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OpenMedia.ca: Canada.com: Canada’s warrantless surveillance bill is back, with surveillance powers for US gov’t, too
An upcoming deal with the U.S. could expand the warrantless surveillance in the proposed bill C-30 to apply to U.S. authorities, allowing them to access Canadians’ private information. As the article below shows, after we revealed the U.S. connection in our latest letter to supporters (subscribe here) the momentum has
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Affordability and transparency in the aftermath of the StopTheMeter.ca campaign
It’s been over a year and a half since we at OpenMedia.ca launched the StopTheMeter.ca campaign. After the CRTC decided to allow Big Telecom to impose usage-based billing—Internet metering—on their independent competitors in November 2010, thousands of Canadians came together to push for online choice and affordability, and managed to
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Ars Technica: Big Media trying to bring U.S.-style anti-piracy efforts to Canada
It’s no secret that the Big Media lobby has been pushing for an Internet lockdown, with excessive restrictions on the way we use our own electronic services. Big Media has targeted Canadians’ online choice through legislation like Copyright Bill C-11 and the trade agreements like the TPP, but those aren’t
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Canada’s next great CRTC chair
Canada has a new CRTC chair: Jean Pierre Blais. The appointment will take effect on June 18. We were hoping to publish this blog post before the decision was made, but here’s a now-somewhat-late rundown of the contenders who could have been chair: in addition to the somewhat-unknown Jean Pierre
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Pro-Privacy MPs: Weekly Update from OpenMedia.ca
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Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Letter to Supporters: Who’s on your side?
Thanks to you, over sixty MPs have said they will stand with Canadians against Vic Toews’ online spying plan. Find out which through the Pro-Privacy MP tool we created for you at http://openmedia.ca/WithCanada. By sharing the video at http://openmedia.ca/stand and taking action, you raised a loud national call for every
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Media Advisory: OpenMedia.ca Releases Names of MPs Standing With Canadians Against Warrantless Online Spying
SOS_100xx100.png Citizen Outcry Against Bill C-30 Pushes Over Sixty MPs to Add Their Names to OpenMedia.ca Pro-Privacy Listing WHO: Steve Anderson, Executive Director, OpenMedia.ca Lindsey Pinto, Communications Manager, OpenMedia.ca WHAT: OpenMedia.ca has just released a tool that displays the names of the over sixty Members of Parliament—nearly two-thirds of opposition
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: We prepare to reveal which MPs stand with Canadians
Public Safety Minister Vic Toews is still not backing down when it comes to his warrantless online spying scheme. While Canadians call on our MPs to stand against the invasive and costly legislation, Bill C-30, Toews has been toiling away to try to scare us into believing the bill is
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Globe and Mail: Competition Breaks Up Big Telecom Monopoly in Canada’s North
People in rural areas in Canada sometimes face some of the worst telecom service in the world. But as this article illustrates we’re beginning to break the stranglehold of big telecom in these areas too. The CRTC decided in December to open up Canada’s North to telecom competition, meaning that
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Online spying bill C-30: Expert confirms innocent Canadians likely to be caught up in digital dragnet
Our intrepid academic friend Christopher Parsons isn’t one to sit idly by while the future of the online spying bill remains unclear. After the Globe and Mail reported that this bill, C-30, was dead, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews made a spectacle of himself by arrogantly announcing that warrantless online
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Geist: Copyright bill "What ifs?"
As the final House of Commons vote on controversial copyright bill C-11 approaches, law professor Michael Geist asks some questions to highlight what the new law could have been if government had been more committed to a strong, citizen-centric digital future. We take issue with the title of Geist’s piece
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: The 1993 CBC on the possibilities of the Internet
Check out this 1993 story from the CBC Digital Archives about the possibilities of the Internet. Even then, it was clear: “People in a group [online] have our own sense of community and what we can do.” Fast-forward almost 20 years and many of those possibilities have been realized—when open,
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: NDP leader responds to StopSpying.ca campaign
Today—one day after the launch of a new viral video about online spying bill C-30—NDP leader Thomas Mulcair sent a response to petition signers asserting that his party “share[s] the concerns of many Canadians who oppose legislation relating to lawful access, ACTA, and digital locks.” This means that the NDP,
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Big Telecom’s Bills: Weekly Update from OpenMedia.ca
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Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Pro-Privacy Canadians Launch Viral Video To Say They Don’t Want To Pay For Online Spying Bill
SOS-Stand_VideoScreenCap.png Citizen-Made Video Launches After Millions Are Set Aside For Bill C-30 May 24, 2012 – OpenMedia.ca has launched a citizen-made online video educating Canadians about the true cost of the government’s online spying legislation C-30 and the threat it poses to personal privacy. If passed, Bill C-30 will force
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: CBC Market Place: Rogers raises fees at will, despite contract
Canadians pay some of the highest cell phone fees in the industrialized world, and we’re often left to fend for ourselves when Big Telecom is suspected of wrongdoing. As the economy still struggles and the outrageous cost of online spying looms, we simply can’t afford this any more. read more
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: CBC: Koodo allows mentally disabled youth to incur $8000 in "premium" text fees
This video provides a great example of why we need strong, citizen-centric rules to protect cell phone users (including people with disabilities). read more
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: See that blur? It’s the Copyright Modernization Act flying through Parliament
The controversial Copyright Modernization Act, Bill C-11, has shot through Parliament—its Introduction and First Reading, Second Reading, Committee Stage, and recently-completed Report Stage all took place in only a few short months. More than once in this process, time allocation motions cut debate short, and only a few amendments were
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