Sign up with GoogleDarth Garth
Executive Member
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Last year, Calgary-based Shaw Cable became one of the first cable companies in North America to offer what it calls "quality of service enhancements" on its high-speed network.
Essentially, it charges people $10 more each month if they want to make sure a third-party Internet telephone service, from a service provider such as Vonage or Primus, works properly over Shaw's high-speed service.
"Without this service customers may encounter quality of service issues with their voice over Internet service," the company states on its website.
As one industry source told me, "It's a sneaky way of saying if you don't get this your service will suck."
Suddenly, high-speed customers with "regular" service find themselves as second-class cybercitizens.
To accomplish this, Shaw uses technology from Merrimack, N.H.-based Ellacoya Networks Inc., among a handful of companies — including Cisco-owned P-Cube Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif., and Waterloo-based Sandvine Inc. — that have perfected the art of what's known as "deep packet inspection."
Basically, the technology can analyze all traffic on a high-speed network, identify what it is, and then "mark" it — that is, assign it a level of priority chosen by the network operator.
It means Shaw knows which subscriber on its network is using a Primus VoIP service, or Kazaa for downloading music, or Bit Torrent for downloading movies. In fact, it inspects even deeper.
Not only does the technology know you're using Kazaa, for example, but it knows the specific songs you have chosen to download, which itself has privacy implications depending on how a network operator uses it.
It's quite creepy, actually. The ultimate effect is packet discrimination.
http://www.digitalhomecanada.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29332
Essentially, it charges people $10 more each month if they want to make sure a third-party Internet telephone service, from a service provider such as Vonage or Primus, works properly over Shaw's high-speed service.
"Without this service customers may encounter quality of service issues with their voice over Internet service," the company states on its website.
As one industry source told me, "It's a sneaky way of saying if you don't get this your service will suck."
Suddenly, high-speed customers with "regular" service find themselves as second-class cybercitizens.
To accomplish this, Shaw uses technology from Merrimack, N.H.-based Ellacoya Networks Inc., among a handful of companies — including Cisco-owned P-Cube Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif., and Waterloo-based Sandvine Inc. — that have perfected the art of what's known as "deep packet inspection."
Basically, the technology can analyze all traffic on a high-speed network, identify what it is, and then "mark" it — that is, assign it a level of priority chosen by the network operator.
It means Shaw knows which subscriber on its network is using a Primus VoIP service, or Kazaa for downloading music, or Bit Torrent for downloading movies. In fact, it inspects even deeper.
Not only does the technology know you're using Kazaa, for example, but it knows the specific songs you have chosen to download, which itself has privacy implications depending on how a network operator uses it.
It's quite creepy, actually. The ultimate effect is packet discrimination.
http://www.digitalhomecanada.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29332