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Copyright Crackdown | Weekly News Update from OpenMedia.ca
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Here's Lindsey with your update:
Copyright crackdowns and threats on a global scale are threatening free expression and access to information via the open Internet. Stand with OpenMedia.ca as we amplify your voices to push back; become an Ally or monthly contributor today.
Happy Holidays from all of us at OpenMedia.ca!
Recent News
Why I support OpenMedia: Sue's story
We asked our community to share stories about why they support our work as part of our yearly December Allies Drive. Sue, an OpenMedia Ally, had this to say:
"For me, OpenMedia speaks to hope for a more humanitarian and democratic world, and a sense that I can be part of that. I think the Internet is a powerful tool for democracy."
Join Sue as an OpenMedia Ally in making a monthly contribution at OpenMedia.ca/Allies and read more of your stories. Read more »
Why I support OpenMedia: Your stories
As part of our yearly December Allies Drive, we reached out to you – our OpenMedia community – to find out how you became engaged with our digital rights campaigns.
Now, we're telling your stories as ours continues to take shape. Please take a moment to read through these stories about what compels Canadians to stay engaged with digital policy, and share your reasons for joining us as a supporter and member of the pro-Internet community.
Please help us continue to amplify your voice. Join OpenMedia as a monthly contributor at OpenMedia.ca/Allies. Read more »
Huffington Post: The fight for Canadians' personal information heads to court
Independent ISP TekSavvy has been granted additional time to notify Canadians that they could soon be implicated as part of an ongoing copyright crackdown. Although TekSavvy is not a defendant in the ongoing court case, it's re-assuring to see efforts made by a service provider to help Canadians understand and prepare for any charges filed.
Learn more about these latest developments at The Huffington Post and read about the copyright laws that are infringing upon Canadian privacy in our blog post.
Article by J. David Ellis for The Huffington Post
Heading down to court Monday morning, I was concerned I might be late to get a seat for the Voltage hearing. I had my iPhone ready to record protestors and general ruckus. But Guy Fawkes was a no-show. I arrived to find the courtroom eerily quiet and half-empty. Read more »
This email is your last chance to support our work at this crucial time. We are so close to hitting our goal of $30,000 for matching funds from indie ISPs Distributel and Teksavvy, but we won’t get there without your help.
Please join us as an Ally now before our special matching funds program ends.
We’re the organization standing up for you against Big Telecom companies and repressive regimes who seek to make the Internet more costly, controlled, and closed. We are only successful because of people like you; with your help, we keep fighting for Internet freedom—and winning—against impossible odds. Let’s not stop now. Read more »
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. Read more »
Our submission, your voices: Cell phone horror stories in action at the CRTC
Our job at OpenMedia.ca is to amplify citizens voices in the fight for our digital future. So when Canadians took action and told your tales at CellPhoneHorrorStory.ca, we listened and used your comments to inform our crowdsourced submission to the CRTC’s proceeding on a national code of conduct to protect cell phone users. You can check out the submission, which we filed jointly with our friends at CIPPIC, on our site here.
We also sent your stories directly to the CRTC, and expect commissioners to take the time to read each one.
To those who told a cell phone story: thank you so much. Your efforts will make the CRTC aware of the real human consequences of our broken cell phone market – it’s hugely important in getting the rules we need to ensure Canadians get fair treatment. Your voices will also push back against Big Telecom using the process to weaken existing protections. Read more »
Governments Boycott the New Internet Rules of the ITU
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. Read more »
What I told those behind the biggest threat to Internet freedom: The Trans-Pacific Partnership
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. Read more »
Huffington Post: Is Canada about to sell out on copyright law?
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. Read more »
Topics: Weekly News Update
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