Earlier this year, I launched an access-to-information request with the CRTC requesting all records related to net neutrality complaints filed under the Commission's 2009 Internet traffic management practices decision. The result was a post titled Canada's Net Neutrality Enforcement Failure, which listed dozens of complaints and a discouraging lack of CRTC investigation into them. The post concluded:

After more than 30 investigations in nearly two years, it is clear improvements are needed. At a minimum, the CRTC should be publishing all public complaints and resolutions so that the issues obtain a public airing. Moreover, the system needs penalties for violations as well as pro-active audits to ensure Internet providers are compliant with their obligations. Without change, the CRTC’s net neutrality rules offer little protection for Canadian Internet users.

Yesterday the CRTC took a first step in this direction by releasing new guidelines for responding to complaints and enforcing the rules. The best aspect of the ruling is a commitment to publish quarterly reports featuring a summary of the number and types of complaints it has received, including the number of active and resolved complaints. Moreover, any findings of non-compliance will be published on the Commission’s website and will include the ISP’s name and the nature of the complaint. The move toward greater transparency is welcome and an important step in pressuring ISPs to comply with the guidelines. The new guidelines also establish a strict timeline for responses by complainants and ISPs, which should help avoid Xplorenet-type situations that dragged on for months before the ISP addressed complaints over its traffic management practices.

CRTC concerns with Rogers and its response to net neutrality complaints escalated this week when the Commission sent a letter to the company advising that it has received a growing number of complaints and that its public disclosures have not been compliant with CRTC Internet traffic management policy requirements.  The case began last fall when the CRTC received a complaint over changes to Rogers' practices that affected downstream P2P traffic.

Rogers ultimately admitted the practice and promised to update its disclosure policies.  Despite those promises, the CRTC found that the disclosures still only focus on the impact of its practices on uploading.  The Commission told Rogers yesterday that:

Staff consider that in order to comply with TRP 2009-657, the discussion in the page titled Legal Disclaimer and the detailed discussion available on the network management policy web page should indicate that there are circumstances whereby the Rogers ITMP will also affect download speeds available to subscribers. Further, the detailed discussion on the network management policy page should clearly indicate which download applications might be affected in these circumstances and to what degree (i.e., the impact on download speeds should be indicated).

The letter added that it has received additional complaints about the practices and wants a response from Rogers by February 14, 2011 on "whether and how Rogers intends to modify its ITMP disclosures in compliance with TRP 2009-657."

Rogers has been hit with a complaint about its throttling practices but has been very slow amend its public disclosure documents as required by the CRTC.  Complaints began appearing online earlier this fall, with users noting that Rogers was degrading P2P uploads and downloads.  Torrent Freak details what happened next - a complaint to the CRTC, an attempt to downplay the issue, and finally an acknowledgement that the traffic management requires a change in publicly disclosed policy.