In Canada's hyper-concentrated and vertically integrated telcoms sector, data caps are a normal part of life; and where there are data-caps, there is cable company fuckery in the form of ""zero rating" — when your telcom sells you to online service providers, taking bribes not to count their service against your cap.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, which regulates the country's ISPs, has now banned the practice, in response to a 2015 complaint against the Quebecois ISP Videotron.
Some groups such as Open Media had hoped the CRTC would address the use of data caps head-on. If there were no restrictions on usage, they argued, then there would be no need to debate practices such as zero-rating in the first place.
"While the CRTC could have gone further," the group said in a statement, "today's ruling is still a very positive step in the right direction."
Your internet provider can't pick which apps and services count against your data cap, says CRTC
[Matthew Braga/CBC]
