Earlier today we held a Privacy Town Hall to launch Canada's Privacy Plan - our crowdsourced pro-privacy action plan that was shaped by over 125,000 everyday Canadians. Check out what people had to say: On this Facebook thread On this Reddit AMA We had great expert guests to cover all the bases - thanks to each and every one of them for taking part:   Cindy Blackstock, Gitxsan activist for child welfare Tom Henheffer, Executive Director of Canadian Journalists for Free Expression   Connie Fournier, Co-founder of the principled conservative forum Free Dominion Brenda McPhail, Director of the Privacy, Technology and Surveillance Project at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association,   Brett Gaylor Canadian documentary filmmaker and creator of Do Not Track David Christopher, lead author of OpenMedia's "Canada’s Privacy Plan"

One of the best parts about our work at OpenMedia is our community -- that’s you! But seriously, whether it’s on Access, Privacy, or Free Expression work, our job is to make your voice heard and have you be a part of the change-making process. This is exactly why the Our Digital Future crowdsourced report project has been so moving. Over a span of two years, over 300k of you participated from over 155 countries - making this our largest crowdsourcing project yet.

One of the best parts about our work at OpenMedia is our community -- that’s you! But seriously, whether it’s on Access, Privacy, or Free Expression work, our job is to make your voice heard and have you be a part of the change-making process. This is exactly why the Our Digital Future crowdsourced report project has been so moving. Over a span of two years, over 300k of you participated from over 155 countries - making this our largest crowdsourcing project yet.

The CRTC recently announced that it is looking into creating minimum national standards to protect wireless customers, and is now asking Canadians for input. After receiving several requests to create a national code from Big Telecom as well as from public interest groups, the CRTC is now asking for your comments. This move comes after a number of provinces (Quebec and Manitoba) introduced consumer protection legislation around cell phones. National standards for the wireless industry would serve to create a basic set of service standards nationwide and avoid the variation of standards from province-to-province. While the code would not govern pricing, it’s important to keep in mind that it could potentially affect the framework for wireless competition in Canada and ultimately a large part of our digital economy.

Remember when the government said that its Lawful Access Bill C-30 would only cost about $80 Million dollars and then some? What if we told you those estimates are totally off the mark? Well, here goes: The estimates are probably off. Okay, they’re way off. Christopher Parsons, a cybersecurity expert at the University of Victoria, knows a thing or two about digital information and privacy. Parsons wrote a stellar article analyzing how one would have to go about setting costs for Bill C-30. He also attempts to find out how the government arrived at the $80 million number. He found this last part a little puzzling. You should really go and read the article yourself, but we’ve summarized it here for you in case you’ve only got time for the quick basics.

It’s been a pretty eventful couple of weeks for the Stop Online Spying campaign. The campaign has certainly come a long way with an amazing 105K signatures and counting! As Bill C-30 heads to committee for some more debate, it’s the perfect time to tell MPs and Ottawa that the legislation needs a lot of work. In case you missed out or need to catch up on where the Lawful Access bill and the Stop Online Spying campaign stand, here’s a summary of key developments and a compilation of articles we’re in: The Hon. Minister of Public Safety, Vic Toews’ declaration that Canadians “either stand with us or with the child pornographers” certainly sparked some outrage across Canada. Adding more fuel to the fire, was the online spying bill’s name change (“Protecting Children from Internet Predators Act”… yes this actually happened). Media outrage and social media backlash across Canada ensued as did Twitter hashtags, Internet memes, and even fake twitter accounts.

The government’s Lawful Access bills are poised to drastically change the state of privacy and telecommunications in Canada as we know it… and not for better. If this invasive and costly legislation passes, it will make online spying the norm in Canada and seriously threaten the privacy and security of all Canadians. Building awareness and continuing the discussion around the Lawful Access bills is integral to introducing balance into the policy formation process. On January 27th in Toronto, Dr. Ann Cavoukian , Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner, will be hosting Beware of “Surveillance by Design:” Standing Up for Freedom and Privacy, a symposium on the implications of Lawful Access. Dr. Cavoukian will be discussing the dangers of the online spying bills alongside a panel of legal, privacy, and academic experts.

The CRTC wants to hear from Canadians about local TV programming. Up for debate is the Local Programming Improvement Fund (LPIF), which aims to support local programming for communities outside large metropolitan markets. Currently, LPIF is funded by major satellite and television cable distributors, like Rogers and Shaw, who contribute 1.5% of their gross revenues. The $100 million fund pays for locally-produced programming across Canada and about 75 local Canadian stations currently receive support from the fund. The LPIF was behind some controversy in 2009, when Big Cable insisted the fund is on par with ‘hidden TV tax’ for consumers. Local Canadian stations—which had been struggling for funding—disagreed, and continued to advocate for more support amidst declining revenues.

In recent weeks, we’ve received an outpouring of wonderful feedback from the pro-Internet community. We can’t stress enough how thankful we are for your sustained support. As we continue our December fundraising drive, we thought it’d be a great time to share some of those words with you. Moving forward into 2012, let’s keep working together to keep the Internet open and affordable for all Canadians. “I think what you guys are doing is fantastic, and your successes so far are a testament to what can be achieved when people get together under a common cause… With efforts from organizations like yours, we can prove to people that they CAN make a difference, and see in real time exactly how big of a difference they can make. Keep up the great work...” - Scott Greig