Cdn traffic management hearings to start Monday

that could eliminate competitive differentiation or unduly restrict the ability to recover network investments can stifle those investments just when they are needed most, to the lasting detriment of Canada's economy and society."

This assertion upsets critics who say the operators aren't providing conclusive proof. At least one submission to the CRTC complains some operators are giving such details to the commission, but only privately, which restricts their ability to reply.

Those who want a freer Internet say operators should charge heavy users more. Many operators do that, but they maintain that alone won't solve the problem.

So some operators have turned to deep packet inspection products to identify peer-to-peer traffic and slow it down in various ways.

Peer-to-peer applications such as BitTorrent are known quantities, easy to target. However, some voice over Internet applications, such as Skype, also use P2P. Slowing down voice traffic has serious implications, especially if it involves a call to police for help.

Operators have various ways of dealing with this. Primus, for example, has a quality of service solution that prioritizes traffic. Very time-sensitive traffic, such as VoIP and gaming, is classified as expedited. E-mail, instant messaging and streaming media are classified as high priority. Traffic that is less time-sensitive, including peer to peer ("P2P") traffic, is classified as normal priority. Nothing is blocked.

That approach may persuade the CRTC to largely keep its hands off ISPs.

In an interview Friday, University of Ottawa Internet law professor Michael Giest believes the commission should deal with what he calls the easy issues -- ordering ISPs to divulge to customers what they do in traffic management, be more up front in their advertising of expected network speeds, assure subscribers of better privacy protection and give promises there will be no anti-competitve behaviour.

Other issues, he said, such as 'net neutrality, may have to go to legislators.