Bells grab for internet control
- Details
- Published on Sunday, 29 November -0001 16:00
- Written by editor
Canada’s internet is free and open now -- but Bell, Rogers, Shaw, and Cineplex want to change that.
Will you help preserve net neutrality in Canada?
A,
It’s scary -- Bell, Cineplex, Rogers, and Shaw are trying to censor the internet and force the end of net neutrality in Canada. And worse, they're trying to do it behind closed doors.
These 4 companies, led by Bell, are pushing to create an internet "blacklist" of certain websites that all internet service providers in Canada would legally have to block. They know this outrageous proposal would never pass, so first, they tried to sneak it into NAFTA negotiations -- and... now Bell is expected to introduce its proposal to Canada's telecom regulator TOMORROW.
Critics are calling this move "unprecedented" and dangerous. If Bell, Cineplex, Rogers, and Shaw get their way, this internet blacklist would have absolutely zero oversight in the courts. We need to stop this urgently.
Bell is pushing hard for the creation of an "Internet Piracy Review Agency" (IPRA) that would maintain a blacklist of websites, which all internet providers in Canada would be required to block with no court oversight. And right now, Shaw, Cineplex and other corporations support the proposal.
Bell is Canada’s largest telecommunications company, and it raked in $22 billion last year in profit. If Bell manages to get this proposal approved, it won't stop there. Blocking one type of content opens the door to more, and is one step closer to ending net neutrality and greater corporate control over our internet.
Over the past three decades, the internet has evolved into an open landscape of ideas where every voice has a chance to be heard. It is a backbone of democracy and a critical forum of free expression. But big telecom corporations are trying to put corporate profits before the public good.
Canadian copyright laws and the rules enforcing them on the internet are already in place. Changes to these laws should happen through extensive public discourse -- not in secret trade negotiations. Bell, Rogers, Shaw, and Cineplex are trying to undermine the democratic system and we need to stop them.
A massive public outcry can force Bell, Cineplex, Rogers, and Shaw to back down, but we need to act now to protect the free and open internet. Bell is expected to put its proposal before the CRTC tomorrow. That means we need to speak out now.
Please join me in signing the petition to stop Bell's corporate control over our internet now.
SumOfUs has fought corporate control of the internet across the globe. Hundreds of thousands of us have stood against Big Telecom trying to repeal net neutrality, and we've called on global leaders to protect the free and open internet.
Last week, Donald Trump’s choice to chair the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), a former Verizon lobbyist, forced a vote to repeal net neutrality protections for broadband providers -- and won.
With net neutrality rules in the US repealed, we need to fight even harder in Canada to protect internet freedom and stop corporate control of the internet.
Thanks for all that you do,
Emma, Amelia, Angus and the team at SumOfUs
More information:
Bell Canada’s Call For Website Blocking ‘Outrageous,' Advocates Say Huffington Post, 28 September 2017
Inside Bell’s Push To End Net Neutrality In Canada Canadaland, 4 December 2017
What is net neutrality? It protects us from corporate power, The Guardian, 13 December 2017.
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