Chilean Senators respond to public outcry around the secretive and extreme TPP Agreement

In recent months, decision-makers have started to listen to Canadians and have begun a desperately needed overhaul of our broken cell phone market. In June alone, Canadians saw the release of a broadly positive CRTC Code of Conduct for cell phone companies, Industry Canada’s subsequent denial of telecom giant Telus’ attempt to take over an independent provider’s spectrum (a crucial resource that had been set aside to enable choice in the cell phone market), and a new framework for the transfer of spectrum.

TPP officials do more than ever to keep citizen voices away

Celebrating one year of fighting for an open Internet worldwide

OpenMedia.ca would be nothing without its community – that much is certain. Our entire job is to amplify your voices: to engage people in issues that affect our digital future, and to provide information, build online tools, and facilitate discussions that empower you to influence decisions that will affect your communications freedoms, rights, and interests. Why do we do this? Among other things, it’s because we believe that citizens—you—are the key stakeholders in our digital future. When it comes down to it, the value of the telecom industry is in serving the public—it’s meant to give us the means to participate in political and cultural discourse, in the digital economy and in society, and to connect us to one another. When it fails to do these things—when networks are closed and controlled, or made unaffordable or unavailable—it’s our progress that gets stunted.

What Obama's commitments to privacy and transparency really mean

It’s no secret that China-based Huawei Technologies (pronounced “WAH-way”) has been the subject of national security concerns. Last year, The Globe and Mail obtained government documents detailing Ottawa’s fears around data security in Canadian networks maintained by the controversial telecom giant. This added to concerns raised by the U.K., the U.S., Australia, and others about Huawei’s suspected link to the Chinese government, and the potential for the company to use its equipment to enable spying. As Huawei became increasingly pervasive in our wireless marketplace—the company supplies many Canadian cell phone service providers, including Big Telecom giants Telus and Bell—Canada’s government clearly took the time to examine the potential privacy and national security issues.

Who should decide what websites you can access online? The answer is obvious: You. We’ve all heard scary censorship stories, in which oppressive governments block access to information, and only allow residents of a nation to see, read, or watch what rulers permit. These stories usually start off slowly—with justifiable censorship activities taking place for the supposed wellbeing of the nation—and escalate quickly. That’s why we worry when democratic governments start to discuss mandatory Internet censorship.

Independent research company BuddeComm has released a new report (sadly it’s expensive; if I were you I’d just read Phillip Dampier’s summary here) that looks at the best ways to connect everyone to the Internet. It’s key finding: there’s just no substitute for robust networks managed by independent players. But what does any of that mean? To answer that, I’ll start with another question: Who controls the networks and sells access to Internet service providers? The disappointing answer, here in Canada, is Big Telecom.

The MP behind the wildly unpopular (now defunct) warrantless online spying bill C-30 is on his way out of politics. Public Safety Minister Vic Toews will not only be leaving Cabinet, but will be running for the private sector, following one of the strongest online backlashes in Canadian history. If Toews’ name doesn’t quite ring a bell, think back to the famous Twitter campaign, #TellVicEverything. Yes, he’s that “Vic”. Those who participated in #TellVicEverything tweeted surveillance jokes and mundane details of their personal lives, all in the name of spreading the word about Toews’ invasive online spying bill. And it wasn’t just a few people – so many participated that #TellVicEverything was, for a while, trending worldwide on Twitter.