On June 19, 2012, Harper's government has put Canada’s digital future at risk by signing on to the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP). This secretive international trade agreement will give Big Media conglomerates new powers to lock users out of our own content and services, provide new liabilities that might force ISPs to police our online activity, and give giant media companies even greater powers to shut down websites and remove content at will.
To make matters worse these unpopular Internet restrictions will be cemented into place through international tribunals that circumvent domestic judicial systems.
The TPP agreement will lock down our Internet and shackle our democracy. The agreement will be hammered out through secret backroom meetings between industry lobbyists and un-elected “trade representatives”. Altogether, the TPP would fundamentally change the Internet, severely limit free expression, and hogtie innovators.
We’ve been hearing from Canadians and the pro-Internet community abroad that we should get involved to help everyone defend their digital rights. Canada’s pro-Internet community stopped a full-scale takeover of our Internet by Big Telecom giants, and together we’ve managed to force the government to put its online spying plan on hold. If we work together we can have an impact here too, but we’ll need your creative ideas to succeed. We want to know how you think we can best break the TPP’s shackle on our democracy and our Internet.
We at OpenMedia.ca believe that citizen participation is a fundamental democratic principle that should guide Internet governance in Canada and around the world. As an extension of that principle, we want our work to include open processes that enables Canadians—you—to shape our campaigns.
•What is it about the TPP that concerns you most?
•How do you think we can best address the threat of the TPP?
Please tell us what you think in the comments section below, or on Facebook, Twitter, Google +, or Reddit. You can also email contact@openmedia.ca.
The TPP will create blanket Internet restrictions across the globe, and turn all Internet users into suspected copyright criminals. This is an affront on our privacy rights, free speech and online choice. The best ideas always come from our community so please chime in.
Source : http://openmedia.ca/
June 21, 2012