Appeared
in the Ottawa Citizen on April 17, 2012 as Canada Lacking Digital
Strategy
The recent federal budget was a hefty 498 pages, but it still omitted
disclosing the decision to eliminate funding for the Community Access
Program, Canada's longstanding initiative to provide an Internet access
alternative for those without connectivity. The world has changed
dramatically since the CAP was first launched in 1995, but the decision
to cut it without establishing alternative solutions for low-income
Canadians who are not online is a disappointing development that
highlights yet again the absence of a national digital strategy from
Industry Minister Christian Paradis.
The CAP was once a foundational element in the federal government's
effort to connect Canadians. In the late 1990s, many did not have
Internet access at home and wireless data plans were still years away.
Today, the majority of Canadians have residential broadband access as
well as wireless connectivity through their smartphones or other
devices.
The decision to cut the CAP therefore does not come as a surprise. In
2010, it appeared the government was set to cancel the program,
bolstered by a 2009 evaluation conducted by the Audit and Evaluation
Branch of Industry Canada. The evaluation found that the program was
"less aligned with the current priorities" of the government and that
"it may have out-lived its usefulness as a means to bring the Internet
to communities across Canada."
When letters were sent to local programs notifying them of the
impending cuts, the local communities expressed their concern to
elected officials. The outrage led then-Industry Minister Tony Clement
to quickly reverse the decision, chalking up the notification letters
to a funding misunderstanding.
Changes in Internet access rates may have made the CAP an obvious
target for elimination, but fostering universal access to the Internet
is more important than ever. As governments embrace open government
initiatives and shift toward electronic delivery of services, ensuring
that all Canadians have Internet access becomes an absolute necessity.
Yet the 2010 Statistics Canada Internet Use survey found that many
low-income Canadians do not have Internet access at home. While 97% of
Canadians in the top income quartile have access, that number drops to
54% for those in the bottom quartile. In other words, nearly half of
all Canadians with incomes of $30,000 or less do not have ready access
to the Internet.
For those Canadians, the issue is not whether Internet access is
available but rather whether it is affordable, particularly when
combined with the need to invest in computing equipment. The CAP helped
address the affordability gap by ensuring that thousands of Canadians -
even those without a computer or who found that monthly access charges
were beyond their means - would have access to the Internet.
The CAP may have needed retooling, but there remains a Canadian digital
divide that should be addressed. By comparison, the U.S. Federal
Communications Commission teamed up with cable and technology companies
last year to launch Connect-to-Compete, which promises to bring
computers and Internet access to low-income households.
The program, which will officially launch in September, includes a
commitment from the cable companies to offer $10 a month broadband
Internet access to homes with children that are eligible for free
school lunches. Moreover, families can purchase a refurbished computer
for $150 or a new one from Microsoft for $250. For those without
computer expertise, Best Buy's Geek Squad will offer basic digital
literacy training in 20 cities around the country.
For thousands of Canadians that relied on the CAP, its elimination
raises the real prospect of being cut off from the Internet. The
failure to identify alternatives that support affordable access to
Internet services and computers, along with the necessary skills
development, places the spotlight once again on Canada's missing
digital strategy.
Michael Geist holds the Canada
Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of
Ottawa, Faculty of Law. He can reached at mgeist@uottawa.ca or online
at www.michaelgeist.ca.
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Access Copyright and the Association of Universities and Colleges of
Canada announced
an agreement yesterday on a model licence. The deal calls for a royalty
payment of $26 per full time student, below the $45 Access Copyright
was seeking at the Copyright Board (and below the $27.50 in the
Toronto/Western deal), but well above the current rates. While the
agreement is just a model that leaves it to the individual universities
to decide whether to sign, it is hard to imagine that AUCC did not
obtain some support from its member institutions for it before reaching
agreement.
It is difficult to provide detailed comments on the agreement since the
text
is not yet available and the $26 figure is not based on anything more
than a negotiated
figure reflecting what two parties anxious to settle were willing to
pay or accept. The reality is that it is primarily a product
of a broken Copyright Board model that incentivizes lofty demands that
set the bar higher for either a negotiated settlement or a Board rate
setting exercise. It is not based on the actual value of
the repertoire nor on the copying on campuses that fall outside of fair
dealing, public domain, or the myriad of alternate licenses that
already grants compensated access to thousand of journals and books.
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Last year, when Bell's purchase of CTV was undergoing regulatory
approval, the company went out of its way to emphasize its support for
the struggling local channels it was acquiring as part of the deal. At
a CRTC hearing on the issue in February 2011, company officials stated:
the 'A' channels, which have
struggled tremendously over the last several years, require assistance
to continue to maintain their current programming levels. They also
require investment to be broadcast in high definition, which will
improve 'A' channel programming quality and allow for HD simulcasting.
Together these investments will help ensure that 'A' channel local
programming can be sustained and can remain available to these
communities.
The same hearing included an appearance from Randy Goulden, the
Executive Director of the Yorkton Film Festival in Yorkton,
Saskatchewan. Goulden extolled the virtues of a Bell - CTV merger for
local CTV channels:
CTV's local television stations are a
great part of the Canadian broadcasting system. They provide invaluable
promotion and publicity of our initiatives and our programs, raising
our profile to a level we would not have the opportunity to enjoy
without their support. The Yorkton Film Festival supports CTV's
acquisition by Bell as it will make CTV a stronger company and that, I
believe, will enable organizations like mine to continue to grow.
Just over a year later, Bell now
says
the Yorkton station is potentially on the chopping block. As the CRTC
conducts
hearings on the Local Programming Improvement Fund and the Supreme
Court of Canada holds its hearing on the fee-for-carriage, Bell says
that "we won’t continue to fund chronically unprofitable
stations, tiny stations in tiny little towns." Yorkton is on that list,
along with at least five other stations (which Bell says could grow
to 10 stations if the LPIF shrinks). Bell promised to keep the A
channel stations operational for three years during the regulatory
process, but no similar promises were made for local CTV channels. In
other words, the owner may have changed, but the game remains the same
- use threats to close local channels as the basis for demanding
additional revenues through regulation.
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The draft
recommendation
from the European Parliament INTA committee on ACTA has been posted
online, confirming the committee "declines to consent to conclusion of
the agreement."
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The Guardian reports
on the astonishing restrictions at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London,
which include "branding police" to ensure only licensed brands appear
at Olympic venues.
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