WebProNews

Bell Canada is being sued by a Quebec consumer watchdog, L'Union des consommateurs for its practice of slowing Internet traffic.

The class-action suit was filed in Quebec Superior Court on behalf of Montreal resident Myrna Raphael, seeks certification on behalf of all subscribers in the province. The suit claims that by purposely slowing Internet speeds, Bell has misrepresented its service and caused privacy concerns.

The watchdog group is seeking the refund of 80 percent of the Internet subscription price, which it says is equal to the reduction in speed and $600 per subscriber to compensate for false advertising, along with $1,500 for privacy rights violation.

L'Union des consommateurs says that Raphael signed a three-year contract with Bell in 2006 that promised, "always-on constant high speed, without frustrating interruptions during peak hours of the day."

Bell has admitted that it uses deep packet inspection (DPI) to slow down the Internet, mainly for subscribers who uses peer-to peer applications like Bit Torrent during peak hours. The compay says it needs to slow some traffic to keep its overall network operating properly.