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A controversial trial program from Rogers Communications Inc. has raised the ire of Internet watchdogs who argue the telecom giant is violating Net neutrality by interfering with the websites its customers visit.

Over the weekend, Lauren Weinstein, a long-time Internet activist, uploaded a screen shot of Google.ca to his blog which appears to show a Rogers bulletin superimposed across the top of the search screen. The message informs the Rogers user that he has used three-quarters of his monthly bandwidth allotment and provides links on how to upgrade the account or how to dismiss the message.

The image, which Mr. Weinstein said was sent to him by a "concerned reader," has prompted a variety of responses across the Internet. Some, like Mr. Weinstein, say that by inserting their own corporate information into third-party websites, Rogers is interfering with content delivery. University of Ottawa professor Michael Geist argues the company's "content substitution" technology raises fundamental Net-neutrality concerns.

However, other bloggers such as Cynthia Brumfield at IP Democracy questioned whether Rogers' actions really amount to such a violation. The company isn't overwriting Web content, so much as it is running the notice above the page and pushing the rest of the site down, a common practice performed by other websites.

According to Taanta Gupta, senior vice-president of communications for Rogers, the company began testing what it calls the Internet Subscriber Notification System a few weeks ago as a way of giving users a heads-up when they are approaching their bandwidth use limits.

"Our research indicates that [Rogers users] wanted that information in real time," Ms. Gupta said.

Ms. Gupta said the company only plans to use the technology for the purposes of notifying consumers when they are reaching their bandwidth-use limits.

RCI.B (TSX) fell $1.11 to $42.51.