[Curtman]

Nice to see a party promising something without requiring that they win.

$1:

Pirate Party to provide secure browsing services to protect Canadians from potential Conservative majority

During the 2011 revolution in Tunisia, internet access was monitored and censored, and popular networking sites like Facebook and Twitter were blocked. Dissidents relied on secure browsing services to access the full internet. In support of the people of Tunisia, the Pirate Party of Canada launched its own VPN service to provide them with free and secure uncensored web browsing. After the internet filters were removed, the services were continued, making them available to citizens of other countries subject to censorship and monitoring.

If given a majority government, the Conservatives are promising to ram through a bill that would provide unprecedented systematic interception and monitoring of Canadians’ personal communications. In short, Canada will soon join the growing list of countries subject to invasion of privacy and internet censorship. Therefore, the Pirate Party is preparing to extend the services presently offered to residents of repressive regimes to protect the people affected by the aspiring dictator right here at home.

“We will provide VPN service to Canadians at a rate of $10 / 200GB. For every paid account we open, we will also provide a free VPN account to a citizen of a nation with censored internet,” said party leader Mikkel Paulson today. “This allows us to simultaneously provide protection to Canadians and expand our humanitarian support abroad. We won’t keep logs of the activity, although we will of course cooperate with law enforcement in the event of abuse of our services.”

Until such a time those in power begin to respect the rights of those they claim to represent, the Pirate Party will work to defend Canadians from the abuses of their government. Interested parties can send an e-mail to [email protected] for information on how to pre-order.

The Pirate Party of Canada is a federal political party focused on open government, copyright and patent reform, and defending Canadians’ right to privacy. We support genuine democracy, civil liberties, and freedom of the internet. You can find us online at http://www.pirateparty.ca.

[commanderkai]

Ahh, give us money for something that might or might not work. Gotta love political parties.

[Curtman]

$1:

In support of the people of Tunisia, the Pirate Party of Canada launched its own VPN service to provide them with free and secure uncensored web browsing. After the internet filters were removed, the services were continued, making them available to citizens of other countries subject to censorship and monitoring.

Sounds like they already have it working. There are many VPN providers out there already (for cheaper). It's a neat way for them raise money. VPN's are great, especially for people who use public wifi hotspots. Most home routers have the functionality built in these days, so you can use a virtual private network from a hotspot which makes your portable device appear to be back on your network at home. A VPN only encrypts traffic between two points though. Once your traffic leaves their VPN on the way to its destination, and responses between that destination and their VPN aren't encrypted. So I doubt this provides any real protection from Big Brother. But it's a cool gimmick.

[RUEZ]

So what's this legislation the Conservatives will ram through that will take away our internet privacy?

[Curtman]

The Conservatives Commitment to Internet Surveillance

$1:

While there are good and bad with each party, the Conservatives new commitment to lawful access - new laws that would establish massive Internet surveillance requirements and the potential disclosure of personal information without court oversight - is incredibly problematic for the Internet, privacy, and online freedoms. It requires real debate yet seems likely to slip under the public radar.

[RUEZ]

Curtman Curtman:

The Conservatives Commitment to Internet Surveillance

$1:

While there are good and bad with each party, the Conservatives new commitment to lawful access - new laws that would establish massive Internet surveillance requirements and the potential disclosure of personal information without court oversight - is incredibly problematic for the Internet, privacy, and online freedoms. It requires real debate yet seems likely to slip under the public radar.

Ok, I thought you were going to direct me to something that the Conservatives put out that says they support this.

[commanderkai]

Curtman Curtman:

The Conservatives Commitment to Internet Surveillance

You're linking to a blog, which links to a Vancouver Sun article about bundling tougher crime laws. Anything more specific?

[Curtman]

commanderkai commanderkai:

Curtman Curtman:

The Conservatives Commitment to Internet Surveillance

You're linking to a blog, which links to a Vancouver Sun article about bundling tougher crime laws. Anything more specific?

You'll need to look at conservative.ca, and sift through the bullshit about online predators. I'd recommend asking how they'll accomplish this surveillance to keep kids safe, except they won't answer you.

[Curtman]

You could also have a look at the bills that they introduced during the last session.

C-50
C-51
C-52

Which authorize warrantless wiretaps.

[Scape]

commanderkai commanderkai:

Ahh, give us money for something that might or might not work. Gotta love political parties.

It already does work

Hacktivism and Digital Freedom

[commanderkai]

Curtman Curtman:

You'll need to look at conservative.ca, and sift through the bullshit about online predators. I'd recommend asking how they'll accomplish this surveillance to keep kids safe, except they won't answer you.

Okay...so is that you telling me you really don't have any specifics?

[Curtman]

commanderkai commanderkai:

Curtman Curtman:

You'll need to look at conservative.ca, and sift through the bullshit about online predators. I'd recommend asking how they'll accomplish this surveillance to keep kids safe, except they won't answer you.

Okay...so is that you telling me you really don't have any specifics?

Like the three bills I linked to? And the article you read that says these bills will be rammed through in the first 100 days of a Harper majority?

[commanderkai]

Curtman Curtman:

Like the three bills I linked to? And the article you read that says these bills will be rammed through in the first 100 days of a Harper majority?

Which will then be combed through the Supreme Court of Canada for any bullshit. So, once again, what specifics exactly do you have that tell me the Conservative Party of Canada supports this.

[Curtman]

commanderkai commanderkai:

Curtman Curtman:

Like the three bills I linked to? And the article you read that says these bills will be rammed through in the first 100 days of a Harper majority?

Which will then be combed through the Supreme Court of Canada for any bullshit.

Good point..

The Supreme Court: How a Harper majority could really change Canada

$1:

Of the nine justices who serve on the Supreme Court of Canada, three – Ian Binnie, Morris Fish and Louis LeBel – will hit the mandatory retirement age of 75 within the next four years. Another, Marshall Rothstein, will come very close to it. Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin would be 71 by the end of a majority government’s mandate, and Rosie Abella would be 68.

In other words, Mr. Harper would have an excellent opportunity to shape the country’s top court.

commanderkai commanderkai:

So, once again, what specifics exactly do you have that tell me the Conservative Party of Canada supports this.

Bill C-50, C-51, and C-52.

[EyeBrock]

Curtman Curtman:

You could also have a look at the bills that they introduced during the last session.

C-50
C-51
C-52

Which authorize warrantless wiretaps.

I share your concerns on warrant-less wiretaps. Not good.