The Conservatives in Ottawa are trying to damage our economy again by destroying the internet. You know about SOPA and the insane propositions in the USA, but now those same media interests are doing the same pathetic actions up here. If you haven’t heard about Bill C-11 and live in Canada please read on!
Massive media conglomerates are lobbying the government to create shadowy legislation: an Internet lock-down, where Internet users are cut off for no good reason, where vast swaths of the Internet are removed or hidden from view, and where users are locked out of their own services.
A similar scheme in the US led to a huge public outcry forcing Big Media lobbyists to back off from their plan to impose the now-infamous SOPA and PIPA1 legislation.
Now, those lobbyists are turning to Canada through legislation like Bill C-11 and trade agreements called ACTA2 and TPP3. Internet law expert Michael Geist recently revealed that behind-the-scenes, Big Media is pushing for powers that include website blocking4, Internet termination for people that threaten their business interests5, and huge threats for sites that host user-generated content (like YouTube)6 in addition to the digital locks7 already in the Bill.
Taken together, these policies would fundamentally change the Internet, severely limit free expression, and hogtie innovators. This approach is backwards: it suffocates online choice and it’s patently unfair.
Politicians and policymakers have an opportunity to put Canada on the map as a leader in Internet openness and affordability. But they have to know that we’re behind them if they stand up to megacorporate lobbyists.
Tell the Prime Minister and the Industry Minister to say no to the Internet lockdown. →
To put things in a larger, global, context take a look at ACTA.