Organizing a Bell / Rogers Media Boycott

The CRTC recently announced that it will not take action against Bell Canada and Rogers as they throttle users of the Canadian Internet.  They have failed Canadian consumers and the thousands of small businesses and technology concerns that rely on the Internet for their success.

And this article goes so far as to question whether or not Canada’s newly emerging social media network will be able to survive such tactics.

I like to think we are beyond the tipping point and that we WILL be able to overcome this myopic view of the Internet as a cash-cow for Bell and Rogers and not a tool for the wide array of people and organizations that are actively seeking social change.

This issue requires action on behalf of all of us:

1. Make a donation to SaveOurNet.ca
2. Contact your MP or Finckenstein at the CRTC
3. Track efforts to throttle your connection (a wonderful application of the social web)
4. Update the Canadian Wiki which tracks throttling efforts
5. Boycott any Bell or Rogers products

It’s the last option that I would like to talk about.

Bell, Rogers and other media companies don’t just deliver Internet, but they also own a wide array of publications and web sites that represent a critical source of revenue for them.

With that in mind, we all have to him them where it will really hurt:  the bottom line.

Eliminating Sympatico, TSN, CTV, MSN, Rogers magazine sites (eg. Chatelaine.com), Yahoo Canada and other affiliated sites is an easy and painless maneuvre and will send a very clear signal that we are very pissed off about this nonsense.  If you’re a buyer or planner and make decisionsof this nature, it’s as easy as deleting a line from your Excel spreadsheet.

Let’s start with this blog, but post your suggestions about the following:

1. A full list of media properties that these companies control
2. Products and services that you can cancel
3. Social actions that will have the greatest impact

Thanks for your help.