(Publisher’s note :We are posting this press release nearly verbatim save for the title in support of this worthy cause! Note that since the time this press releave went out the number of people that have signed this petition has grown at an incredible pace. Note also that the NDP also has come out against this outrageous decision and you can read one of their statements on the matter here)
The Liberal Party of Canada issued a statement today that won praise from citizen engagement group OpenMedia.ca. The organization behind the rapidly growing Stop The Meter petition is commending the Liberals for a taking a firm stance in opposition to usage-based billing (Internet metering).
OpenMedia.ca is pleased that the Liberals have learned from the 220,000 people who have so far taken part in the campaign to “stop the meter on Internet use”, and reverse the CRTC decision that allows usage-based billing to monopolize the system for pricing the Internet.
“Liberals believe in more internet competition, not less,” said Liberal Heritage Critic Pablo Rodriquez in a statement released today, seemingly echoing the words on OpenMedia.ca’s homepage: “Canadians want more Internet, not less”.
Led by Rodriquez and Industry and Technology Critic Marc Garneau, the Liberal Party has now become the second major federal party to officially condemn Internet metering. Digital Affairs Critic Charlie Angus expressed the NDP’s opposition to the pricing regime in a release two weeks ago.
“We’re elated by this move by the Liberals,” said Steve Anderson, OpenMedia.ca’s national coordinator. “Over the last few months, supporters of Stop The Meter came together as citizens, and today they fundamentally influenced federal politics. This is a groundbreaking example of the power of the online discourse and organization, and why we must protect the open, public Internet.”
Proponents of Stop The Meter are now calling out Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement, and asking him to overturn the CRTC’s Internet metering decisions.
Clement released a statement last night with a statement of support for “competition, innovation, and consumers” in general, but OpenMedia.ca holds that Canadians will not be happy until have access to Internet services free of metering.
Anderson’s response: “Clement is going to have to do more than ask the CRTC to do some tinkering with UBB pricing. He must either overturn all the CRTC rulings that force pricing schemes on Big Telecom’s independent competitors, or at minimum have the CRTC revisit the entire premise of forced UBB pricing.”
OpenMedia.ca is encouraging Canadians continue to stand against new Internet fees by signing the Stop The Meter petition at: http://stopthemeter.ca