The TPP is on its last legs – but why not finish it off? Trudeau should take a stand and reject the TPP.

OpenMedia will be intervening in a landmark case at the Supreme Court of Canada – defending the free expression of Internet users across the globe.

Get a glimpse of what our Digital Action Team has been working on at OpenMedia in our new blog series.

It’s incredible what we achieve together.

The rise of a controversial practice called ‘zero-rating’ has Internet freedom advocates worried about the future of the open Web and innovation. Find out why.

With your support we've been able to share your cell phone horror stories with decision-makers at the CRTC, bring your messages directly to officials behind the TPP, and continue in amplifying Canadian voices on an international level. Cory Doctorow, co-editor of Boing Boing and digital rights activist, had this to say: "At a time when Canada's regulators are asleep at the wheel, when giant telcos and the US Trade Representative's interests are getting more play than the Canadian public's desperate need for open, fair, and fast networks, OpenMedia is an indispensable and tireless fighter for justice and balance." Let us continue to work for you by making a contribution to OpenMedia at OpenMedia.ca/Allies.

It’s been a whirlwind week at the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) negotiations as member states scrambled to reach some kind of consensus on the updates to the ITU’s telecom rules by the deadline. As we’ve noted before, some states are intent on using the negotiations to expand the powers of the ITU and legitimize undemocratic practices like Internet surveillance and censorship. Internet content regulation isn’t within the current scope of the ITU’s powers, and some nations like the U.S. and Canada have been strongly resisting any language that expands these powers. That all changed this past week, with a ‘temperature-taking’ (not a ‘vote’, but sort of might have actually been a vote) on a new resolution to “foster the enabling environment for the greater growth of the Internet.” Access explains that this appeared to be an attempt at compromise, where “all references to the internet would be cut out of the actual text... on the condition that this resolution passed instead.” However this shift towards explicitly recognizing the authority of the ITU over Internet content led Canada, among many nations, to refuse to sign the final draft of the treaty.

Thanks to all of you who have joined us at OpenMedia in our campaigns, last Friday I had the opportunity to address some of the lead bureaucrats and lobbyists behind the threat to Internet freedom that is the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). My goal was to bring the voices of Internet users to their attention and to demonstrate that citizens are watching en masse. I told these TPP decision-makers that citizens are not going to let them make our Internet more expensive, restricted, and surveilled just to protect Big Media’s outdated business model. I even went so far as to pass around an iPad that displayed a stream of your comments. I made sure it was clear: if lobbyists and bureaucrats are going to try to make new rules for the Internet behind closed doors, we’ll push back and bring open citizen participation to them. I’ll have a more detailed report-back shortly, but for now I’ve posted the script and slides of my presentation below. I hope you like it.

The latest round of talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership may have concluded, but the controversy continues on the effects the TPP may have on Canadians' Internet use. When we presented your comments and messages from OpenTheTPP.net directly to TPP lobbyists last week, Canada's chief negotiator refused to comment on whether the TPP would overwrite current copyright laws. The silence and secrecy surrounding this devastating trade agreement needs to end. Join us in speaking out at StopTheTrap.net and stay tuned for a full report-back of OpenMedia's presentation to TPP officials. Article by Daniel Tencer for The Huffington Post A prominent consumers’ advocate says he’s worried Canada will sell out its new copyright law in favour of tough new restrictions on consumers as part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. Steve Anderson, executive director of OpenMedia, says Canada’s chief negotiator at the TPP talks, Kirsten Hillman, would not answer a question on whether Canada would fight to maintain the copyright policies it put into effect earlier this year.

Another round of talks has concluded on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a secretive trade agreement that could criminalize everyday Internet use, confiscate online data and give more power to corporate lobbyists. With Canada having joined the TPP as a 'second-tier' status member, it's clear that our government has little to gain but Canadians have much to lose. Join us in speaking out against the TPP's Internet trap at StopTheTrap.net. We're working hard to amplify Canadians' voices, but we need your help to continue. Please consider making a contribution to OpenMedia.ca at OpenMedia.ca/Allies and let's move forward together. Article by Michael Geist Despite growing opposition in Canada, Ottawa has begun formal participation in the Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations, aimed at establishing one of the world’s most ambitious trade agreements. As nearly a dozen countries — including the United States, Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Mexico and Vietnam — gathered in New Zealand last week for the 14th round of talks, skeptics here have already expressed doubts about the benefits of the proposed deal. Canada has free-trade agreements with the United States, Mexico, Chile and Peru, leaving just six countries — currently representing less than 1 per cent of Canadian exports — as the net gain.

Independent Internet Service Provider TekSavvy has announced that an American film studio is demanding personal information of its Canadian customers – a motion that follows recent changes to Canadian copyright law. In response, TekSavvy is taking a stance that aims to protect Canadian privacy – stating that it will not provide personal information without a court order. Help encourage this protection of Canadians' privacy in making the switch to an independent ISP at OpenMedia.ca/Switch. Join us in becoming a monthly contributor to OpenMedia at OpenMedia.ca/Allies. Article by Daniel Tencer for Huffington Post An independent internet service provider popular with tech geeks in central Canada is warning that it has been asked to hand over personal information about customers in advance of a potential file-sharing lawsuit, and it’s telling its customers they may want to lawyer up. Chatham, Ont.-based TekSavvy says it has received a request from Hollywood production company Voltage Pictures to identify the people behind 2,000 IP addresses which the company presumably suspects of unauthorized file-sharing.

A secretive trade agreement known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is again being negotiated this week in closed-door discussions – seeking to introduce invasive copyright legislation to everyday Internet use. Let the lobbyists and bureaucrats behind the TPP know that citizens worldwide rightfully deserve a seat at the table. Learn more about what's hidden within the TPP and speak out at StopTheTrap.net. Article by Geoff Cumming for The New Zealand Herald If you think opponents of the Trans Pacific Partnership are typically anti-free trade/anti-globalisation conspiracy theorists, consider these unlikely bedfellows: librarians, software exporters, researchers, book lovers, fans of DVDs, media creatives and people who download music. The negotiations for a trade deal covering 11 Pacific nations have managed to unite these apparently unconnected sectors in alarm. Most likely, they include you and me - everything and everyone is connected in the digital age. The United States' wish list for the agreement includes a tighter regulatory regime for intellectual property (chiefly copyright and patent laws), which interest groups say could tie them - and us - in a dense legal web, affecting everything from our use of the internet and access to music, books and films to the fast-growing software development sector.

At the ongoing International Telecommunications Union discussions, a top-secret proposal called 'Deep Packet Inspection' – or DPI for short – has been approved. This DPI standard has been adopted despite criticism that it could accelerate censorship in repressive nations and allow for online eavesdropping on a global scale. We need to speak out to ensure that these new standards aren't used to legitimize Internet surveillance and censorship online. Join us in adding your name to our campaign to ProtectInternetFreedom.net. Article by Emmanuel Dunand for RT News Members of the United Nation’s International Telecommunications Union (ITU) have agreed to work towards implementing a standard for the Internet that would allow for eavesdropping on a worldwide scale. At a conference in Dubai this week, the ITU members decided to adopt the Y.2770 standard for deep packet inspection, a top-secret proposal by way of China that will allow telecom companies across the world to more easily dig through data passed across the Web.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) discussions are underway – leaving citizens worldwide to question the motivations of some of the countries involved. These discussions could lead to strict Internet governance, increased access costs and an erosion of human rights online. Send a message directly to ITU delegates at ProtectInternetFreedom.net/Stand. Read more on the ITU discussions getting underway and what's at stake for your Internet use in an article at The National Post.

The secretive and restrictive Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) is nearing its 15th round of negotiations, which will be held from December 3-12 in Auckland, New Zealand. This will be the first round of negotiations that Canadian and Mexican representatives will be attending since they signed onto the negotiations in October. The TPP could allow Big Media conglomerates to filter content, block websites, and fine consumers, and so far the negotiations have largely shut out citizen input. So in order to make sure your voices are heard, we launched a petition, and then a few months ago we developed a tool that would allow you to voice your opinions about this undemocratic attempt to restrict the Internet. You responded in droves, speaking up for Internet freedom and sending in your comments on the negotiations. First we took the petition signatures to a lead TPP negotiator, then we projected citizen comments on the walls inside the TPP’s “stakeholder engagement” session. Now, we’re scaling up even further, by going to the TPP negotiations in person to read out your comments.

Repressive regimes could gain dominant control over the Internet following next month's ITU discussions. This would mean greater surveillance over everyday online activity, more expensive access costs, and strict censorship that would have governments deciding what citizens can or cannot see. But what exactly is the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and how would it affect your Internet use? Check out this video by ProtectInternetFreedom.net coalition partners Fight For The Future and Accessnow.org to help provide some insight into how the ITU is putting your Internet freedom at risk.

What do you get when you round up an enthusiastic group of digital rights experts, online innovators and advocates of Net Freedom – all with the purpose of taking any and all questions from members of the Internet community? If yesterday’s Ask Me Anything (AMA) on Reddit is to be any indication, this arrangement of opinions creates an engaging, provoking and open-ended conversation. It was a discussion that worked to unite the Internet Freedom movement and invoke action to be taken against the counter-intuitive Internet restrictions of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement. Along with OpenMedia.ca’s Steve Anderson and Reilly Yeo answering questions from the Reddit community, we were joined by our StopTheTrap.net coalition partners at EFF, Public Knowledge, Electronic Frontiers Australia, Public Citizen and InternetNZ.

We're on Reddit today from 9AM - 7PM EST talking about Internet freedom, the Trans-Pacific Partnership and what comes next for our StopTheTrap.net campaign. Throughout the day, we'll be joined by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, Professor Michael Geist and various digital rights experts from Electronic Frontier Foundation, Public Knowledge, InternetNZ, Electronic Frontiers Australia, Public Citizen and more. See here for a full list of participants and a session schedule. Join in the conversation and share your ideas on how we can reach more people with the crucial StopTheTrap.net campaign.

With Canada formally joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade negotiations last week, invasive copyright provisions could cost Canadians in having their personal data compromised, online access restricted and Internet actions criminalized. Join over 115,000 people worldwide in speaking out for Internet freedom at StopTheTrap.net. Article by Jesse Brown for Macleans Yesterday, Heritage Minister James Moore announced that Canada has formally joined the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a group that is discussing a major trade agreement among us and Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the U.S., and Vietnam. The deal is at the negotiation stage now, but all countries at the table are expected to sign in late 2013.

Canada has now been formally admitted into the closed-door negotiations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade agreement that could lead to harsh Internet restrictions and severe fines for everyday citizens. Learn more about the TPP and how it could affect your Internet use at StopTheTrap.net. Article by Gillian Shaw for The Vancouver Sun Canada has officially joined Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations, a move that Canadian Internet advocates say could result in harsh restrictions on Internet use in Canada and leave ordinary citizens facing heavy fines and banishment from the online world over accusations of copyright infringement.

Last week we encouraged you all to vote in the 2012 CIRA Board of Directors election, to ensure that the five seats up for grabs would be filled by candidates who will push for improvements in Canadian digital policy. The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (or CIRA), is a non-profit organization that manages the dot-ca registry and addresses the day-to-day challenges facing Canada's Internet. It has considerable resources that could be spent on public interest activities and ensuring that Canadians have open and affordable options for Internet access.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free-trade agreement is being negotiated by a number of Pacific Rim countries, including the United States, Canada and Australia. Hidden within the TPP text is a chapter concerning copyright laws that could drastically change your everyday use of the Internet. Speak out at StopTheTrap.net and let your voice be heard alongside +110,000 members of the pro-Internet community.

As a post-partisan organization, we celebrate when any of our political parties take action to stand up for Internet freedom. The Green Parties of Canada, New Zealand and Australia are uniting in speaking out against the restricting Internet provisions within the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement. It's a statement that we hope to see become a continued dialogue for our government representatives. Help speak out and spread the word at StopTheTrap.net. Let's ensure that governments worldwide are aware that we don't trust our Internet's future being signed away to a group of lobbyists and corporations. Statement from Green Party of Canada: The Green Party of Canada spoke out against the TPP’s Internet trap through a firm statement calling the TPP the “end of a free Internet”. We issued the statement with Green Parties of New Zealand, and Australia.

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."