Liberal Marc Garneau, who served on the C-32 committee and as the party’s Industry critic, issued a tweet last night that provided the clearest statement yet on the Liberal support for reform to the digital lock rules. Garneau stated: “Liberals believe Copyright Bill C-32 must be amended to allow digital […]
Archive for April, 2011
Why the Conservatives Copyright Plans Create a Hidden Cost for RIM’s PlayBook
Appeared in the Ottawa Citizen on April 19, 2011 as ‘Playbook’ Tax Means Apple Wins Research in Motion, Canada’s technology giant, releases its much-anticipated PlayBook this week. The PlayBook, a tablet computer competitor to the Apple iPad, is enormously important not only to the company, but given RIM’s role as […]
OECD Broadband Rankings: Canada Ranks 28th out of 33 Countries Based on Bell, Rogers & Shaw Data
The focus should be on the numbers, which tell a discouraging tale. Among the findings on price of Internet services (all as of September 2010):
Speed | Rank |
Overall | 28th out of 33 |
Below 2.5 Mbps | 17th out of 24 |
Between 2.5 an 15 Mbps | 28th out of 33 |
Between 15 and 30 Mbps | 29th out of 33 |
Over 45 Mbps | 23rd out of 28 |
The PlayBook Tax: Why the Conservative’s Copyright Plans Create a Hidden Cost for RIM’s PlayBook
Given its importance, one would think that Canada’s political parties would ensure that their policies do not create unnecessary roadblocks or barriers to its success. Yet the Conservative plan for copyright reform (as found in Bill C-32) establishes a significant barrier that could force many consumers to pay hundreds in additional costs in order to switch their content from existing devices to the PlayBook.
The PlayBook may be competitively priced with the iPad, but the hidden cost of transferring content to the new device – effectively a PlayBook tax – may mean that many Canadian consumers take a pass.
iPod Tax Campaign an “Expensive Gamble”
Mark Blevis examines the social media reaction to the Conservatives’ iPod Tax campaign and finds that “despite all the media attention, and the slick ads, it just doesn’t seem to land.”