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

April 19th, 2011 at 5:29am | 38 Comments

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 www.pirateparty.ca.

38 Responses to “PRESS RELEASE: Pirate Party to provide secure browsing services to protect Canadians from potential Conservative majority”

  1. James Hoysa says:

    Wow, thank you!

    I hope you don’t mind that I’m sharing this on my Facebook account.

    James.

  2. anon says:

    Good idea however is this only to Canadians?

  3. B.J. says:

    You can bet I’ll be signing up if the conservatives hit a majority.

  4. sievo says:

    Love this idea! This is exactly the kind of direct action the pirate party aught to be about. I’ll definitely consider signing up in the future!

  5. Peter says:

    I’m off to vote for you! - Early polls.
    Good luck!

  6. Jeff Liitle of troy ohio says:

    What in the hell would anyone vote those conservative bastards into power… looks how they have f*cked the united states.

  7. Robert says:

    Is there any chance of service being offered in the US? Particularly Ohio? I would be willing to pay more. Thanks.

  8. Stashiv says:

    Shared on FB. Hoping this will urge more of my fellow Canadians to vote anything other than Conservative

  9. Jamie says:

    I’ll be signing on if those nazi facists get a majority vote

  10. Ken says:

    I don’t know why you’re just worried about the Conservatives. For example, the last three governments all tried to pass a DCMA-like or worse copyright reform bill that died when the minority government fell and one of those was Liberal. All parties are going to push such legislation down on us as they get pressured from the lobbyists from the States.

    Democracy, phaa. There really is no such thing in the world today. We live in a republic made up of politicians who will promise anything to get elected and then rule as a tyranny until their “mandate” runs out or is challenged. One day someone will declare “war on pirates” (anyone using peer to peer even if only to distribute their latest Linux distro) and use some loophole in the law to eliminate elections and stay in power.

  11. Jensen says:

    Can I suggest that you provide external links and/or references that support this claim: “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.”. As it is I can’t find a lot on this and it is a big concern. In any case I strongly support the idea of the proposed service and the importance of personal privacy. P.S. I think the name of your party sucks.It suggests that the things you stand for are not legitimate. Piracy is associated with the act of killing people and stealing their good at sea - very serious business - not good. Why create that association? Something like the “Private” party would be so much more appealing and could setup a few good jokes too.

  12. Ben says:

    What’s the name of this supposed bill?

  13. Sasha says:

    I’m in

  14. David Ovad says:

    The Pirate Party of Canada should be commended for your commitment to Internet freedom and free speech in general. There is a free VPN called HotspotShield by a company called AnchorFree that has become famous for providing anonymity and access to the free and open Internet to freedom loving people in China, Libya, Egypt and others living under totalitarian regimes. Perhaps if this threat to freedom in Canada become too big you can get together with AnchorFree. I read an article this week indicating that HotspotShield is supporting in excess of 9 million users at this time.

    Best of luck!

  15. Don Viszneki says:

    @Ben: Don’t know the name of this bill, but Michael Geist might: http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/5733/125/

  16. Penticton says:

    This is ridiculous. Read the proposed legislation. It means nothing of the sort. Bills C-17 and C-18, “Lawful Access.”

  17. bigplrbear says:

    Penticton:

    “lawfull access” refers to the required monitoring of Canadians in that bill. Read it again.

  18. Tony Dewar says:

    Awesome deal guys. If Harper gets a majority you will be getting my CC number 4 sure. Unfortunately he wont be stopping at only our internet privacy. From what I understand our own property may not be safe from the prying eyes of the state if Harper gets his way. Anyway good job guys and thanks for offering this.

  19. iAMCANADiAN says:

    Well if this isn’t a slap in my face, I don’t know what is…

    Quote, “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…”

    Clearly your VPN servers are still running, Now , please explain WHY in gods name are you painting yourselves as a CANADIAN POLITICAL PARTY if you’re NOT putting CANADIANS FIRST and foremost at the top of the priorities list for CANADIAN PUBLIC services?????

    I had high hopes for this party at its infancy, clearly I was wrong. For once, I would like to see a political party FIGHT for CANADIANS. Not for other countries in distress. There are 200+ countries out there that I have yet to hear taking the reigns when it comes to foreign aid, when will WE HELP OURSELVES? It’s always the same countries that come to the aid of affected countries, if it’s not one thing, it’s another. Give the good guy persona a rest already. Start addressing some the the VERY serious issues WE as CANADIANS are facing.

    I am absolutely fed up with immigration in Canada. Canada is special, it means something to me. I AM CANADIAN. Something needs to be done to address the issues we’re facing, but implementing & defending slack immigration laws is not the answer to the problems, it is a step towards others. If our country is headed into rough seas, then it’s time to lynch the captain of the vessel. I don’t give a hoot what any foreigner thinks of Canada or what kind of mental portrait they paint themselves of our truly awesome nation. However, I would much rather it be painted as a TRUE NORTH STRONG & FREE silent type of nation, as opposed to a giant natural resource pushover.

    Think of it this way… there isn’t much in this world which is required that Canada doesn’t have, but we sure as hell have an amplitude of what the rest of the world requires. Millionaires are not made up of those who spend their money, but by those who save it. Same thing applies to vast natural resources, if we quit supplying other countries with our resources with ‘carte blanche’, the value of these resources will increase. It’s simple supply vs demand, we have it & they want it. So let them go dry for awhile. Canada tops as one of the best places to live, we have a vast quantity of untapped natural resources, ‘most’ of our people are good individuals, we are ‘semi-educated’ & relatively healthy. So, it would take BAD POLITICAL LEADERSHIP to turn things south. Yet, here we stand. Feuding over languages like clucking chickens, allowing homegrown businesses to outsource our jobs, accepting chicken feed as standard wages, allowing filthy uneducated foreign criminals call Canada ‘home’, manipulating media to keep us all calm as to not start revolutions at the disclosure of disturbing factual information, allowing corporations to hijack economic markets of the basic requirements for sustained living in OUR OWN COUNTRY and failing to find CANADIANS sensible common objectives to pull together & work for.

    I will never forget the day CANADIAN POLITICIANS ‘SOLD ALASKA’ **

    We as CANADIANS need to think of ourselves for awhile, at least for as long as it takes to get our own shit together. Stand up and voice your concerns without fear of reprimand or judgment. Lay down in the streets, write a letter, start a blog, boycott the products of those who do not take action in CANADIAN FAVOR. JUST DO SOMETHING!

    How does a good homegrown Canadian such as myself, go from holding this country in such high regard. To getting upset every time a Canadian issue is brought up. It’s a sign, that Canadian law, politics and education need reform.

    Get to working for CANADIANS or GTFO

    Sincerely,

    iAMCANADiAN

  20. GhostEye says:

    @iAMCANADiAN How, exactly, do you remember events that never happened?

  21. taarna says:

    @iAMCANADIAN guess you’ll be voting for the “Reform” Party….

  22. AC says:

    it’s a serie of bills C-5X (50 51 52 if I remeber correctely) @ben @jensen look them up

  23. thingstodo says:

    I looked through the bills on this web site

    http://www2.parl.gc.ca/housebills/billsgovernment.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=37&Ses=2

    Search term internet results in C-22 from this march affecting ISPs and child porn. An older version is C-58 from last year.

    C-52 from last year has to do with the Radio communication act, but the amendments are listed, not the full text. It’s kinda hard to follow.

    Anyone with more info on the ‘Conservative promise’ mentioned above - links, newspaper references, position papers - please post.

  24. Mike Marian says:

    how stupid can you be?? it is allready for a long time

  25. ann o nimus says:

    “we will of course cooperate with law enforcement”

    this is a joke then, eh? you guys are a joke then, eh?

    come on, this is Canada, what do you think they’d do to you if you said “No, Fuck Off!”

    tell you what, first gang that gets busted cuz they trusted you will do a lot worse

    you got to have some balls if you want to offer this kind of service

    law enforcement will be at your door in 2 seconds demanding that you log everything

    you got to be able to say “We can’t- it’s like TOR, even we don’t know who’s who”
    otherwise you do not have a solution, you’re only adding to the problem with your “anti-government, at least until the government comes” bullshit

  26. Kitan says:

    I would vote if i were 18 but im only 14 but i rilly like wout your doing

  27. Sue says:

    Hey, I want a Conservative majority so we can all stop wasting money on stupid elections. Lets get on with living. OK?

  28. Jim says:

    Hey Sue,

    How much did you spend on this election?

  29. Dan says:

    It’s bill C-32, the copyright reform bill that is the most worrying to me, as it seems it will provide the grounds for said invasions of privacy to occur. We can’t let big business, greed, power-lust, and the false “american dream” deprive us of our privacy, and our freedom.

  30. Archaix says:

    I hide behind two proxies when I browse anyways, but I don’t use VPN. I may consider it if Bill C-32 is passed. I’m not worried though, I never believed that Harper realizes that the internet is good for anything more than Facebook and Gmail.

  31. Cody says:

    Jim, the election in 2008 cost Canadian tax payers about $288 million, in 2006 $279 million, and in 2004 $277 million. Sounds like it cost Sue and everyone else a lot!

  32. Archaix says:

    @ann o nimus

    You think that this Party will be taken seriously if it encourages illegal action? Piracy and online subculture will continue to lose in politics as long as it is seen as delinquent and aberrant.

    I’m a future member of the RCMP’s Technological Crime Unit, and I will continue to support this Party in everything it does so long as the actions are legal and done with righteous intentions. This is the only Party that will stand up for us; the members of the growing internet subculture.

  33. Alex says:

    @Sue, the annual budget is something like $250 billion the election cost 0.1% percent of that. If a majority government is elected they get to control that budget for up-to 5 years. I would be fine with 10 elections if we ended up with a fiscally responsible government.

  34. anonymous2 says:

    No-one’s going to take a party seriously if it describes a law as oppressive and dictatorial, and then encourages people to obey it… it’s performative contradiction.

    Anyway, it seems to me to make no sense to say “we keep no logs” but “will cooperate with law enforcement” - if you keep no logs, you’ve got nothing to cooperate with law enforcement *with*. And if the law says (as it likely will) that ISP’s have to keep logs, and VPN providers are a type of ISP - how are you going to “keep no logs” and stay within the law?

  35. anonymous3 says:

    iAMCANADiAN: A group that fights for fundamental human rights in their own country only is not fighting for fundamental human rights. The PPCA believes everyone has the right to communicate without censor. They stand behind their beliefs. It’s not like Canada’s a second priority for them, eh?

    @Archaix: Right on.

    @anonymous2: First off, the PPCA does not “encourage people to obey” anti-piracy laws, nor do they encourage people to break them. Also, a VPN provides a different service than an ISP. They wouldn’t be covered under the same law, unless it specifically indicated vpns/forwarding services. The PPCA would also be within bounds of the law if the VPN they operated were not physically located in Canada.

  36. Sean says:

    Hey I’m just wondering, being both a major proponent of the Pirate Party and utterly disgusted by this bill, were you offering anything like this before? I mean as utterly vile, disgusting, unconstitutional and downright wrong this bill is it doesn’t change much as the CHRCs already have the ability to violate rights to privacy and have an extremely prominent record of abusing their powers.

  37. Eran says:

    I always knew I liked you guys.

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