As this CBC commentary from Dan Misener describes, despite its “unfortunate name,” the Conservative government’s “Lawful Access” legislation is anything but boring. Indeed, this invasive set of electronic surveillance bills present grave security risks…
Continue readingTag: Media News Post
OpenMedia.ca: Ex-Politicos in Big Telecom Boardrooms
Cross-posted from Mediamorphis
Where do ex-politicians go when they retire? It would appear that they take up sinecure amongst the boards of directors at Canada’s leading telecom-media-Internet (TMI) companies.
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OpenMedia.ca: Vancouver Sun: One-fifth of Canadians would turn down a million dollars to stay online
By Amy Chung for Postmedia News
One-fifth of Canadians polled in a new survey said they would turn down a million dollars in order to keep their Internet access – a possible sign that our reliance on the World Wide Web is slowly catching up to the tele…
OpenMedia.ca: Telus appoints former federal government minister Minsiter Stockwell Day to its board
Photo from Mr_Stein on Flickr
It looks like Big Telecom is getting in close with the government. Today Telus has announced that former Conservative Public Safety Minister (also former Minister of International Trade and Treasury Board President) Stockw…
OpenMedia.ca: National Post: In the new Canada, the web browses you
Thanks to the hard work of the pro-Internet community and the Stop Online Spying Coalition, word is really starting to get out about the government’s costly and poorly thought-out online spying scheme.
Jesse Klein’s article in the National Post notes …
OpenMedia.ca: Big Profits for Big Telecom as Internet Advertising Spending Rises
There is big money to be made on the Internet, no breaking news there, but have you noticed the huge increase in online advertisements?
Currently, the Internet is the fastest growing recipient of advertising dollars; in 2010 alone, Internet ad sales gr…
OpenMedia.ca: TechCrunch: New technology N00ter to bust ISPs that throttle
A net neutrality (Internet openness) tool has been developed, which lets you know when your ISP is slowing you down.
Bigger changes need to be made, though, before we can say we’ve beat unjust throttling. We’ve recently seen that the CRTC doesn’t do mu…
OpenMedia.ca: Guest Blog: Canadian Gamers Fed Up With CRTC on Net Neutrality issues
By Jason Koblovsky of the Canadian Gamers Organization
A few months ago, a few Canadian gamers sent in a complaint to the CRTC that suspected Rogers’ throttling practices were affecting connectivity to the World of Warcraft (WoW) game. The CRTC ha…
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Gazette: Canadian online video start-ups could thrive
Canadian small businesses thrive when given the opportunity to compete on a level playing field with the big guys. Punitive pricing for Internet “overuse” could threaten the Montreal-based start-ups described in this article & many more Canadian ve…
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Ongoing support from the Liberal Party to Stop the Meter
The half-a-million Canadians who stood up for the Internet by signing and sharing the Stop the Meter petition received some support from the Liberal Party today.
Hon. Geoff Regan, Industry and Consumer Affairs critic and MP for Halifax West, sent out a…
OpenMedia.ca: Digital television comes to Canada
Photo by brizzle born and bred on Flickr
If you watch television, you’ve likely seen those public services announcements (or lightly disguised commercials, in some cases) explaining that over-the-air (OTA) television transmissions in 30 Canadian cities…
OpenMedia.ca: Looking through a funhouse mirror: The CRTC releases its Communications Monitoring Report
Image courtesy of Edenpictures on Flickr
Written by Stefanie Lee and Carla Cristoffanini
The CRTC recently released its annual Communications Monitoring Report, which shows that numbers of broadband Internet and wireless service subscribers in Canada a…
OpenMedia.ca: Nowak: Canadian broadband through rose-coloured glasses
By Peter Nowak
The CRTC released its annual Communications Monitoring Report last week and, as usual, the document shows Canada to have a very healthy – and wealthy – telecom and broadcast industry. Revenues and subscribers are up pretty much acros…
OpenMedia.ca: CBC: Many Bell customers have no idea they’re being erroneously charged
From CBC News
One Bell Mobility cell phone customer in B.C.’s Okanagan is warning others to double-check their phone bills after she was charged upwards of $30 a month for long distance calls from cities she has never visited.
Since May, Kelowna reside…
OpenMedia.ca: Roseman: You can get better service from an indie ISP
By Ellen Roseman for Moneyville
Bell Canada is known for poor customer service, a long-standing problem that shows no signs of improvement.
The biggest problem is trying to get Bell’s customer service staff to resolve an issue, says Wendy Buckner.
OpenMedia.ca: Stop The Cap: Time Warner investor call confirms that we’re being gouged by Big Telecom
By Phillip Dampier for Stop The Cap
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OpenMedia.ca: Stop The Cap: Rogers has raised their usage cap…for all plans but the least expensive, most widely-used one
By Phillip Dampier for Stop The Cap
Rogers Communications has announced usage cap and speed adjustments for many of its Internet service plans — changes that will bring increased allowances for some of the company’s most premium customers.
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OpenMedia.ca: Bell’s Magic Man: Jim Prentice
It appears that Bell is expecting rough regulatory waters ahead. Following their faltering, and rather unpopular proposal for aggregated volume pricing (AVP) at this month’s UBB hearings, Bell has recruited political top brass, Jim Prentice, to …
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Vancouver East MP Libby Davies joins the fight for an unmetered Internet
In a letter sent today, Vancouver East MP Libby Davies encouraged her constituents to join her in signing the Stop The Meter petition. The Deputy Leader for the NDP writes:
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OpenMedia.ca: Geist: Can the CRTC act to promote competition and diversity?
By Michael Geist
The CRTC’s usage based billing oral hearing concluded yesterday with a final decision expected some time in the fall. This long post focuses on the shift in CRTC thinking on the state of broadband competition in Canada but wonders whe…