Canadian ISP Rogers Communications last week admitted that it is throttling activity on Blizzard's "World of Warcraft" gaming platform due to a "problem" with its traffic management.
A fix for the problem, however, is not due until June. Until then, Rogers has suggested that users switch off all peer-to-peer connections while gaming on "World of Warcraft."
"Our tests have determined that there is a problem with our traffic management equipment that can interfere with World of Warcraft," Rogers wrote in a March 22 note to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). "We have been in contact with the game manufacturer and we have been working with our equipment supplier to overcome this problem."
The note was posted online by OpenMedia.ca, a non-profit, pro-open Internet group in Canada.
Rogers said it made a change to its software to fix the problem, but a recent change to the game "created new problems" and a second software modification is necessary. That, Rogers said, "will not be ready until June."
Rogers said that it has determined that the problem only occurs when consumers are using P2P file-sharing apps while running WoW. "Therefore we recommend turning off the peer-to-peer setting in the World of Warcraft game and ensuring that no peer-to-peer applications are running on any connected computer," Rogers said.
The admission from Rogers came after the CRTC wrote to the company in late February about complaints it had received from WoW users. CRTC noted that ISP activities "that result in a noticeable degradation of time sensitive audio or video traffic require prior Commission approval."
Canada has open Internet regulations that prohibit ISPs from blocking specific applications. An ISP could slow down all of its traffic during peak times, for example, but could not discriminate against specific services or apps like World of Warcraft.
U.S. net neutrality rules got started in a similar manner when Comcast was accused of blocking access to P2P sites like BitTorrent during peak hours. Comcast said it delayed traffic during peak times, but denied blocking.
In one complaint received by the CRTC, customer Teresa Murphy said she had experienced slow downs since at least November, and was not connected to a P2P network while gaming.
"I've been affected by this (along with MANY other Rogers users) because Rogers' filters are picking up several very low bandwidth-intensive games incorrectly as P2P activity," Murphy wrote. "I don't use P2P at ALL, and yet I'm still affected by this issue because Rogers sees my gaming traffic incorrectly as P2P."
OpenMedia.ca has teamed up with the SaveOurNet Coalition to push the CRTC to conduct regular audits of ISPs.
"The rules are as follows: ISPs cannot slow down (throttle), speed up, or block Internet traffic specific to any content or application. However, the onus to ensure ISPs' compliance with these rules has been placed solely on Canadian consumers," OpenMedia wrote in a blog post last week. "Rather than taking comfort in the fact that Canada has some of the world's strongest Internet openness rules, Internet users like the World of Warcraft gamers must constantly be on guard to protect their online activity from the threat of discriminatory practices."
Blizzard did not immediately respond to a request for comment.