We are available on the airwaves and online. Most fans I converse with listen in online at www.coopradio.org. But one of my close friends does not have an internet connection on his computer, and tunes in through his iphone. I doubt he will ever do that again after a young couple in Merritt B.C was recently charged around 5,000 dollars for data they did not even use on their phones. CBC news reports that the couple received bills in the vicinity of a thousand dollars a month for data use they cannot explain. They are fed up with their treatment by Bell customer service and that is understandable. According to CBC news, Bell is one of Canada’s worst offenders when in comes to data based billing errors. If you have ever been a Bell or Solo Mobile customer, however, you don’t need CBC news to tell you that. If you have ever had a cellphone contract in this country, period, you don’t need CBC news to tell you that either. In fact, not only are Canadians paying some of the highest rates in the world for cellular service, they are also constantly get gouged by billing errors. One customer even had a bill for 15,000 dollars for what experts say cost the company only 4 dollars to provide! www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsffmLcEqPo
The time has come to make these companies accountable for their terrible and dishonest business practices. The chairman of the CRTC, Conrad Von Finckenstein, wanted to implement a system wherein telecomm companies could charge you for your internet based on usage, similar to the way cellphone data is billed. He rationalized this fascist, money grubbing initiative by asking why Canadians who only use the internet a little bit, should pay the same as Canadians who use it a lot. If this is how he rationalizes things, then why should Canadians who signed up for a contract three days later than another Canadian pay more because they missed a promotion? What is next? Is ICBC going to install cameras and tolls every 3 blocks on every street because “British Columbians who drive just a little bit should have to pay the same as British Columbians who drive more”?
There is a war going on outside, and no man or woman is safe from it. This war spans from the broccoli you twist up, to the broccoli you steam and eat. It spans from what you see, hear and read to what you breathe into your lungs. A new battle in this war has emerged in recent months and it takes place on the Internet. This Wikileaks fiasco can be looked at in two ways. First, they are a group of people who are committed to freedom of speech and human rights. Private Bradley Manning is facing multiple counts and is being held in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day because of his belief that people had the right to know what governments are doing. Wikileaks makes it all the more apparent how Internet usage is an inherent human right. Nobody should have the right to censor the Internet except for the most gruesome and ugly cases such as child exploitation. Nevertheless, our free and unmolested access to internet in the future is crucial to our society. The second way to look at Wikileaks, is that despite the honorable efforts of Julian Assange and company, they are being used as internet terrorists to justify a 9/11 style war on the internet and communications. “Ordo Ab Chaos” is the latin of: “Order through Chaos”. You create an event and use it to maintain order by changing the ways you were operating and by implementing a prepared series of changes to law. This is where we truly find ourselves on the brink. You create a scenario in which in its aftermath you have tightened your control. Big Telecom plays its part in this war.
If you can’t look at the bigger picture, at least look at what is clear as day in front of you. There is a federal election looming and our time has come to make all of these betrayers of the people accountable. It is possible to make this issue an election issue by making it your personal responsibility as a citizen of a free country. The will to act has become sluggish in recent memory. This is not in the spirit of Canada, and definitely not in the spirit of Hip Hop. Do we stand up for our rights?
What can we do? Make ourselves heard! Like the movie Network, we want you to get mad. We want you to get mad and say: “I ain't HAVING THAT!” SIGN THE PETITION AT: www.openmedia.ca Share the links they provide on Facebook. Other links will be posted on the Facebook page here: www.facebook.com/pages/Urban-Renewal-Project-1027-FM/175987025751212 We need half a million signatures until we can put this issue before those in governance. But it does not end there. We need to keep the pressure on them to fully ensure they actually do their jobs… but that is another issue. Will we change the world? Probably not. But even the smallest pebble hurled from the mountain top can accumulate mass and velocity until it is a giant snow ball of immovable righteousness.
George Orwell once said that “in a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” Chuck D said: “Fight the Power”. And finally, 2 Face Al once said: "Listen to Orwell and Chuck D".
THE OFFICIAL WAY TO GET THIS MATTER LOOKED AT BY GOVERNMENT IS IF THIS VIDEO HERE GETS ENOUGH VIEWS AND YOU FOLLOW ITS INSTRUCTIONS TO SIGN THE "OPENMEDIA.CA" PETITION. DO YOUR DUTY. WATCH THIS: action.cwa-union.org/salsa/track.jsp?v=2&c=8GxdPi2zmLaVfNwpD9AltfMWe8JzdbgC
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