Yesterday saw Syria's Internet and mobile communications 'shut off' from the outside world. If repressive regimes have their way at next week's ITU discussions, this restrictive governance of Internet use could be legitimized and applied to citizens worldwide. Join us alongside a multi-national coalition of pro-Internet organizations in speaking out at ProtectInternetFreedom.net. Read more on this story regarding Syria's Internet blackout.

According to Internet freedom group European Digital Rights, provisions that would criminalize our Internet use may be dropped from the Canada-EU Trade Agreement (CETA)! While the battle isn’t over yet, this is a huge step forward for the Internet freedom community and the thousands of Canadians who shouted down the same provisions in July of this year, when they were part of the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). European Digital Rights has seen leaked documents showing a proposal to delete the criminal sanctions section of CETA; this has been supported by many EU Member States. As a result, it looks like the removal of restrictive, ACTA-like intellectual property provisions will be a central part of Europe’s negotiations with Canada.

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.

A closed-door meeting to be held next month will determine if your Internet use will become governed by a UN agency – the ITU – in imposing greater controls and limiting personal expression. In response, we've assembled a multi-national coalition of organizations and citizens to express their rights to Internet freedom. Learn more about who's involved and add your voice to this global movement to ProtectInternetFreedom.net. Article by Paola Totaro and Claire Connelly for News Limited Network An unfettered internet, free of political control and available to everyone could be relegated to cyber-history under a contentious proposal by a little known United Nations body. Experts claim that political and religious websites could disappear if the Federal Government backs a plan to hand control over the internet to the UN's International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

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.

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.

Canada has officially joined the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, and has done so as a second-tier partner, meaning that we have had to accept, sight-unseen, the provisions that have already been negotiated. As Ottawa law professor Michael Geist put it in an interview with the Vancouver Sun, “just by entering into discussions we have effectively agreed to a number of conditions the government hasn’t even told us about”. A while back, when we were raising awareness about the potential impact of the TPP on copyright legislation in Canada, we highlighted a great article from Infojustice.org that breaks down how exactly our long-fought-over copyright bill C-11 would be changed by our agreement to the treaty, according to a leaked TPP document.

The federal privacy commissioner is speaking out against websites collecting personal information and data, but a larger threat to Canadian Internet privacy still exists in the form of the Online Spying Bill C-30. Learn how this warrantless legislation could invade your Internet use at StopSpying.ca and read more about this story at CBC.ca.

We at OpenMedia are proud, this year, to be a part of a coalition of more than 150 organizations that share a common goal: freedom, not fear. Every September, the Freedom Not Fear Coalition meets in many different places around the world to reinforce the push for fundamental rights like privacy, free expression, due process, and democratic participation. So how does that fit in with OpenMedia’s mandate to protect the open Internet? In short, as the Freedom Not Fear website puts it, because “we want freedom of speech in a digitalized world and a free and uncensored Internet to express ourselves”.

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."

The many provisions within the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement include a copyright chapter that could severely impact everyday Internet use. Fines would be administered, content and entire websites would be removed and your private data could become compromised. Read on for an interview with Professor Michael Geist that helps to address Canadian concerns on this controversial Internet Trap, and sign and share our petition at StopTheTrap.net. Article by Carolina Rossini of Electronic Frontier Foundation Canada had been lobbying to enter the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, and its efforts were seemingly paid off with an exclusive invite to the secretive nine-country trade agreement in June. There is no doubt that the TPP will affect many areas of the Canadian economy from agriculture to manufacturing, but the agreement would also regulate intellectual property rights and that could have big consequences for Internet users’ freedoms.