Internet Freedom Day | Weekly News Update from OpenMedia.ca

Hello! Here's Lindsey with your update:

Friday, January 18th will mark the first-ever Internet Freedom Day! The global pro-Internet community will commemorate the life of one of our community's most dedicated pioneers, and celebrate the one-year anniversary of the SOPA blackout.

Stay tuned for how you can join the celebration, 

- The OpenMedia.ca Team

Recent News

WE NEED A MORE COMPETITIVE CELL PHONE MARKET.

With three big telecom companies controlling 92% of the Canadian mobile market, Canadians have been dissatisfied long enough for a separate group, the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services, to have been created a few years ago.

This lack of choice is unacceptable and harmful for users. Demand more choice, better prices, and more opportunities at http://cellphoneorrorstory.ca

Article by Nelson Bennett for Business in Vancouver: Read more »

THE GOVERNMENT’S BROKEN PROMISE OF A DIGITAL STRATEGY FOR CANADA

Every time you open your high-priced telecom bills, think about how the government still doesn't have a plan for an affordable, accessible digital future. Help shape that future, and tell your MP that Canadians deserve better - send the citizen-centric OpenMedia.ca action plan to your MP now: http://openmedia.ca/repor. Read more »

INSPIRED BY AARON SWARTZ

“I think everyone should be inspired by what this one young person has been able to accomplish in his short life. Beyond that, I think the takeaway from this incident is that allowing old bureaucracies to impose punishments and restrictions on the emerging participatory economy and society creates tangible, if hidden, personal and social costs. ... Aaron took on a disproportionate amount of those costs, and his passing is emblematic of the fact that we can no longer sit by and allow this to continue.” -- Steve Anderson, executive director of OpenMedia.ca Read more »

TELL THE CRTC WHAT YOU THINK OF YOUR CELLPHONE MARKET.

The CRTC is holding a hearing on February 11 about a national code of conduct for cell phone companies. We’re creating a report for the hearing and we need your help again.

Share your service, contract, or fees horror story at www.cellphonehorrostory.ca. We’ll include them in the report and take your issues directly to the CRTC. Let’s make this national code work for us! Read more »

YOU'RE INSPIRING

What does the Internet mean to you? Connection to loved ones? Opportunity to succeed? Free expression?

Whatever the reason, you helped fight for Internet freedom, and you’ve become an inspiration to people all over the world.

Some are calling January 18th Internet Freedom Day. Let’s get started early by taking a moment to share these accomplishments with ..well... the Internet: Share this celebratory image on Facebook, Twitter, or Google +, or simply forward this email. Read more »

THE FIGHT FOR A BETTER MOBILE MARKET

Inga Sibga, a Montreal woman, launched a class action lawsuit against Big Telecom after being charged exorbitant roaming fees ($250!) while outside Canada.

Obviously we have a broken cell phone market—we at OpenMedia.ca need your help to highlight this situation in the upcoming CRTC hearing for a national cell phone code.

Tell us your idea for what to change in the current cell phone market, OR share your cell phone horror story at www.cellphonehorrorstory.ca.

Article by Laura Casella for CJAD: Read more »

WHAT DO YOU THINK COMES NEXT FOR 2013?

The Internet community faced many challenges in 2012 - threats to freedom of expression, access to information, and online privacy - meeting them head on and shared many successes.

Some of these challenges, like the TPP, remain. What do *you* think comes next for 2013? What issues and actions do you want to see? Let us know - our best ideas always come from our community.

Article by Zach Walton for Web Pro News: Read more »

UPDATE ON VOLTAGE’S “GUILTY BY ACCUSATION” CRUSADE

Late last year I wrote a blog post about how media outfit Voltage Pictures was trying to force indie ISP Teksavvy to hand over the private information of certain Canadians who, it alleged, used the Internet to violate its copyright. The court case resumes today with a motion by Voltage Pictures to have TekSavvy disclose the subscriber names and contact addresses associated with a list of 2000 IP addresses.

Since Teksavvy broke this news, there has a been a lively online debate about the situation. Blogger and advocate Jason Koblovsky, for one, has vocally called for Teksavvy to do more to prevent the information from being passed along. Regular readers will know that Jason helped lead some recent net neutrality battles as one of the co-founders of the Canadian Gamers Organization. We at OpenMedia.ca have collaborated with Jason and the Canadian Gamers Organization several times. Concerning this case, Jason’s position was backed up by IP lawyer Howard Knopf (see here, here, and here), and later notable media policy expert Dwayne Winseck (see here). Read more »

PRO-INTERNET GROUPS AND SUPPORTERS LIKE YOU HAVE KEPT US GOING

This December, hundreds of you joined OpenMedia as monthly donors through our Allies program, and over one thousand of you contributed with one-time donations. You answered the call to help us stay strong in 2013, and we couldn’t be more grateful. Thank you so much.

We at OpenMedia rely heavily on small individual contributions from our community, which allow us to keep fighting for Internet freedom, and to keep winning against seemingly impossible odds. Read more »

BELL'S SECOND POWER GRAB IS HERE

You helped stop the Bell-Astral takeover last year that would have given Bell a monopolistic share of the media market and harmed citzen choice. Now, Bell is making a second power grab at Astral Media. The media giant hopes for “abbreviated hearings” (i.e., less citizen input) this time around. Speak out against this Big Telecom power grab at http://StoptheTakeover.ca.

Article by Steve Ladurantaye for The Globe and Mail: Read more »

STREET TEAMS TAKE ACTION TO AMPLIFY VOICES

OpenMedia.ca launched the Street Team program last summer in Metro Vancouver in an effort to help pro-Internet supporters take action in their local communities. Within a few short months 14 volunteers have participated in nine local actions, hosted two petition drives, generated media coverage, and forced a Conservative MP to respond publicly to constituents’ opposition to online spying Bill C-30, “Lawful Access.”

Through local actions they’ve successfully brought together ardent open and surveillance-free Internet supporters and made our community stronger.

Case in point: On Monday, December 10th, a group of OpenMedia.ca Street Team volunteers (Awna Besan, Chelsea Noel, Sydney Ball, Jessica Chang, and Laura Mitchell) active in the West Vancouver area presented 354 StopSpying.ca signatures to the office of Hon. John Weston (West Vancouver - Sunshine Coast - Sea to Sky Country) in a coordinated campaign to put pressure on the Conservative MP. Read more »