On May 2nd, will you Vote for the Internet?
Vancouver's OpenMedia wants you to "vote for the internet" in the next upcoming election.
The pro-internet group believes that justice for consumers in the telecom industry warrants real discussion among the potential political leaders. They've launched a page, VoteNet.ca, where Canadians can fire off a message to the campaigning parties.
The default letter, which is editable, reads as follows:
I am writing to tell you that I am taking a pledge to vote for the Internet this election. If you hope to represent me in parliament, I would like you to become a pro-Internet candidate by promising to stand up for the open and accessible Internet.
Big phone and cable companies are putting a pay meter on our Internet use and increasing prices across the board. According to recent reports, these big telecom companies are now charging upwards of $10 per gigabyte of data when it costs them only a penny to provide it. This is gouging pure and simple.
Even before these new fees, Canadians were paying much more for Internet and phone services than almost any country in the industrialized world.The stranglehold big phone and cable companies have on communications is stifling Canada’s economic growth, global competitiveness, and our personal budgets. We are falling behind.
In this election I want candidates to provide a clear vision for a connected future. We have a unique opportunity to get candidates and parties on the record right now, and I want to hear from you. I want to know that, if elected, you will stop the pay meter on our Internet and work to increase broadband access, competition, transparency, and choice.
OpenMedia has been aggressively tackling the CRTC and pressing political entities to create a fair system for internet consumption. It reached nearly half a million signatures in a landmark campaign against the CRTC's usage-based billing decision, which is currently under self-review, but has since failed to maintain that level of passion among consumers, who seem to have forgotten that the issue is nowhere near resolution.
