Tag: access
What we heard from YOU on child online safety
Results show parents' concerns about their children's exposure to harmful content and lack of knowledge on online safety practices.
Wholesale and fibre explained
Wholesale rates and fibre connection play an integral role in our telecom industry. Here's what you need to know.
Your voice, DELIVERED: 23,000+ action takers speak out against monopolies!
Together with Ekō, the OpenMedia community is calling out Canada’s monopolies.
Bill C-288: Taking your voice to the Standing Committee on Industry, Science, and Technology
With your help, we told the government that people deserve to get what they’re paying for when it comes to Internet speeds.
OpenMedia calls on new chair of CRTC to prioritize competition, affordability, and everyday people’s needs
Canada’s Internet is dangerously adrift. OpenMedia’s letter to new CRTC chair Vicky Eatrides urges her to put us back on track.
Guest Blog: What Taylor Swift’s Ticketmaster debacle tells us about concentration on the internet
Monopolies on the mind? Check out this piece from our friends at CIRA: “Now it’s Ticketmaster and Taylor Swift tickets. Next, it could be the infrastructure of a Big Tech company.”
Taking your right to repair message on Bill C-244 to the Standing Committee on Industry and Technology.
We took your voice to parliament, will they act now?
Minister Champagne’s 3 Simple Steps to Collapsing Internet Competition in Canada
Our “Minister of Collapse” must undo this affordability disaster of his own making.
Why should I care about “Right to Repair”?
You own your device. So how can manufacturers block you from fixing it?
Mapping the Data Broker Economy: Taking Back Our Data
In order to shine a light on the data broker economy, we’ve filed personal information requests to take back our data, and are exploring the privacy risks of data brokers.
New antitrust laws could save you from Big Tech’s choke-hold
What are Antitrust laws, and why should you care? Your questions answered
Your voice, DELIVERED: OpenMedia’s submission to the government’s CRTC policy direction consultation is in!
Nearly 16,000 members of the OpenMedia community have spoken out to shape the future of the CRTC. Thank you for adding your voices!
Rogers-Shaw: Taking your voices to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage
On February 16, we told the committee in no uncertain terms: the Rogers-Shaw merger is detrimental for Canada.
It’s time for a public interest champion to take over at the CRTC
We need a CRTC chair without ties to Big Telecom.
Happy Valentine’s Day from OpenMedia — we made you something!
Share your love for the free and open Internet with some digital rights-themed valentines cards!
The fight against the Rogers-Shaw buyout
In March 2021, Rogers made a shocking announcement: It’s set to buy out Shaw, Canada’s fourth Big Telecom provider.
You should have the right to repair your devices in Canada
The Right to Repair movement wants to give you independence over your own devices, including when, how and with whom you make repairs.
Election 2021: Where the parties stand on cell phone affordability
Lower cell phone bills are on the agenda for some parties this election. Others? Not so much.
#InternetSOS: OpenMedia’s 2021 Election Platform for our Internet
Canada's Internet is trapped in dangerously lobbyist-infested waters. Our 2021 election platform lays out a plan for getting back on course.
You made it happen: Your outrage at government’s coziness with Big Telecom on full display
OpenMedia’s mobile billboard ads just finished circling Parliament, the CRTC, and the Toronto International Film Festival — all ramping up our relentless pressure on the federal government to fix Canada’s Internet.
Minister Bains just undermined Canada’s best chance for affordable Internet
The government's August 15 decision sided with Big Telecom over Canadians, and we're already seeing Internet bills going up.
BC just released their report on the cell phone affordability consultations. What’s next?
The BC government has released a report on cell phone contract that will shock no one.
Your Internet stories are up in Ottawa!
You shared your Internet stories with us. We plastered them in ads. Our decision makers won't be able to ignore these.
Against website blocking: What OpenMedia submitted to the CRTC
We filed a substantive policy submission as well as more than 82K individual submissions from Canadians. Thank you for speaking up!
Lower cell phone bills are about more than affordability. They help to bridge the digital divide
The need for affordable cellphone plans in Canada is essential to bridge the digital divide and provide more Canadians with the array of socio-economic benefits the Internet affords.
Standing Together to Build a Brighter Digital Future
There are powerful forces standing in the way of the world we want to build, but with you by our side, we keep moving forward.
Lowering our cell bills: Your voice on the public record
1 in 3 low-income Canadians can’t afford a cellphone. That means no emergency calls when away from a landline, no texting with loved ones, no access to maps, email, and the online tools and services that we all depend on every day.
It’s time to lower your cell bill
A CRTC consultation has a great potential to open our wireless market to more competitors and finally bring Canadians relief from ever-rising cellphone bills.
Digital rights privilege problem: How trying to reach everyone becomes exclusive
Our Ruth Coustick-Deal discusses the need to make a conscious and deliberate effort to make digital rights campaigning more inclusive to ensure all voices, especially those of minorities, are reflected in our work. If you have any suggestions of how our organization can better address this issue, please drop us a comment below!
Top 10 ways you helped save the Internet in 2016
As we face the challenges of 2017, let’s all be inspired by these amazing examples of how you helped save the Internet last year.
Thanks to you, we have a real chance to #EndDataCaps and stop zero-rating
How OpenMedia brought your call to end data caps and ban zero-rating to Canada’s Internet policymakers
With Your Help, OpenMedia Lays Out the Case against Internet Taxes for Canadian Heritage’s #DigiCanCon Consultations
OpenMedia submitted formal comments to Canadian Heritage's #DigiCanCon consultations, driving home the case against the Internet Tax. Here's what we told them.
Watch here: livestream of Medi@cracy’s #DigiCanCon conversation
New Canadian community television program Medi@cracy kicks off with its pilot episode tackling Heritage Minister Melanie Joly’s #DigiCanCon consultations
The Internet tax is a raw deal for all of us
The Internet Tax – a defeated and deflated policy attempted in Hungary – is making its way to Canada. Yikes!
“Listen to Canadians, Aim Higher for Canada, and Protect Innovation for All” — OpenMedia at today’s #EndDataCaps CRTC hearings
Today, with support from 55,000 of you, OpenMedia testified at crucial CRTC hearings, and called on them to End Data Caps. Here’s what happened!
Tomorrow, we’re testifying at the CRTC to End Data Caps! Here’s how to follow us live
On Thursday, your OpenMedia team is testifying at the CRTC, calling on them to stand up for consumers and End Data Caps. Here’s how to stay in the loop.
Spotlight turns to data caps, as CRTC study reveals skyrocketing data usage along with price increases
One week before high-profile CRTC hearing on data caps and Internet pricing, Commission's own study confirms data usage surged 40% from 2014 to 2015
Spotlight turns to data caps, as CRTC study reveals skyrocketing data usage along with price increases
One week before high-profile CRTC hearing on data caps and Internet pricing, Commission's own study confirms data usage surged 40% from 2014 to 2015
VMedia vs. Bell Media: What will it take to change the channel on Internet Law and Policy?
Learn more about the ongoing legal battles between Big Media giant Bell and VMedia, offering an innovative new online TV service. It’s time for the law to catch up with the digital era.
CRTC goes full-Internet with #EndDataCaps Reddit consultation
Make their #2016 effort pay off (so they do it again) — weigh in on the online forum now, all while speaking out against differential pricing.
Over 42,000 Canadian voices against data caps are now on the public record at the CRTC
With support from over 42,000 Canadians, we’ve just delivered a 50-page submission against data caps to the CRTC
Tired of data caps? You have 24 hours to say so on the public record
The CRTC is asking Canadians how we think the Internet should be priced. Join us on the public record in telling them
Why it matters: Facebook “news suppression” and Internet.org
Facebook is positioning itself as a potential global agenda-setting gatekeeper. So why do they insist they support a free Internet?
Letter to the Community: The road ahead for OpenMedia
Our new Executive Director Laura Tribe introduces herself and looks at the exciting challenges we’ll face over the months ahead.
U.S. Net Neutrality ruling sends a clear message to the CRTC
June’s ‘open Internet’ win in the United States may be a sign of what’s to come for the CRTC’s Net Neutrality review.
Québec is gambling with Internet censorship: what is Bill 74 and how can we kill it?
Blatant censorship of the Internet for financial gain.
Your OpenMedia Quarterly Roundup: the amazing things our community pulled off in the past 3 months
It’s incredible what we achieve together.
Get ready for independent fibre Internet — today’s CRTC ruling paves the way for more affordable access
The CRTC released two decisions this morning — one that allows indie ISPs to offer fibre at a lower cost and one that will limit choice.
Help shape the future of our weekly Internet Insider
Have you ever heard of our Internet Insider? It's OpenMedia's weekly newsletter with an overview of relevant digital rights news and what our team has been up to behind the scenes. We are currently redesigning what we think to be a useful resource that just hasn't gotten the attention it deserves, so first, we need your feedback!
‘You bring a generational change’: Watch OpenMedia present at the CRTC’s Broadband hearings
OpenMedia commended for bringing a generational change to the CRTC’s broadband basic service offerings hearings.
Working together for Affordable Internet across Africa
The Internet is coming together for Fast, Affordable, Safe, and Transparent Internet for Africa.
Our presentation to the CRTC: Affordable Internet for All Canadians
Our own Josh Tabish, Laura Tribe, and consultant David Ellis, are at the CRTC this morning, to call for affordable Internet for all Canadians. Here's what they have to say.
Will the open Internet survive the EU’s ambiguous Net Neutrality legislation?
Last year the EU Parliament passed Net Neutrality legislation that was largely an ambiguous mixed bag. The coming weeks will determine which way it goes.
For International Women’s Day, meet a few of our female Internet heroes
Women at OpenMedia and around the world work tirelessly to ensure that the Internet remains an equally accessible tool, where we can all freely express ourselves without fear and share revolutionary ideas that have the potential to change millions of lives for the better. Today we celebrate International Women's Day and invite you to join us in the fight.
Our own Laura Tribe discusses greater Internet choice in Toronto
Toronto City Council is about to hold a key vote on the issue of Internet affordability this February 4th.
City of Toronto votes to support crucial CRTC rules on Internet choice and affordability
Council rejects Mayor Tory’s problematic call for federal Cabinet to overturn CRTC rules designed to ensure Canadians have affordable fibre Internet options.
Parliament resumes today: Here are the top 5 digital issues MPs are facing
Canada’s Parliament is back in session, and MPs have a number of crucial digital rights issues on their plate
Here we go again - Big Three mobile providers to raise prices on popular cell phone plans
This morning, The Globe and Mail reported that Canada’s Big Three wireless providers–Bell, Rogers, and Telus–are in the midst of raising prices across their most popular plans, citing the declining Canadian dollar for the increase.
5 big challenges for our digital rights in 2016
Looking ahead to 2016, one thing is clear: challenges to our digital rights are set to intensify.
Voting in CIRA’s 2015 Election will help shape the future of Canada’s Internet
It’s that time again! Some of you may not know this already, but Canada’s Internet is democratically governed. The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) is a non-profit organization that manages the dot-ca (.ca) registry and addresses many of the day-to-day challenges facing Internet governance in Canada.
Now, CIRA holds regular elections and, just like electing a politician to represent you in the current federal election, you can elect the CIRA board of directors to represent your views about how Canada’s Internet should be managed.
Let’s make Canada’s parties endorse our pro-Internet action plan
Exciting news! Green Party leader Elizabeth May has just announced her endorsement of our crowdsourced pro-Internet action plan. So far Ms. May is the first major party leader to do so - and we’re thrilled to have her waving the flag for Canada’s Internet.
This is great news for Canada’s pro-Internet movement and never would have happened without so many people speaking up to support our plan. Now we need to keep up the pressure on all the party leaders, to ensure our action plan can be put into law.
AdWeek: Brazilian Kids Learn English by Video Chatting With Lonely Elderly Americans FCB’s touching work for a language school
When the Internet works for good!
Article by Tim Nudd for AdWeek
It's such a great, simple idea: Young Brazilians want to learn English. Elderly Americans living in retirement homes just want someone to talk to. Why not connect them?
FCB Brazil did just that with its "Speaking Exchange" project for CNA language schools. As seen in the touching case study below, the young Brazilians and older Americans connect via Web chats, and they not only begin to share a language—they develop relationships that enrich both sides culturally and emotionally.
Georgia Straight: OpenMedia encourages voters to consider policies around access, privacy in federal election
Check out this amazing coverage of our pro-Internet election plan on The Georgia Straight! The Internet is something we shouldn’t take for granted. We should take action to have our democratic rights as citizens, to make sure it stays open, accessible and free for everyone. This election, vote for the Internet! OurDigitalFuture.ca
Article by Stephen Hui for the Georgia Straight
Stephen Harper’s Conservative government represents a “lost 10 years” for the Internet in Canada, according to a digital-rights advocate.
The fate of affordable access to next-generation Internet will be decided this week.
This week the the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) is expected to announce a major decision that will significantly impact whether or not Canadians have access to a variety of affordable Internet services independent of Big Telecom, including next-generation fibre.
Back in December, your OpenMedia team presented your views on the future of Canada’s Internet to key decision-makers at CRTC headquarters in Gatineau, Quebec (be sure to check out the video, report-back, and full transcript). At the time, we outlined three major demands on behalf of Internet users across the country:
Measure the health of Canada’s Internet and… win an awesome gaming rig?
Over the past couple months, our small team at OpenMedia has been helping get the word out on a big project designed to measure the health of Canada’s Internet: CIRA’s Internet Performance Tool.
But today, our friends at CIRA (Canadian Internet Registration Authority) have partnered with NCIX, a major Canadian retailer of computer components, to bring you an awesome contest – and we thought you might want to know about it.
Cellphone Freedom Day! On June 3 you’ll be able to end your 3-year-contract for free
Starting June 3, three year contracts which have run or 24 months or more can be cancelled without any penalties. Together, we helped make this code of conduct happen by developing our crowdsourced action plan for the future of our wireless market.
Alphabeatic: Canada still leads in high wireless prices
Wireless savings? Not for now. Canadians' wallets are still hurting.
Article by Peter Nowak for Alphabeatic
With the CRTC’s decision this week to forego implementing rules that would have allowed small companies to share the networks of bigger players, the regulator and government are both now pinning their hopes for wireless savings on newer competitors building infrastructure that’s strong enough to challenge the likes of Bell, Rogers and Telus.
Australians to Canadians: Beware TPP economic fallout
Over 125,000 people - including tens of thousands of Canadians - have now spoken out about the damaging Internet censorship proposals in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). We know from leaked drafts all about how the TPP would make your Internet more expensive, censored, and policed.
Now, our friends in Australia are sounding the alarm about how the TPP could wreak havoc on Canada’s economy. Australians know well the economic damage that unbalanced and extreme Internet censorship rules can cause. Australia was forced to adopt extreme copyright rules as part of the Australia-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (AUSFTA) - rules which caused over $80 million dollars worth of damage to the Australian economy.
Nowak: Is the CRTC really citizen-friendly?
Canadians have been speaking out and decision-makers at the CRTC have been listening. We've been heard in gathering feedback for a new wireless code, stopping the initial takeover bid from Big Telecom Bell, and increasing transparency of network costs.
But Big Telecom bureaucrats are attempting to influence decisions back in their favour – a setback that would be felt by Canadians nationwide. Help promote an open and transparent CRTC that is focused on public interest, share our Action Plan with your MP at OpenMedia.ca/Plan.
Article by Pete Nowak
Relatively new CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais was on a tear last week, proclaiming from every rooftop that there’s a new wind a-blowin’ at the regulator. It’s out with the old ways of doing business, where big businesses were all that mattered, and in with consumers, the every-day Joes that the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission is supposed to protect and look out for.
After so many years of rubber-stamping anti-consumer moves by those big corporations – usage-based billing, anyone? – and muddying up potentially pro-consumer developments (remember Wind Mobile?), the new stance is refreshing to hear.
Your Voices Were Heard: ITU Makes Important Step Towards Transparency
We’ve had some major victories lately in making sure that the rules around telecommunications keep public interest at the centre. You recently spoke out against Bell’s attempted takeover of Astral Media, and the CRTC listened, denying Bell and demonstrating its new citizen-centred focus.
Today we’ve had some more great news about progress we’re making on an international level—because of the pressure you’ve put on your national representatives, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has decided to make all the proposals for its December negotiations public!
The Internet freedom community—including citizens and organizations from around the world—has been speaking out about the closed nature of these negotiations, and demanding the multi-stakeholder input and public consultation that is so desperately needed in negotiations that could change the way the Internet works.
The Globe and Mail: The high costs of Arctic broadband
Canadians in the north are on the brink of a digital divide as aging networks, service outages and prohibitive costs all continue to affect everyday communications services. It's a struggle that is attributed to a dominant monopoly by Northwestel – a Bell subsidiary – that has been criticized in the past for mismanaging government funding.
We've put together an Action Plan to remedy this digital disconnect, working to establish an open and affordable Internet for all. Learn more and share it with your MP at OpenMedia.ca/Plan.
Article by Peter Nowak for The Globe and Mail:
When Peter Jackson was making The Lord of the Rings trilogy, his iPod racked up some serious frequent-flyer miles. The device journeyed around the world multiple times as the director shuttled music for the films between his home and shooting locations in New Zealand and his studio in London.
With the high cost of Internet bandwidth in New Zealand at the time, it was the only realistic way to move the data around. Over the course of production, Jackson sent 1.5 terabytes of data back and forth via courier. Each trip, carrying 30 gigabytes, took about two days. The process added lengthy delays to the production of the films, which would go on to win multiple Academy Awards.
More than a decade later, Canadians and businesses in the north know the director’s pain. Poor services and especially high prices are interfering with their ability to join the rest of the world’s burgeoning digital economy.
Geist: Setting the Stage for the Next Decade of Open Access
A group of researchers from around the world have been discussing a plan for 'open access'. Their goal is one that would remove barriers to obtaining educational materials online so that the worldwide community could benefit from shared research and knowledge.
Education is one of the many reasons that the pro-Internet community is coming together to campaign for access, transparency and accountability. What Internet possibilities are you fighting for?
Article by Michael Geist
Ten years ago, sixteen experts from around the world gathered in Budapest, Hungary to discuss the how the Internet was changing the way researchers could disseminate their work. The group hatched a plan to "accelerate research, enrich education, share the learning of the rich with the poor and the poor with the rich, make this literature as useful as it can be, and lay the foundation for uniting humanity in a common intellectual conversation and quest for knowledge."
Huffington Post: Netflix exec says “Canadians have almost third-world access to the Internet”
Big telecom companies across Canada are continuing to employ 'usage-based billing', an punitive billing practice that restricts data allowances. Though many of you fought back against UBB via the Stop The Meter campaign—you prevented it from being imposed across the entire Internet service market—Big Telecom continues to use it to price-gouge Canadians.
Tell the CRTC that we want a full and comprehensive review of Big Telecom's Internet rates and hidden fees at PriceHike.ca. Together, we can put an end to this deceptive data pricing.
A recent study suggests that some 10 per cent of Canadians now use the streaming video service Netflix. But the company evidently believes it could be doing better — and providing a better service to Canadians — were it not for Canada’s internet service providers.
Article by Daniel Tencer for Huffington Post Canada
“It’s almost a human rights violation what they’re charging for internet access in Canada,” Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos told a conference in Los Angeles last week, as quoted by GigaOM.
“The problem in Canada is … they have almost third-world access to the internet,” he added in an interview a day later.
At the heart of the matter for Netflix is "usage-based billing," or limiting the amount subscribers can download per month, a practice some Canadian ISPs put into place at roughly the same time that Netflix was preparing its move into the Canadian market. Some ISPs that already had caps lowered those limits in response to Netflix's arrival.
The CRTC made a priority list – We’re checking it twice
The CRTC is making attempts to emphasize affordability, access and a focus on citizen issues with a revised priorities document that was released late last week. By shifting towards an outlook that keeps the best interests of Canadians first and foremost, rather than heeding to corporate industry-defined mandates, the CRTC is recognizing that we should have a say in the future of our communications.
This reaction by the CRTC is the result of numerous actions by Canadians nationwide in staying engaged, informed and vocal about these issues. We'll have to ensure that the CRTC isn't trying to simply adopt our language to placate us without following through on these promises – it's up to us to make sure they walk the talk. Let's start this push now with StopTheTakeover.ca and let's tell the CRTC to stop corporate interests from diluting Canadian communications.
Article from MichaelGeist.ca
The Canadian communications world is focused this week on the proposed merger between Bell and Astral Media as the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission holds its much-anticipated hearing on the issue in Montreal. While the merger takes centre stage, the Commission may have upstaged the process last Thursday by releasing a detailed priorities document that covers the next three years.
My weekly technology law column notes that with Jean-Pierre Blais installed as the new CRTC chair and the Conservatives emboldened by majority government, the Commission's priorities send a message of change in Canadian communications policy. The days of emphasizing Canadian content rules or legislative overhauls are over, replaced by a consumer-oriented focus on affordable access to both content and connectivity services.
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