PR Rep Defending Bell Traffic Shaping Calls Journalists 'Lemmings' On Facebook

by Rob Walker | March 29, 2008 at 12:42 pm
2569 views | 42 Recommendations | 6 comments

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Bell PR Rep Defending Throttling to Media Calls Journalists 'Lemmings' On Facebook

Bell PR Rep Defending Throttling to Media Calls Journalists 'Lemmings' On Facebook

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uploaded by Rob Walker

While thousands of users are furious that Bell decided to throttle all encrypted bandwidth, including those of third party wholesalers, a Bell rep named Jason Laszlo has been speaking to media outlets, spouting off about how there is little backlash, and that it will in the end help users.

However, a forum user noticed his facebook profile was open, and his status was set to: "Jason Laszlo is realizing how little seperates (sp) most journalists from lemmings."

Yikes.

His profile is definitely that of a Bell employee in PR, right down to friends commenting on his appearance on CBC. His profile, which was open to the public at 1pm EST, was made private at around 3:30pm EST.

Spokesperson Jason Laszlo has stated that

"managing the network to create an optimal situation for the majority of users," , "We're blind to the content flowing through our pipes," he said. "Our goal is to ensure maximum efficiency for everyone." AND "there has been no backlash from customers, despite the incidents of the past week."

»www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2008/0···?ref=rss
»www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008···ity.html
»www.digitaljournal.com/article/2···Torrents

Here is a picture of his facebook page as of March 29, 2008 1:14PM EST . Note his status, flaunting the fact that he's a liar to the media:

Mandatory DSL line-sharing is a common practice in other developed countries, and was in the US as well until an FCC decision ruled that DSL was an "information service" and not subject to the rules. Line-sharing is what enables much of the competition in other countries and allows small ISPs like Wireless Nomad to thrive in Canada and offer innovative services. But line-sharing has its drawbacks; chief among them, of course, is that without control of the line,  an ISP is not ultimately in control of the service it is selling. Canadian DSL resellers learned that lesson the hard way this week as ISPs learned that Bell Canada now runs traffic-shaping hardware even on the lines it resells.

Readers at Broadband Reports noted the issue earlier this week as owners of small ISPs suddenly found that their customers were having traffic throttled, even though the ISPs were vehemently anti-throttling. The problem was compounded by the fact Bell Canada did not apparently tell the ISPs that it was about to make the change. The company has subsequently confirmed the throttling and says it should be fully in place by April 7.

What critics call traffic shaping, service providers call a good customer service policy. Both Bell and Rogers said users who download large files, such as movies and songs, consume a large-quantity of space and slow down service for the average user.
"Increased congestion is affecting the networks of Internet carriers across North America," said Bell spokesperson Jason Laszlo. "Like other carriers, we're seeking to better balance the Internet traffic during the peak usage period so that all of the customers using the network receive the optimum level or service that they deserve and rightly demand."
Oh he also talks to media a lot about how their billing practices are entirely legal.

A spokesman for Bell Canada declined to comment about its specific charges because of the class-action proceeding. "Bell is completely confident that all its billing practices are entirely legal," Jason Laszlo stressed.
In its 1998 decision, the Supreme Court accepted that the effective interest rate calculations should be determined as of the due date and not a month earlier when the invoice is issued.
recommend This comment thread is now closed
Jordan Yerman
Jordan Yerman
flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 12:44 on March 29th, 2008

Good thing those journalists don't use the Interne--- oh, wait.

Amy Judd
Amy Judd
flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 12:56 on March 29th, 2008

Rob Walker, I like this story. It's good stuff.

remarkk
remarkk
flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 13:21 on March 29th, 2008

Good story! We'll see what happens next in this little drama.

James Pate
James Pate
flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 13:54 on March 29th, 2008

Rob Walker, I like this story. It's good stuff. Revealing the inner workings of Bell and their attitude towards media. Brilliant.

Barry Artiste
Barry Artiste
flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 14:48 on March 29th, 2008

Rob Walker, I like this story. It's good stuff. Bell always with a Monopoly on it's mind can and will always find unique ways to get your money, without the benefit of a "Reach Around", much less a peck on the cheek. There is a reason their Motto is "Reach (Around) out and Touch Someone", whether you want them to or not.

mtippett
mtippett
flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 15:33 on March 29th, 2008

Rob Walker, this is an important story.  All Canadians should be watching this closely.

This story was created over 3 months ago, the comment thread is now closed.

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