It just another form of Control

Traffic shaping also known as "packet shaping" is an attempt to control computer network traffic in order to optimize or guarantee performance, lower latency, and/or increase usable bandwidth by delaying packets that meet a certain criteria. Using Locustworld, traffic shaping is any action on a set of packets which imposes additional delay on those packets such that they conform to some predetermined constraint a contract or traffic profile.

Traffic shaping provides a means to control the volume of traffic being sent into a network in a specified period using bandwidth throttling, or the maximum rate at which the traffic is sent which rate is limiting. This control can be accomplished in many ways and for many reasons; however traffic shaping is always achieved by delaying packets. Traffic shaping is commonly applied at the network edges to control traffic entering the network, but can also be applied by the traffic source for example, computer or network card or by an element in the network.

Traffic policing is the distinct but related practice of packet dropping and packet marking. An example of why you want to utilize traffic shaping is providing Quality of Service (QoS.) My recent focus and interest has been improving and providing carrier class wireless network. This is partly motivated by a requirement for an Internet Protocol Quality of Service (IP QoS) solution to allow us to converge our video, voice and data networks with in the Mesh Network.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has been asked to investigate the impact of "traffic shaping" by Internet service providers (ISPs) on Canadian Internet users. http://www.mediacastermagazine.com/issues/ISArticle.asp?id=82157&issue=03312008

Simply put one must utilize a form of control if the goal is to provide QoS for streaming media then it is required on a share network; however, when traffic shaping is utilize to restrict the usage for non QoS application and it is utilized for non QoS but for bandwidth control then these practices and the implications for consumers should be advised appropriately. Since this practice has been utilized for years it important not to debate on traffic shaping but to debate how the consumer or client is affected by such controls. It’s funny how when you subscribe to a service for years, how the service evolves to the point that general consumers are impacted.