Canadians Shaping Campaigns: Weekly Update from OpenMedia.ca

Hey pro-Internet community,

Here's Lindsey with your update:

Thanks to you, Stop the Squeeze received a boost of support this week, when Indie cell phone provider Wind came out in support of the campaign. As well, we exposed the CACP's (Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police) sneaky crowdsourcing attempts to justify the invasive, warrantless online spying legislaion; see the release here. And yesterday, OpenMedia.ca joined other groups and websites in solidarity against SOPA — American legislation that stands to fundamentally alter the Internet, wordlwide. Visit http://openmedia.ca/Sopa for more info. 

For the Internet,

- The OpenMedia.ca Team

Recent News:

Nowak: Wireless spectrum set-asides are the way to go



By Peter Nowak


Ah, political opportunism – so easy to see, so disappointing to witness.
No sooner did Open Media start a petition for better wireless competition than the Liberals jumped in. The activist group’s latest effort, called Stop the Cellphone Squeeze, is urging the federal government to set aside spectrum licenses in an upcoming auction for new wireless companies. In plain English, they want big players Bell, Rogers and Telus barred from bidding on a certain portion of the airwaves that are necessary for cellphones to work.
As of this past weekend, the petition had amassed more than 35,000 signatures. Invisible Industry Minister Christian Paradis has said the rules for the auction will be unveiled “soon.” Read more »

Police Chiefs spend tax dollars to lobby for warrantless online surveillance


Police lobby sends a call-out amidst lingering questions about upcoming bills


January 18, 2011— The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) is scrambling to find ways to justify upcoming bills that would allow warrantless surveillance of law-abiding Canadians’ online private information, says pro-Internet group OpenMedia.ca.
OpenMedia.ca today released the contents of an message that the CACP recently sent to law enforcement officials, which asks them to provide examples, even those with “confidential operational information”, of situations in which current privacy provisions have hindered investigations. The CACP is attempting to counter what they call “ill-informed criticism” from the public in regards to the proposed legislation—known as the “Lawful Access” or “online spying” bills. Read more »

Canadians Join Internet Strike Against SOPA


U.S. Stop Online Piracy Act awakens dissenting Canadians


January 18, 2012— Pro-Internet organization OpenMedia.ca is joining groups in the U.S. and Canada in darkening its website, in an effort to raise awareness about upcoming American legislation called the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). OpenMedia.ca joins domain registrar Tucows, Identi, and Internet law expert Michael Geist in so doing.
OpenMedia.ca is also providing an online tool that allows Canadians to join their U.S. counterparts, and millions of people worldwide, in speaking out against controversial censorship bills.
SOPA is a U.S. bill designed to block websites based offshore that peddle illegal content, but many groups and prominent websites—including Wikipedia, Google, Amazon, and Reddit—argue that it would fundamentally reshape the Internet for the worse. Read more »

Toronto Star: Petition pushes for competition as mobile phone behemoths seek to gobble wireless spectrum



By Morgan Campbell for the Toronto Star


A grassroots organization is planning the biggest online petition in Canadian history, hoping to encourage the one thing they think can keep cellphone charges in check.
Competition among mobile phone providers.
When a new swathe of ultra-high frequency (UHF) spectrum goes up for auction later this year, it seems inevitable that Canada’s three mobile phone behemoths – Rogers, Bell and Telus – will gobble up most of it.
And that is exactly the problem, says a British Columbia-based Internet advocacy non-profit intent on making the bandwidth auction more accessible to smaller mobile providers. Read more »

Indie cell phone provider WIND supports Stop The Squeeze campaign



Since the launch of the Stop The Squeeze campaign, we've seen an amazing level of support! Most recently, indie cell phone provider WIND Mobile has shown their support in a post on their website. We're very excited to have their enthusiastic endorsement!


WIND is one of the companies that was allowed to enter Canada's cell phone market after the 2008 wireless spectrum auction, when the government used a framework that kept small companies and start-ups from being excluded. By setting aside spectrum from the Big Three mobile providers in that auction, the government managed to create the only competition Canada’s cell phone market has seen in decades. Read more »

Stop The Cap: Canada falls further behind in Internet speed and cost



Many people who have travelled outside the country have told us, and the statistics confirm: Canada is falling behind the rest of the industrialized world, and unless we take action, our digital future is looking dim.
Whether it's the lack of affordable access to high-speed Internet or to cell phones, our anticompetitive and oligopolistic communications marketplace (i.e. Big Telecom) is preventing Canada from reaching its potential. Stand up for Canada by signing & sharing our latest petition: 

http://StopTheSqueeze.ca/


Article by Phillip Dampier for Stop The Cap:


North America’s broadband rankings continue to take a beating at the expense of countries deploying fiber optic broadband. While the United States and Canada cope with aging landline technology and an uncompetitive marketplace that tells consumers they don’t need fiber-fast broadband speed, countries like Bulgaria, Lithuania and Estonia are lighting up 50-100Mbps networks that often charge lower prices than North Americans pay for 1-3Mbps DSL. Read more »

The Next Step To Stop High Cell Phone Bills



As you probably know by now, the Big Three cell phone giants are trying to shut independent competitors out from an upcoming wireless spectrum auction. Spectrum is crucial infrastructure for cell phone providers that want to compete in Canada, and if the Big Three succeed it will mean less choice in the cell phone market, higher monthly bills, and even worse customer service.


In response, we at OpenMedia.ca launched a campaign last week, which helps Canadians call on Industry Minister Christian Paradis to help level the playing field in the cell phone market. He can do this by setting aside spectrum (which is crucial for cell phone companies) for small independents and start-ups. Read more »

Watch out, Big 3: Canadians are making themselves heard



I looked at the stats, took a moment to mentally process what I was seeing, then promptly choked on my tea. The Stop The Squeeze kickoff was by far our most successful campaign launch ever. 
Before I write anything else, I have to say thank you. Pro-Internet community, you really rocked this one out. You took the initiative to add your names to the petition at http://StopTheSqueeze.caand spread the word, and many of you went so far as to tell usyour personal stories about price-gouging and disrespectful treatment from the Big 3 cell phone companies before the campaign launch. We at OpenMedia.ca strive to represent Canadians’ interests, engage with the pro-Internet community, and use our numbers to effect change in communications policy and law—your work makes ours a success. Read more »

Liberal Industry Critic Regan comes out in support of Stop The Cell Phone Squeeze Campaign



The Liberal Party's Industry Critic Geoff Regan is the first parliamentarian to express support for the Stop The Cell Phone Squeeze campaign. This is a great step forward, and we're glad to have the Liberals on board so early in the campaign.


In an open letter posted to his website, Regan spelled out his concerns about the high price of cell phone use in Canada:


In Canada the cost of wireless plans continues to remain significantly higher than in many other developed countries. Canada also lags many of those countries in terms of wireless penetration. Both of these facts suggest that our wireless marketplace still requires more companies providing more competition.

Regan went on to support Canadians' demand that spectrum space, which is crucial for cell phone providers, be set aside for start-ups and small businesses. Read more »

Postmedia: Internet openness complaints on the rise



By Sarah Schmidt for Postmedia News


Complaints against Internet providers deliberately slowing down online traffic are way up in Canada, according to the telecommunications regulator.


Fifty-two complaints have been filed since last fall, when the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission issued a public reminder to Internet service providers about the rules on controlling the flow of traffic on their networks.


The fresh consumer complaints outnumber those filed by Internet users over a two-year period following the release of CRTC's traffic management guidelines in October 2009. Up until the CRTC's notice last September, 51 complaints about net throttling were filed over this 24-month period, the CRTC says. Read more »


Privacy Commissioner Denham to join panelists at (un)Lawful Access screening & BCCLA report release


Event to bring attention to bills that would allow warrantless online spying


January 12, 2011—In response to the government’s proposed online spying bills OpenMedia.ca will host the Vancouver premiere of the mini-documentary (Un)Lawful Access: Canadian Experts on the State of Cyber-Surveillance on Thursday, January 12, at the W2 Media Cafe (111 W. Hastings St., Vancouver).


This event is more than just a screening: it will include a panel discussion featuring BC Privacy Commissioner Elizabeth Denham, and will serve as the launch of the BC Civil Liberties Association's much-anticipated report on online spying: Moving Toward a Surveillance Society – Proposals to Expand “Lawful Access” in Canada.


The report—considered the most comprehensive to date—puts the final nail in the coffin of the hotly contested online spying bills. Read more »

THE STORY BEHIND THE CELL PHONE SQUEEZE

More and more, Canadians are relying on cell phones to communicate and to access the Internet—but affordable cell phone access is under siege.

Yesterday, we at OpenMedia.ca wrote to Canadians, warning that the Big Three cell phone companies are about to take up even more of the crucial infrastructure that makes your mobile Internet access possible. How? They’re using a sleazy and misleading PR campaign to convince government to keep independents out of the game.

In response, we’ve launched our newest campaign, Stop The Squeeze. The petition calls on the Industry Minister to stand up against the Big Three, and bring choice and affordability to the cell phone market. Read more »