Yesterday we learned Bell was seeking the assistance of its employees to submit filings to the CRTC to support FairPlay Canada, the company’s coalition of companies which wants to setup a website blocking plan, to fight piracy in the country, as it apparently affects hundreds of thousands of jobs.
Despite impressions to the contrary in the #Fairplay submissions calling on the #CRTC to create & oversee a website blocking scheme to curb privacy, film theatre $ doing reasonably well: $1.2B in 2005, $1.56B in 2010 & $1.76B last year. pic.twitter.com/kCbsHMNSq2
— Dwayne Winseck (@mediamorphis) February 21, 2018
If you want to make your voice heard, non-profit OpenMedia has created a website called Unfairplay.ca (nice name btw), which lets consumers voice their displeasure over this website blocking plan directly to companies and the CRTC. Below are the companies involved with the FairPlay Canada coalition, which includes the likes of Bell, Rogers, Quebecor, CBC, Corus and more:
Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television
Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA)
Association québecoise de l’industrie du disque, du spectacle, et de la video (ADISQ)
Asian Television Network (ATN)
Association québécoise de la production médiatique (AQPM)
Bell
Canadian Association of Film Distributors and Exporters (CAFDE)
CBC / Radio-Canada
les Cinémas Ciné Entreprise Inc.
Cinémas Guzzo
Cineplex
Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA)
Cogeco Connexion
Corus
Directors Guild of Canada (DGC)
DHX Media
Entertainment One
Ethnic Channels Group
Fairchild Media Group
International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE)
Landmark Cinemas
Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE)
Movie Theatre Association of Canada (MTAC)
Quebecor
Rogers Media
Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB)
TIFF
Unifor
Union des artistes (UDA)
There are pre-written tweets to all 29 companies involved on Unfairplay.ca—all you have to do is click the ‘tweet’ button below each company. Below is an example of the pre-written text that will tweet, which you can modify as well:
.@Bell: Withdraw your support for @FairPlayCanada. This ineffective Internet censorship proposal will harm consumers, innovation and free expression online (cc: @CRTCeng @NavdeepSBains) https://unfairplay.ca #DontCensor
As you can see, the tweet text also carbon copies Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, Navdeep Bains’ Twitter account.
OpenMedia also encourages Canadians to file a comment opposing Internet censorship with the CRTC, through this easy pre-populated template, by clicking here, which is much easier than trying to navigate the Commission’s horrible website.
Why should you fight against website blocking? Many argue it goes against net neutrality, while others such as University of Ottawa law professor, Michael Geist, say it can also result in over-blocking of legitimate websites, as seen in other countries which have implemented similar schemes.
