Rabble.ca's podcast of the Toronto Open Internet Town Hall:

http://www.rabble.ca/podcasts/shows/needs-no-introduction/2009/06/future...

Time to Protect Canada's Innovation Agenda is Now – Angus

OTTAWA— New Democrat Digital Affairs Critic Charlie Angus (Timmins—James Bay) has moved to get the issue of Net Neutrality onto the political agenda in Ottawa. Angus tabled Bill C-398 today, which will ensure the future development of the internet is not impeded by unfair throttling or interference by telecom giants.

Net neutrality has topped the list on the Liberal party's website Voice.liberal.ca where Canadians can vote on which issues matter most to them. Investing in Internet infrastructure is currently in 3rd place (http://voice.liberal.ca/pages/14699-on-probation).

The Liberal party created a website called Voice.liberal.ca where Canadians can let the party know which issues matter most to them. That net neutrality is at the top of the list indicates that Canadians want an open Internet and the government must take notice.

Many have noted that the CRTC’s public comment system is difficult to use and seems to be set up for organizations and businesses (“Stakeholders”) rather than the general public. We found our way around it by setting up an easy to use system that the public can use to fax their input to the CRTC.

Sign up today and participate in the future of the Internet! Engage in discussions with notable members within the social media community and discover different ways to get involved in saving the open Internet in Canada. Check out the Social Media Squad at http://www.saveournet.ca/socialmedia

USE THE INTERNET TO SAVE THE INTERNET!

President Obama's net neutrality plan aims to keep the Internet open and hold ISP's accountable! Obama's American Reinvestment and Recovery Act states that "billions of dollars set aside to connect Americans to broadband must be spent on services that meet 'nondiscrimination and network interconnection obligations'". The U.S. is moving forward on their promise to uphold the principles of net neutrality while here in Canada, we are stuck dragging our feet.

The U.S. is pushing in the right direction for Net Neutrality regulations...

President Obama on Tuesday nominated Julius Genachowski as the nation's top telecommunications regulator, picking a campaign advisor who has divided his career between Washington, D.C., political jobs and working as an Internet executive.

Genachowski had been mentioned as a likely candidate for the Federal Communications Commission post, in part because he participated in the Obama campaign's Internet efforts and previously worked as chief counsel to Democratic FCC Chairman Reed Hundt.

Read the rest: http://www.truthout.org/030409E

Union des consommateurs, a consumer's right defense group in Quebec, is looking for people across Canada who have been charged for premium services that they never subscribed to or for those who did subscribe, but were unable to stop the subscription (by sending STOP by SMS).

Please check out their Facebook group for more information: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=54334094935&ref=mf

Go to their website (in French): http://www.consommateur.qc.ca/union-des-consommateurs/?page_id=292

Contact
Anthony Hémond: hemond@consommateur.qc.ca
Yannick Labelle: labelle@consommateur.qc.ca
(514) 521-6820 ext. 240/253.

A great example of how we CAN win the fight against these big telecom companies...one technology at a time!

From the Vancouver Sun:

Bowing to pressure from Twitter and outraged Canadian users of the micro-blogging service, Bell has dropped its plan to charge a hefty 15-cent premium on every Twitter text message sent or received on a mobile phone or wireless communications device.

The premium was met with derision by Canadian mobile customers, who were particularly incensed because Twitter had earlier announced the Canadian service would be at no additional charge.

Read the rest here: http://www.vancouversun.com/News/Bell+backs+down+Twitter+text+premiums/1...

Although the submission deadline for comments to the CRTC has officially passed, it’s not too late for Canadians to make their voices heard!

The SaveOurNet.ca coalition is encouraging people to continue submitting their comments and concerns to the CRTC up until the traffic management hearing on July 6. We will include your comments in a dossier, which we plan to present to the CRTC at the hearing.

It is important to keep the momentum going, especially as so many Canadians are still unaware of what’s going on. As we continue to spread the word and broaden public knowledge around the issue of net neutrality, it is vital that people still have an available outlet through which they can voice their opinions.

We also encourage supporters to pass along information to social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, etc. and to take advantage of the information available on our site and pass it around:

Download and share:

Fact vs. Fiction Report http://saveournet.ca/sites/default/files/SON_FvF.pdf

SaveOurNet.ca Flyer http://democraticmedia.ca/sites/democraticmedia.ca/files/Net%20Neutralit...

Everyone deserves to have their say so let’s try to make sure that every voice is heard!

Make your submissions at: http://www.saveournet.ca/content/take-action

Join our Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=21133236326&ref=share

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/saveournet

CP24.com published the following story on net neutrality yesterday illustrating some key points of the net neutrality debate and providing insight from both Steve Anderson of SaveOurNet.ca and Bell Spokesperson Jacqueline Michelis.

"Public interest groups are calling on the CRTC to put a stop to the controversial practice known as bandwidth throttling -- the deliberate slowing down of Internet speeds by telecom companies.

By Monday, more than 5,000 web users had submitted complaints about the practice through SaveOurNet.ca, a web community focused on promoting net neutrality -- keeping online traffic free of corporate interference."

Read the rest of the article here: http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20090223/090223_internet_...

The NDP is showing their support today for SaveOurNet.ca's campaign to save online innovation and free speech:

"With the CRTC accepting public submissions on the issue of Net Neutrality, the NDP is urging Canadians to get involved and become aware of the issues at stake. Charlie Angus is championing the fight in the Canadian Parliament. He says the Canadian innovation agenda will be badly compromised if the CRTC gets it wrong on the issue of Net Neutrality."

Read the rest here:
http://www.charlieangus.net/newsitem.php?id=422&PHPSESSID=ded4ce98dad056...

Check this out: M-Lab, an open platform that aims to measure traffic-shaping and promises to function as a community-based effort.

http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/2009/01/introducing-measurement-l...

Today the U.S. based Internetforeveryone.org coalition released the following video with children calling for Obama to invest in Internet access for all. If Canada wishes to keep pace, we better start investing in infrastructure of our own!