Archive: 14 posts

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For our younger members who may not fully understand what this topic is about, I'd suggest showing this thread to your Mom or Dad so that they are aware of the issue I am talking about here. It really is an important one, and could possibly affect whether you use the internet or not anymore. If you like using the internet and think the internet is an important tool, then you should show an adult this thread and point out the links at the bottom for them. So the CRTC has just passed a law that will allow internet providers to put a meter on the internet and start charging us by the byte! FTW!? This underhanded move should not go un-noticed nor be taken lightly. Trust me folks... this is very bad news for all of us! Some of you may be wondering how this affects you? Well, do you watch youtube video's? How about NETFLIX? Do you Skype in order to save money on long distance or even local calling? Do you surf the internet? This will directly affect those services, for which you ALREADY pay for! This is essentially a move to try and move consumers away from streaming video and back to the providers cable services (which are obviously suffering because their content is mostly chaff anyways). You may be saying right now, "Well Rustbukkit... I don't use any of those services, so this doesn't affect me and I could really care less about what other people get charged." BZZZT!! Wrong! Do you have kids who use the internet? Everything they do online will now cost YOU more. Even if you don't have kids using the internet, this will affect you whether you watch free-streaming online content or not. This will affect the way we use the internet period, and who will be able to use it. This will affect social media, art, and who knows what other yet untapped resources, information, or entertainment the internet may provides us. For many of you out there... your bills are about to DOUBLE! If it's serious enough for CBC to do a story on... it should be serious enough for you to take a few minutes out of your life to get informed, and sign the petition to stop this corporate bullying of it's customers. FIrst they reduced our bandwidth... and now this! Makes me sick! HERE'S A VIDEO OF THE CBC STORY WHICH EXPLAINS USAGE BASED BILLING http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8-ONolT4BY CLICK HERE FOR A DIRECT LINK IF YOU CAN'T SEE THE VIDEO (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8-ONolT4BY) HERE'S A VIDEO FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO DON'T THINK THIS WILL AFFECT YOU AT ALL, OR THINK YOU COULD CARE LESS AT THIS POINT IN TIME. (It's a bit drole, but worth the information contained in it) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ve4bQO3S9X8 CLICK HERE FOR A DIRECT LINK IF YOU CAN'T SEE THE VIDEO (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ve4bQO3S9X8) HERE'S A LINK TO STOPTHEMETER TO SIGN THE PETITION TO STOP THIS NEW CHARGE www.StopTheMeter.ca Please folks, stand up for yourselves... and the rest of Canadian Consumers! We need to shut this down before it gets out of control!!

2011-01-10 21:40:00 Author: Rustbukkit Posts: 1737

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I hate to sound tactless but is this just in Canada? Still, the whole thing's totally out of order but inevitable. If someone can charge us more for something without losing our custom, they will.

2011-01-10 21:47:00 Author: resistance1 Posts: 812

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D:< As if these companies aren't robbing us of enough money already? now they gotta toss in some extra costs for internet? What will happen to the long nights staying up to watch youtube videos?

2011-01-10 22:03:00 Author: Merc Posts: 2135

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I hate to sound tactless but is this just in Canada? Still, the whole thing's totally out of order but inevitable. If someone can charge us more for something without losing our custom, they will. Not tactless at all. I'm not sure if this is happening elsewhere? It's a good bet that if it's happening here... you're next. Ideas like this catch on like wild fire where corporations are concerned. It's been happening for a while with certain internet providers in Eastern Canada, but it seems like other's are now catching wind and adopting this idea. It's sad, because people don't take these issues seriously and don't understand the effects it will have down the road. Society today has become too complacent and people don't think they can do anything to fight back. With that attitude.. they can't. Even my room mate doesn't get it! I tried explaining it to him when he got home from work and that he should sign the petition. He just laughed about it and sluffed it off stating "I don't download movies". Sheesh! Even after explaining that it affects more than that, he just walked away without a clue or a care. Blows my mind, because I live here in the same house... and we both KNOW our other room mate downloads... yet he still doesn't seem to care or get it. People are too lazy and complacent these days. It's no wonder our society is falling apart around us with all the lazy attitudes of so many people today.

2011-01-10 22:07:00 Author: Rustbukkit Posts: 1737

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Not tactless at all. I'm not sure if this is happening elsewhere? It's a good bet that if it's happening here... you're next. Ideas like this catch on like wild fire where corporations are concerned. It's been happening for a while with certain internet providers in Eastern Canada, but it seems like other's are now catching wind and adopting this idea. It's sad, because people don't take these issues seriously and don't understand the effects it will have down the road. Society today has become too complacent and people don't think they can do anything to fight back. With that attitude.. they can't. Even my room mate doesn't get it! I tried explaining it to him when he got home from work and that he should sign the petition. He just laughed about it and sluffed it off stating "I don't download movies". Sheesh! Even after explaining that it affects more than that, he just walked away without a clue or a care. Blows my mind, because I live here in the same house... and we both KNOW our other room mate downloads... yet he still doesn't seem to care or get it. People are too lazy and complacent these days. It's no wonder our society is falling apart around us with all the lazy attitudes of much of our youth today. Yeah, I believe Google and another company are planning on 'improving' the net and lining their own pockets as an obviously unintended side effect. As I said, it's inevitable that governments/corporations are going to try this, it's up to the people it affects to take a stand. And as for saying that no one cares, what about the tuition fees 'protests?' Admittedly most of the rioters were anarchists that'll take any excuse to start a fight - and some acts were inexcusable, bar the attack on the royal family; i found that hilarious - but it does show we don't completely sit down and let people do whatever they want to us.

2011-01-10 22:17:00 Author: resistance1 Posts: 812

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You make a good point Resistance1, but more of us need to start standing up for ourselves and each other imho. It seems to be that too many people are afraid of "the man"... whether it's corporate, governmental, or what have you. I think my favourite line is in V For Vendetta when he says something to the effect of "A government should be afraid of it's people, not the other way around".

2011-01-10 22:38:00 Author: Rustbukkit Posts: 1737

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They are afraid of the people, that's why they take money from schools and taxes to increase police and military while creating a plethora of unnecessary laws.

2011-01-10 22:45:00 Author: Bremnen Posts: 1800

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They are afraid of the people, that's why they take money from schools and taxes to increase police and military while creating a plethora of unnecessary laws. Good point... touch?!

2011-01-11 01:30:00 Author: Rustbukkit Posts: 1737

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And, as always, the solution is to give the government total control over the internet. No one's going to start doing this, for the same reason no one's done it already: if one company starts the practice, people will get mad and take their business to another provider. By getting all worked into a lather over these things, you're running right into the arms of those who would have government printing out your internet history, and selling it to the highest bidder. Sorry, but it's not as simple as "ONOES EVIL CORPORATSHUNS!!!!1!"

2011-01-11 01:48:00 Author: Voltergeist Posts: 1702

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THAT'S BULL**** WHY SHOULD YOU PAY BY THE BYTE i may live in America and am unaffected by this but this really ****** me off who ever thought of this law must be retarded i mean it i bet he/she has an angry mob my his/her house.

2011-01-11 02:36:00 Author: Lgjoka2002 Posts: 538

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Oh Canada! What happened to the days of the Guess Who and Rush and just generally being awesome? Why have you decayed to Justin Bieber and taxing my Internets? OK, but seriously, I can really see where the concern is in this... I mean, this would be like paying for an unlimited data plan on a cell phone and then having to pay for minutes on top of that. It's times like this where I can see why people hate Capitalism; in the end, it's human nature ruining everything for everyone. Remember for future generations, folks; enjoy the new frontiers. Sooner or later, people are going to figure out how to make money off of it, and they will mow you down if they have to.

2011-01-11 03:21:00 Author: Astrosimi Posts: 2046

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And, as always, the solution is to give the government total control over the internet. No one's going to start doing this, for the same reason no one's done it already: if one company starts the practice, people will get mad and take their business to another provider. By getting all worked into a lather over these things, you're running right into the arms of those who would have government printing out your internet history, and selling it to the highest bidder. Sorry, but it's not as simple as "ONOES EVIL CORPORATSHUNS!!!!1!" Who said anything about giving "total control" to the government? Fact is, the CRTC reports directly to our government. Look up CRTC and you'll find that their website contains gc.ca in it... which indicates that it's directly (or indirectly as they would prefer we believe) connected on some level to the government. Sure they are an "independantly run entity", but that doesn't mean that backdoor deals aren't taking place all the time between the two. Politicians are getting their palms greased all the time, and to think otherwise would be foolish. The fact is, that our Government and the CRTC are allowing the few mega corporations to call the shots right now, in an attempt to protect their own interests and gain back the control they are losing to smaller ISP's. It's a form of bullying and control, and we need to let our Government know it's unacceptable behavior. They are losing money on Cable and Radio as well, and this is an attempt to re-gain control of what we have access to and who we pay for it. Bell and Rogers are two of the largest, and most hated ISP's in Canada. There isn't a week that goes by that I don't hear a friend or stranger complaining about how one of the two companies just screwed them over on their bill. People are moving away from them and going with smaller companies who are more fair, specifically because of these large corporation's bullying tactics. This is only an effort on their part to remain being a bully and dominating the market here in Canada. It's like the kid in school who picks a fight and then complains to the principal because they got their butt whooped. To your point that no one will do this because customers will run to other companies... perhaps you aren't aware of the penalties for defaulting on a contract. These providers already charge HUGE fee's to break a contract early (though it's usually still cheaper to pay the fee and go with a new company in the long run... you end up saving more anyways, but it looks scary if you don't do the hard math to realize it's not). If you do break your contract and refuse to pay the fee, it goes directly to a Collection Agency and affects your Credit Rating. That's bad... so the average consumer isn't willing to tell their provider to "get bent" and will either limit their use or pay the extra costs. More importantly than all of this though, I think perhaps you fail to see the importance this has on the effects of Net Neutrality, and the future of the internet in general. Just because they aren't doing it yet, doesn't mean they won't. To think otherwise is dangerous and foolish on anyone's part. Does it make any good sense to ask for something you won't use? That would be like asking for scuba gear with no intent of ever going in the water. It just doesn't make any sense. They wouldn't have asked for this if they didn't intend on using it. Giving them the option and the right to do it is just a really bad choice. Don't think they won't take advantage of it... they will. Maybe not this month or this year even.... but eventually it WILL happen. As I've stated, they've already put caps and filters on our internet usage... this is just another step in the wrong direction. With all the money these mega-corporations are making off of the internet, they should be investing money to expand it... not limiting it's use to only those who afford it (which is precisely where this is heading). It's discriminatory... period. The internet is far too valuable a tool to be putting these kinds of limits on it. This has the potential to affect students, low income families and individuals struggling in this time of economic crisis, learning, the arts, research, and on and on and on. This may all sound silly right now, but it's all a very real possibility if these companies all get on board and exercise their "right" to do this. Not about EVIL CORPORATIONS huh? Okay. Here's an interesting story for you about one such company, in fact this company is one of our two biggest internet providers here in Canada. My cousin has had an internet contract with the same company for many years now. He's one of those guys who got on the internet bandwagon very early in it's inception, and knows more than most people about how it works and what's going on behind our backs with it. His box had no limiters or caps... he could download as much content as he liked... regardless of what limits his provider tried to force on him. A few years ago, he started receiving weekly calls from his provider asking that he return it and they would give him a new one. He politely explained that the original one he had been given by them worked perfectly fine and that he wasn't interested in their new box (with limitations). These calls continued week after week even though he had informed them that he wasn't interested in trading in his old one for a new one, and that he asked them to stop calling him to return the equipment which they had given him to use and that worked perfectly fine (that's harrassment on their part by the way). Not long ago, his provider simply suspended his account. He called to ask why? His bills were all paid up to date and he had done nothing wrong... so why had his account been susended? Because they wanted their precious magic box back. Why? Because he was one of the few remaining people that had one. Because they couldn't control how much internet usage he was getting for his monthly payments. They had no way to limit this customer. It's really that simple. He was smart enough to know what they were doing to other consumers all along, and knew that he had every right to refuse giving up the piece of equipment that he was given as part of his contract with his provider and not be bullied into paying higher fee's for less usage. He even directly confronted the person in the tech department on the other end as to this being the reason they wanted the equipment back. The employee's answer?.... "I can't officially tell you that that's the reason Sir... but I won't deny it either". Even the employee knew what was going on. Not once did the provider ever give a valid reason for wanting their box back, nor did they give a valid reason for suspending service to a "valued customer" without notice or a reasonable explanation. So yes, this really is a case of "ONOES EVIL CORPORATSHUNS!!!!1!". Look, I'm just saying that we all need to be informed about this issue and it's potential impact on our usage... as well as the issue of infringing on Net Neutrality. I mean... knowledge is power right? If we give them permission it will be our own fault. By not giving them permission we send a clear message that the internet has far more value than just a few more billion dollars in the pockets of a very few people. Folks... just go sign the petition already, even if you don't fully understand the gravity of the situation. You can get more informed next week, but right now we need to do everything we can to reverse this. It may not accomplish anything at all... but if we don't try then we will never know at all. Search for Usage Based BIlling on youtube or google to find out more about how this opens the door to a tiered access system, puts independant ISP's at risk, and keeps the few major corporations in control of what we view and how we view it (cable TV, radio) Watch the second video I posted - especially at around the 1:30 mark. Cheers!

2011-01-11 06:08:00 Author: Rustbukkit Posts: 1737

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This isn't new, at all. Australia has already done this for I believe 2 years already. My family from Austrialia came about a month ago and were amazed that we had unlimited "data" on Youtube.

2011-01-12 01:20:00 Author: Whalio Cappuccino Posts: 5250

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yea! more proof that government is evil and corrupt.

2011-01-13 23:14:00 Author: unXpectiD Posts: 1132

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