OpenMedia.ca

Thoughts on the new Acting Chair at the CRTC

The CRTC, Canada’s telecom regulator, announced today that Vice Chair Len Katz will serve as their Acting Chairman until the government appoints a new Chair. This is not a surprising choice, as Katz has been the CRTC Vice Chair since 2007.

Outgoing Chair Konrad von Finckenstein had his ups and his downs, but since last year has changed in a way that is really quite notable. The CRTC has a history of caving to industry pressure and forgetting to fully consider the impact their decisions have on the Canadian public. But in an interview with the Canadian Press last week, von Finckenstein acknowledged that the telecommunications industry “has a huge social impact and that affects us all.”

The article where this appears goes on to say, “Von Finckenstein has some advice for the new boss: keep your independent wits about you and don't get co-opted by big business.” Read more »

New BCCLA report highlights widespread abuse of online spying powers internationally

With its proposed online spying bills, the government is seeking to provide “authorities” with access to your personal electronic information without a warrant. That’s right folks, apparently judicial oversight, that fundamental pillar of democracy, is not needed when it comes to online surveillance. Indeed, according to Harper, we won’t be requiring any accountability measures whatsoever.

You will not have the right to know how these online spying tools are being used or if you have ever been the subject of state surveillance. These substantial powers will be wielded in secret and we are simply supposed to trust that the police, security agents and bureaucrats will not overstep their boundaries, ever. And what’s more, we are still waiting for evidence to suggest that the legal powers law enforcement agents already possess are insufficient. Read more »

Huffington Post: Interview with CRTC Chair shows shift in priorities from Big Telecom's to Canadians' interests

From Huffington Post:

The time has come, von Finckenstein says, to face facts: the old separation of telecom and broadcasting is obsolete. He advocates a single act to cover both sectors and a single regulator for broadcasting, telecom and even wireless spectrum — an area currently managed by Industry Canada.

"Whether you talk, whether you send video, whether you send a fax, an email ... it's just bits that are being sent over the same wire," he said in an interview. "That has completely changed our traditional definition of broadcasting and telecom. It's now essentially the same thing.

"It's time to review this legislation, it's 20 years old. We want a system that carries bits, carries them efficiently and gives Canadians as much access as possible." Read more »

Using the Internet to save the Internet: The SOPA success story

It's clear: online action can be hugely effective when people participate and spread the word. We know this from experience, and from something unprecedented that happened this week. Over 13 millon people and over 70,000 websites—including Wikipedia, Google, and Reddit—stood up against SOPA, a piece of U.S. legislation that would have done a lot of damage to free expression and innovation online. We at OpenMedia.ca also blacked out our site and set up an online action.

The protest succeeded in changing political opinion, and effectively stopping SOPA. Our fight can succeed too.

The fight against SOPA was a success; our fight will be too. The Stop The Squeeze campaign, for one, is growing at an amazing rate. Be a part of the success to come by adding your name to the petition and spreading the word.

For those of you interested in hearing more about SOPA, here's an infographic that describes some incredible stats, and here's an article about the death of SOPA for your reading pleasure... Read more »