority believed their contact information to be private.

"It came back rather resoundingly that people did not want their cellphones listed in the phone book, and we respect that," Hall said.

Source: CBC

Book Launch: Real Utopia: Participatory Society for the 21st Century

Sunday, November 23
5:30 PM

Come celebrate, explore and debate the newly published book, "Real Utopia: Participatory Society for the 21st Century," with editor Chris Spannos and members of the Vancouver Participatory Economics Collective.

With many co-authors, including Noam Chomsky, Michael Albert and Barbara Ehrenreich, Real Utopia envisions life after capitalism and how we can get there.

Music by DJ Lalu.

Free!

For more information:
(604) 872-3166
Rhizome Cafe
317 East Broadway

Chrysler Dealership to Leave Mount Pleasant

A combination of Vancouver real estate prices and global economics will force a longtime Chrysler dealership on Main Street to close its doors for good next month.

About 50 employees of Vancouver Chrysler are looking for work after the 20-year-old dealership reluctantly announced it could not come to terms with Chrysler LLC over development of a new property in the downtown area.

Vancouver Chrysler has one year left on a five-year lease at its 1500-block Main Street venue, where a housing development is planned by the landlord, and was hoping to establish a new downtown site nearby.

Instead, it will close Dec. 6, leaving the city of Vancouver with one Chrysler dealership.

Source: The Vancouver Sun

Nice weather could pave way for two-way traffic on Main Street

If you’re ready to drive southbound on Main Street in downtown Vancouver, pray for sun this weekend.

City operations workers must paint new traffic and parking lines before the street can be opened to two-way traffic.

And that means no rain.

City officials announced Thursday they would try to get the job done Saturday. The work started three weeks ago with removal of some curbs and planters.

“Right now, Saturday looks pretty good,” said Bill Whitcomb, Vancouver deputy transportation manager. “We’re hoping the weather holds on and we will be able to do the work.”

If the work occurs as scheduled, Main Street will be closed to all traffic from Sixth Street to 15th Street, except for emergency vehicles. Intersections and east-west streets, as well as sidewalks, will remain open. Parking will not be allowed after 5 a.m. Saturday.

Whitcomb said he suspects operations crews would try to work around any cars that remain, instead of immediately calling for a tow truck.

At the end of painting, one-way signs will be taken down. New signs will alert drivers and pedestrians to changes.

The project also includes installing new traffic signals. Recent hurricanes on the Gulf Coast have delayed equipment delivery, but the signal work will be completed when it arrives.

The project has been long sought by area businesses and residents. Some have noted that Main Street currently leads one way: out of town.

Broadway, one block east, was converted to two-way traffic more than a year ago. Both streets had been one-way for decades.

Source: The Columbian

Mount Pleasant Community Planning Workshop

The Community Plan will address four residential sub-areas ( see Map ). North Mount Pleasant and Central Mount Pleasant are apartment zones; and South Mount Pleasant and West Mount Pleasant are duplex/infill zones. Residential Areas Workshops will be conducted in the fall of 2008 to discuss topics like character and heritage, greening opportunities, park and school ground designs, walking and biking routes, local traffic issues, safety and cleanliness, and housing issues including problem premises, affordability, and design.

Workshops are organized and hosted by City staff. They occur on weekends, and refreshments are provided. At each workshop participants will receive background information in an interesting way and then they work together in small groups to develop ideas and options.

If you are interested in attending a Residential Area Workshop, please download and fill out the RAW form (PDF, 45KB) or fill out the RAW form online.

Residential Areas Workshop
Sunday, November 16, 2008
12 noon - 5 pm
Native Education College
285 East 5th Avenue

For more information, call Rachel Harrison at 604.871.6608.

Call for proposals to save Mt Pleasant heritage homes

BC Hydro has purchased land on West 6th and Alberta to construct a new substation that will provide extra power for the growing Mount Pleasant and False Creek areas as well as act as a backup for Downtown.

The two Heritage homes at 304 and 316 West 6th are on the assembled land and were purchased last year. They are designated as Heritage C and can be demolished, however BC Hydro would prefer not to do that. Instead, Hydro is asking for proposals for anyone interested in buying the homes and moving them.

Interested parties can view and inspect the homes from 10 AM to Noon on November 12 and the deadline for offers is by Noon on Friday, November 28th.

Vancouver Sun