At the CRTC's recent hearing on Internet metering, a lobbyist from *Bell* stood up before the Commission, looked each member in the eye, and *suggested Canadians don't mind a pay meter on their Internet use.*

I asked him afterwards how he could say such a thing-nearly half-a-million Canadians revolted against Internet price-gouging by signing the Stop The Meter petition this year. *The Bell lobbyist responded with a simple statement: "It's not personal."*

I was stunned. Can you afford to have new fees added to your Internet bill each month? I know I can't. *Being price-gouged is personal, especially in these unstable economic times.*

We at OpenMedia.ca are cautiously optimistic that the CRTC will do the right thing and let indie ISPs provide unmetered Internet access. But we know one thing for sure: *big phone and cable companies are working behind the scenes to undo the progress we've made.* We can't let them get away with this.

We can counteract their army of lobbyists by putting a concrete plan to make the Internet more affordable in the hands of decision makers. We have a plan backed up by a 150-page research report ready to go. We want to deliver it to as many MPs as we can, but we need your help to cover our costs.

*Can you donate to put our action plan in the hands of decision makers? [ http://openmedia.ca/donate ]*

Here are a couple things Big Telecom has done recently:
  * Launched a sleazy and irresponsible fake online advocacy campaign that misleads Canadians into actually lobbying the government to let them take more control over key digital infrastructure!
  * Made expensive board appointments of key former ministers.


This is clearly a cartel that has come unhinged. *We can't let them hold our economy and your wallet hostage any longer.*

*Don't let Big Telecom undo the progress we've made. Donate now, before it's too late. [ http://openmedia.ca/donate ]*

Support this initiative, so decision makers understand that there is a clear alternative to Big Telecom's control of our digital policy.

For the Internet,

Steve, and the OpenMedia.ca Team

"P.S. Big Telecom is acting this way because they know we've changed the debate in Canada. Please help us overcome their latest attempts to make the Internet more expensive. Chip in to make our work possible at [ http://openmedia.ca/donate ]."