Big telecom company Bell is trying to raise prices anywhere they can, including through payphones. Though not as popular as they once were, payphones are especially useful to those with lower incomes; raising the rates will only serve to make yet another form of communication less accessible. All this while
Continue readingTag: Media News Post
OpenMedia.ca: #TellDaveEverything: Brits follow suit in protesting Internet surveillance legislation
Next month, U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron plans to unveil a new law that would grant their police greater online surveillance capabilities. The bill is strangely reminiscent of Canada’s hotly contested online spying legislation, Bill C-30. The British government is proposing to force ISPs to install a new data retention
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Mercer Report: The Bell-Rogers anger continuum (Spoof)
Have you tried ConglomerMate? If you have, you and your loved one should also try making the switch from Big Telecom. read more
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: A new student-made video on online spying
Check out this fantastic student-made video about the online spying bill, which Laura Mitchell posted to our Facebook Wall last night. Thanks Laura! read more
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Taking it in stride: Weekly Update from OpenMedia.ca
Hello! Here’s Lindsey with your update: read more
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Letter to Supporters: You’ve done something amazing
Earlier this year things looked pretty bleak for supporters of online privacy, affordability, and openness. From costly and warrantless online spying, to scary new Internet lockdown restrictions, to a hike in cell phone fees, it looked like those in government and Big Telecom had finally had enough of the Internet.
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Postmedia: Consumers reject roaming fees
Canadians pay the highest roaming fees in the industrialized world (study: http://bit.ly/lY5vcB), on top of some of the highest prices for cell phone and Internet service in general. As part of the pro-Internet community, you’ve stood up for access and affordability through petitions like the one at Stop The Squeeze,
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Globe: CRTC approves plan for Broadcast Participation Fund
High media concentration means that Canadians will be evermore impacted by the decisions that Big Telecom makes. When Bell bought CTV, the CRTC made them promise to put money aside for a Broadcast Participation Fund, to help pay for public interest research, representation, and advocacy in Broadcast hearings. Yesterday, the
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Transparency kindling at the CRTC
The CRTC has been the site of some major changes as the pro-Internet community has gotten more and more active. From being a very industry-centric and closed-off regulator, they are slowly shifting toward a model that keeps the public interest in mind (though it’s still not first and foremost yet)
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Bell Set to Get Even Bigger: Weekly Update from OpenMedia.ca
Hello! Here’s Lindsey with your update: read more
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: CIRA: We are all the stakeholders
By Byron Holland for CIRA On February 27, 2012 CIRA hosted a unique meeting on the future of the Internet in Canada. The Canadian Internet Forum (CIF) brought together leading Canadian and international Internet experts and more than 400 interested citizens. Another 100 participated in an online forum CIRA hosted
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: TED speaker looks at the Internet and reimagines government
This is a great video on how the Internet can be used to reimagine the role and process of government so that it’s more open, transparent, engaging and responsive to our needs, rather than the demands of industry lobbyists. Thank you to Andrew William Sampson for posting this on our
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Globe: All evidence points to Canada’s increasing digital deficit
By Tavia Grant for the Globe and Mail Canadian businesses and governments are lagging several western nations in the “Internet economy” and are being warned that they risk falling even further behind unless they take immediate and more aggressive action. The Internet contributed $49-billion to Canada’s gross domestic product last
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Geist: Police suggest public safety tax to cover online surveillance costs
We already know that the government’s online spying plan (C-30) will cost well over $80,000,000. Now, according to Internet law expert Michael Geist, we know that the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police had suggested the government require you to pay for this through a new surveillance fee, which would
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Bell to gobble up Astral Media
Cross-posted from Mediamorphis Sometimes I just wish I could wake up in the morning and not be thrust into the hurly-burly of all the stuff roiling the telecom-media-Internet industries in Canada. But no! If it ain’t copyright maximalists trying to lock up content (Bill C-11) or spooks trying to stuff
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Media Advisory: Bell to Acquire Astral Media in Already-Concentrated Market; OpenMedia.ca Available for Comment
openmedia_logo.jpg WHO: Steve Anderson, Executive Director, OpenMedia.ca Lindsey Pinto, Communications Manager, OpenMedia.ca WHAT: Bell has announced that it will soon be in control of Astral Media, and the cellphone, Internet, land-line services, radio stations, and television holdings that come with it. Concentration in Canada’s communications industry is extremely high by
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Big Telecom gets bigger: Bell announces its purchase of Astral Media
Today Bell announced that it’s getting bigger; it will soon be in control of Astral Media, and the cellphone, Internet, land-line services, radio stations, and television holdings that come with it. As they grow, companies like Bell and Rogers gain even more ability, not to mention incentive, to engage in
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Postmedia: The decision on the cell phone squeeze has come
It looks like Canadians—especially those who added their names to the petition at http://StopTheSqueeze.ca/ or sent our report to their MP—have had an effect in forcing the Big Three to back off. Yesterday Industry Minister Paradis announced rules that were expected to determine whether indie cell phone companies will get
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Stay Vigilant: Weekly Updates from OpenMedia.ca
Hello! Here’s Lindsey with your update: read more
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Government Takes Half-Measured Approach to Crucial Cell Phone Decision
openmedia_logo.jpg Canadians unimpressed with the government’s “fix” for broken cell phone market March 14, 2012 – The government made a decision today that will determine how cell phone pricing and choice will lock in Canada going forward. Industry Minister Christian Paradis announced today that he would not set aside new
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