Steve Anderson's blog

There are rumours circulating about the government's online spying bill C-30 as of late, but PR aside, the government has NOT pulled the legislation, and it has failed to make any firm commitments to make substantive changes. As it stands, Bill C-30 is still alive in Parliament, including sections that allow a range of "authorities" to access the personal information of any Canadian, at any time, without a warrant.

By speaking through anonymous sources in the Globe and Mail, the government has shown that it is still trying to use PR tactics to avoid honouring our request to formally commit to removing the problematic aspects of this bill—it is warrantless, costly, and will have detrimental effects on Canadians' privacy rights. Read more »

In our endless pursuit for total transparency, we decided to start a page on our website that spells out how OpenMedia.ca and the pro-Internet community operate. We want your input: check out the page and let us know what you think in the comments section, or on Facebook, Twitter, Google +, or Reddit.

As you can probably tell, this movement for an open and affordable Internet is about a community as a whole that does most of the heavy lifting, rather than just the small team at OpenMedia.ca. That’s why we really want to know what you think. We’re all part of something new here, and defining and coming up with a language for how we operate should itself be a community-driven process.

We started a page describing how OpenMedia.ca operates because several politicians we’ve met seemed confused by our organization and community identity. Journalists are also often unclear as to how to describe us. And, of course, Big Telecom and their paid proxies try to use this misunderstanding to their advantage by hanging whatever frame over us that benefits their self-interested quest for control over the Internet and our wallets. Read more »

After all this time, all the outcry from Canadians, all the reports from legal and privacy experts, and all the political pushback, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews is still up to his old PR tricks. Don't let Toews get away with misleading Canadians about online spying. Visit http://openmedia.ca/StandWithUs and tell your MP to stand with Canadians.

Have you tried ConglomerMate? If you have, you and your loved one should also try making the switch from Big Telecom.

The No Internet Lockdown petition made its way into Parliament today. NDP MP Andrew Cash mentioned to petition and the public outcry in the Committee meeting.

Here's a new resource to educate your friends and family about the government's online spying plan (There's a larger version below). Share it around the web along with these links:

• Tell Vic Toews to do the right thing by signing the petition at http://stopspying.ca.
• Take a second to tell your MP to come out against the government's warrantless online spying plan at http://openmedia.ca/mp
• Find more ways to get involved at http://openmedia.ca/stopspying/resources