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David Fewer, director of the University of Ottawa’s Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic, said the tactic first came to his attention about a year ago. Bell isn’t the only provider doing it, he said, though the Post has only seen complaints about Bell (including one from the Ottawa Citizen’s Vito Pilieci). His law clinic has received about half a dozen complaints from consumers who find the practice invasive, he said.

“Imagine picking up the phone and before you can dial out, you get a message from Bell saying, ‘Thank you for being our customer,’” Fewer said in an interview. “They’re providing a service, they shouldn’t be imposing their message on your eyeballs.”

In Fewer’s view, this tactic is a “fairly straightforward violation” of Internet traffic management rules because it interferes with content. The Telecommunications Act requires carriers to obtain prior approval from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to control the content or influence the purpose of telecommunications they carry.

A consumer would have to file an official complaint with the CRTC for it to investigate the tactic, Fewer said.

“This is part of why they’re getting away with it,” he said. “The nuisance is not outweighed by the inconvenience of filing a complaint.”

Bell disagrees with Fewer’s assessment. In an email, spokesman Marc Choma said the pop-ups comply with all regulations.

“We use pop-ups to recommend services to customers and to confirm service cancellations, and they comply with all regulations – including for (Internet traffic management practices) as they don’t control or alter a customer’s communications,” he wrote.