37th Chamber posted:

Depending how aggressive they are with this "war" on region shifting, organized services like this could die off pretty fast. It's not hard for Netflix to just buy a couple subscriptions and start blocking the IP ranges they land on. Some services even go as far as blocking dedicated servers/VPS services claiming they're all proxies.

And for the record, they can detect DNS services as well as VPNs, I contacted their support once and they mentioned seeing me bounce around the world, so both services will probably be hit.

vvv Oh, durr, yeah that makes sense.

Kachunkachunk posted:

Taking some guesses here.

I'm under the impression that Netflix is not in it to be an enforcer - there's no sense in losing subscribers or otherwise loving up the momentum they have gained in furthering the cord-cutting revolution (also against piracy). So they will do the minimum effort to satisfy content owners in that they're trying to enforce regional restrictions.
On the other hand, it's also possible Netflix has only cherry-picked cheaper distribution/royalty/licensing with regional restrictions, when more expensive options are available for additional regions. And using these cheaper options would be in violation.

Who knows. But I do think it will be a cat-and-mouse game, sure. Locking down to billing info would be more of an indicator that they aren't messing around... but it's promising to see they have great interest in not making regional differences something to be concerned with anymore.

TrueChaos posted:

Looks like I've lost access to US netflix, both through unblock-us and hola. I'm going to try a few other work arounds and give it till the end of the month, but if there's no easy way around it by then I'll just cancel my subscription and go back to torrenting. I pay for netflix because it's convenient and easy access to the content I'd like to watch, if they take that away why bother? Frustrating because I'm in the middle of about 5 TV shows that aren't available on Canadian netflix.

Kachunkachunk posted:

Taking some guesses here.

I'm under the impression that Netflix is not in it to be an enforcer - there's no sense in losing subscribers or otherwise loving up the momentum they have gained in furthering the cord-cutting revolution (also against piracy). So they will do the minimum effort to satisfy content owners in that they're trying to enforce regional restrictions.
On the other hand, it's also possible Netflix has only cherry-picked cheaper distribution/royalty/licensing with regional restrictions, when more expensive options are available for additional regions. And using these cheaper options would be in violation.

Who knows. But I do think it will be a cat-and-mouse game, sure. Locking down to billing info would be more of an indicator that they aren't messing around... but it's promising to see they have great interest in not making regional differences something to be concerned with anymore.

37th Chamber posted:

Are you getting an error, or is it just showing the Canadian library? If it's the latter, it might just be a configuration error.

Because it seems if you're hit by the new witch hunt, they make sure to tell you:

37th Chamber posted:

I'm personally still up and running fine with adfreetime, but I'm sure it's time will come.

That's just a picture that's been making its rounds since the announcement was made, inclined to believe it since the URL works.

Aphrodite posted:

Yeah but it might not be recent. Netflix has been swatting proxies for years.

37th Chamber posted:

Are you getting an error, or is it just showing the Canadian library? If it's the latter, it might just be a configuration error.

Because it seems if you're hit by the new witch hunt, they make sure to tell you:

zergstain posted:

If they did lock it to your billing country, would they do if you were travelling and logged into Netflix? I think it was mentioned earlier in this thread that they would have to show you the content for the region you are presently in. And if you are using one of those services, unless you connect from an IP block known to belong to one of them, they wouldn't be able to tell that you're not actually in that country.

slidebite posted:

Was just on Netflix and even though my adfreetime says IP and everything is OK and I could see the catalog (no errors) pretty sure it was the Canadian catalog. Typically a slew of Food Network shows we watched in the past come right up in history but none were there.

LunarCress posted:

So at the end of the month I'll be moving to London, ON. Does anyone have recommendations for ISPs in that area?

LunarCress posted:

So at the end of the month I'll be moving to London, ON. Does anyone have recommendations for ISPs in that area?

The Gunslinger posted:

https://www.start.ca/

Pretty much the best reseller nowadays and they're in London to boot. If you drop a friends email (or mine darktower@gmail.com) when you sign up they get a referral bonus too. That's not why they're good though - very stable, great speeds, great CS, reasonable packages with unlimited options and etc.

mediaphage posted:

lol, i'm sorry

Mister Macys posted:

8ender posted:

Start.ca is the only worthwhile thing about London and area. Welcome to hell

quote:

Wireless rates rise with hikes in internet, home phone ahead

Telcos blame low dollar and high cost of building networks for price increases
Bell, Rogers and Telus customers should get set for rate hikes.

The three largest telecommunications companies have raised or plan to raise the prices of their wireless packages in January, and are warning of increases to home phone and internet prices in February.

Telus will be tacking on $5 to its Smartphone and Premium Smartphone tiers beginning Thursday.

The change affects new customers buying phones — including Apple and Android devices — through Telus.

Rogers increased the cost of its Share Everything plans with 5GB, 9GB or 15GB of data by $5 a month on Jan. 12.

Bell also announced price increases effective Jan. 12, an additional $5 for both Lite and Plus Share plans, with increases of $3 to $8 for Mobile TV.

Together, Rogers, Telus and Bell control 89 per cent of the wireless telecom market in Canada.

Blame the low dollar
Telus told CBC News the low Canadian dollar is pushing up the price of new equipment to build out its networks.

"The modest wireless rate plan increase reflects increasing costs for network components resulting from a weaker Canadian dollar, as well as the annual multibillion-dollar investments required to keep up with the growing demand for wireless data. The change applies only to new contracts and renewals, so existing customers won't notice a change to their monthly bills," said a Telus spokeswoman.

Bell said it spends $3 billion annually to expand its broadband networks, but that most equipment comes from suppliers who charge U.S. dollars.

"The massive and ongoing investment required to build world class infrastructure is coming at a significantly higher cost due to the weak dollar," a company spokesman said in an email.

All three telcos also plan to weaken the attraction for bring-your-own-device plans by raising the price of base service.

According to MobileSyrup's Daniel Bader, the telcos are finding average revenue per user is dropping as people adopt more all-inclusive plans, including long distance and unlimited roaming, prompting price increases for some options.

Cost of internet, TV to rise
At the same time, the cost of residential service is rising.

Both Bell and Telus have announced price increases effective Feb. 1 on home phone, and internet and TV packages.

"Price adjustments support our continued investments in network, product and service enhancements," Bell said in a statement.

Rogers has already raised internet prices and plans to boost the cost of TV packages later in February.

In March, cable and satellite companies must introduce a $25 "basic" package and offer consumers either a choice of individual channels or small bundles of channels.

Evis posted:

I think this is a pretty clear example of when capitalism is broken and the government needs to step in to prevent most of its citizens from being fleeced.

LunarCress posted:

You'd think that one of them would try raising their prices by slightly less, then positioning themselves as the "nice one" for doing so, but no. Here in Canada the system is so absolutely hosed they don't even have to throw us that small bone.

bigmandan posted:

So I've been hearing some rumors that Primus has entered (or will be entering) creditor protection for 30 days and there is a buyout planed. Potentially Comwave.

Skandranon posted:

If they were actually competing against each other, yes, you would think that. If they were acting on a concerted fashion to maintain an oligopoly, then no, you would expect them to do exactly as they are.

less than three posted:

Speaking of IPv6 chat, TELUS rolled it out to everybody over the past few months.

Problem is though (not the fault of TELUS) that there are various sites which aren't properly handling IPv6, but don't gracefully fallback to IPv4.

I had to turn off IPv6 to properly use Facebook Messenger or upload videos to YouTube.

We'll all be dead before we successfully switch to IPv6.

Methanar posted:

bigmandan posted:

So I've been hearing some rumors that Primus has entered (or will be entering) creditor protection for 30 days and there is a buyout planed. Potentially Comwave.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/primus-in-court-creditor-protection-as-it-seeks-to-revamp-mission/article28297128/ posted:

Facing steep debt obligations and steadily declining revenue, telecom reseller Primus Telecommunications Canada Inc. has won court protection from its creditors and is seeking approval of a plan to sell its business to U.S. telecom provider Birch Communications Inc.

A judge of the Ontario Superior Court in Toronto granted Primus protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) on Tuesday and the company, which also operates in the United States, has filed a petition to have the Canadian court proceeding recognized in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.

With more than 200,000 residential customers and 23,000 small and medium-sized business clients, Toronto-based Primus is one of the largest alternative telecom operators in Canada (it also has about 27,000 residential customers in the United States and Puerto Rico).

Primus resells telecom services, such as voice calling and Internet, that it buys on a wholesale basis from major incumbents, including BCE Inc., Allstream Inc. and Telus Corp. Although Canada’s Internet and telephone market is dominated by the incumbents, there are hundreds of alternative players that buy access to those networks as a result of a regulatory regime established in the 1990s.

According to court filings, Primus’s sales over the past four years have slumped as customers have cancelled legacy products, such as home phone and long-distance calling, and Primus has been unable to make up the difference with higher-speed Internet services that it could earn a higher profit margin on.

News of Primus’s financial difficulties comes at a crucial point for telecom resellers, which are engaged in a public relations war with Montreal-based BCE over a regulatory ruling from last year that would allow the alternative players to access BCE’s highest-speed fibre-to-home Internet services. BCE is appealing that ruling to the federal cabinet and says it will have to curtail investment in some rural communities if the decision stands.

“Primus, historically, had a strong revenue base of long-distance and traditional local line revenue. It’s no surprise to anybody that there is structural change going on in the industry. … Everyone’s using mobile,” Primus chief executive officer Michael Nowlan said in an interview. “The marketplace – and I do believe the marketplace as a whole – will have great interest in getting competitive access to fibre [Internet] services.”

Mr. Nowlan said Primus could not succeed in the market with its current capital structure and decided to seek a buyer. It signed an agreement with Atlanta-based Birch Communications on Monday and the transaction has the approval of Primus’s board. It will be seeking the court’s approval of the arrangement over the next three to four weeks.

Court documents indicate the "base purchase price" is $44-million, subject to a number of not-yet disclosed adjustments. Primus's first-ranking creditors are expected to "suffer a shortfall in recovering on their debt," according to the filings.

“It’s exciting, I believe, for the competitive landscape in Canada,” Mr. Nowlan said. “Birch is a great, experienced partner, and they’ll be bringing a degree of dynamism to our marketplace.”

He said the agreement and the CCAA process will allow the company to continue serving clients and keep its employees – 502 in Canada and 28 in the U.S. – at work while the sale is finalized. “The [court procedures] are just, quite frankly, steps necessary to effect the transaction.”

The deal will require regulatory approvals, but Primus has already been under foreign ownership for more than two years. U.S. private equity firm York Capital Management acquired the company in 2013 for $129-million (U.S.).

Primus’s revenue has fallen to $166-million (Canadian) in 2015 from $229-million in 2012. Sales at Primus’s Canadian residential business, which accounted for more than half of the company’s revenue in 2015, have declined by an average of 9 per cent a year, according to the filings.

The company had a loss of $830,000 in 2014 and expects to record a loss of $13-million in 2015. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) declined to an expected $10-million in 2015 from $41-million in 2012.

Primus had assets worth $145-million and liabilities of $101-million as of Nov. 30. It has been unable to maintain certain debt-to-EBITDA ratios that are required under its secured loans since late 2014. It has been under default on those obligations since then and has operated under forbearance agreements with its major lenders. (EBITDA is earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.)

Working with a syndicate of its major secured lenders, which agreed to support a sale process with a view to selling the company as a going concern, Primus began actively looking for a buyer in September. It had interest from six potential acquirers, according to the court filings.