CRTC requests Rogers to devise plan to protect gamers from throttling

The CRTC has asked Rogers Communications Inc. to devise a plan to ensure online gamers are not inadvertently targeted by the company’s Internet traffic shaping practices. In a letter to the Internet provider dated Sept. 16, the CRTC noted that, by Rogers own admission, errors in classifying video games as non-time sensitive applications can lead to users experiencing slowed connectivity if other peer-to-peer applications are running at the same time and collective data usage exceeds 80 Kbps. Even if it is the result of an error, the throttling of time-sensitive Internet traffic is not permissible without CRTC approval under the Telecommunications Act, noted the CRTC letter, signed by John Traversy, the commission’s executive director of telecommunications, and addressed to Ken Thompson, Rogers’ director and counsel of copyright and broadband law. The issue stems from a mid-August complaint filed by the Canadian Gamers Organization over traffic shaping practices affecting Rogers customers playing the popular Call of Duty: Black Ops video game on the Sony Playstation network. In the letter, the commission asked Rogers to develop a detailed plan to ensure gaming-related traffic cannot be misclassified in this way and to file that plan with the commission by Sept. 27. That plan should include specific steps the company will take to address the issue and timelines for when they will be taken, the commission said. The CRTC also asked Rogers to “provide a detailed report to the Commission once the problem is resolved, demonstrating that the problem has been fixed.” The commission added that Rogers should include an overview of the solution, an explanation of how the solution solves the underlying problem, descriptions of each of the steps taken, and “a description of the changes made to Rogers’ disclosures in order to accurately reflect resolution of this problem.” In a Sept. 2 letter to the CRTC, Rogers had noted that the company’s throttling practices kick in at 80 Kbps and that most video games operate well below that level unless used in conjunction with other peer-to-peer applications. These games “would only be impacted by our if they were misclassified and other applications were running at the same time,” Rogers wrote. Rogers also noted that its traffic management manufacturer, Cisco Systems Inc., performs tests on 800 of the most popular Internet applications and protocols to help make sure traffic is not improperly classified. Rogers’ spokeswoman Carly Suppa told The Wire Report in an email Friday that the company was not aware of any problems with online games. “We have a process in place to ensure our internet traffic management works as it should,” Suppa wrote. “We actively monitor for issues our customers are experiencing playing online games. If we become aware of a problem with a specific game, we investigate, test and correct the issue.” nkyonka@thewirereport.ca

CRTC requests Rogers to devise plan to protect gamers from throttling

News | September 16, 2011

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