Must Reads

• Ethics Committee Releases Study on Privacy and Social Media

  The Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy, and Ethics has released its study on privacy and social media. The report includes recommendations for new Privacy Commissioner guidelines. The NDP supplemented those recommendations with nine additional legislative proposals that include mandatory security breach disclosure, order making power for the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, and the inclusion of privacy issues as part of a national digital economy strategy.Apr.23/13Comments (1)

• Government Reveals Thousands of Data and Privacy Breaches

  The federal government has responded to a question from MP Charlie Angus on privacy and security breaches by revealing that there have been thousands of breaches over the past decade. The stunning response acknowledges over 3,000 breaches that have affected over a million Canadians.Apr.23/13Comments (0)

• Debate Over Wireless Competition in Canada Continues in the House of Commons and on the Air

  The debate over the state of wireless competition in Canada continues to rage. Last week, I appeared on CBC's The Current, as part of a 30 minute segment devoted to the wireless industry. The issue was also discussed during Question Period at the House of Commons, with Industry Minister Christian Paradis focusing on competition and consumers:
  

  We want to enhance competition and investment in this country, and this is why we adopted this policy back in 2008 for the AWS spectrum. Let me say that the price went down by an average of 11% since then, and we will continue this way with the 700 megahertz spectrum. We launched consultation with the industry to make sure that we enhance competition and provide better choice and better rates for our consumers.

  
  

  Apr.22/13Comments (0)

• Open Media: Why High Cell Phone Bills Have Nothing to do With Canadian Geography

  OpenMedia has an interesting post that takes a close look at the claim that the large Canadian geography is responsible for high cell phone prices. The post notes that coverage actually focuses on as little as 20 percent of the country.
  Apr.22/13Comments (0)

• Government Now Says No Deadline for CETA Completion

  Ted Menzies, the Minister of State for Finance, yesterday delivered a talk on the Canada - EU Trade Agreement that marked an important shift in the government's rhetoric on the agreement. Aside from a bizarre reference to the value of the agreement being $17 trillion dollars (total Canadian GDP is $1.8 trillion), the talk is most notable from the move away from promising swift completion of the agreement. After years of setting missed deadlines, Menzies now says there is no deadline for completion, suggesting that the government is beginning to hedge on whether there even will be a deal. I wrote about the prospect of the agreement dying altogether last month.Apr.11/13Comments (0)

• Nowak: Debunking Yet Another Set of Wireless Myths

  Peter Nowak is back with another thorough debunking of many of the wireless myths about the competitiveness of the Canadian market. Apr.11/13Comments (0)

• Debunking the Wireless Myth Busters, Redux

  Peter Nowak has a great post that takes another look at the state of the Canadian wireless market. Nowak uses the latest data from Bank of America Merrill Lynch Wireless Matrix to find that the Canadian carriers' ARPU ranks as the highest in the world, that profit margin is the fifth highest in the world, and that Canada's smartphone penetration is not nearly as strong as some suggest.Mar.18/13Comments (2)

• European Commission Study Finds Online Music Piracy Doesn't Hurt Sales

  The European Commission's Joint Research Centre has released a report that finds that online music piracy does not harm sales. The report examined the browsing habits of more than 16,000 European consumers. It found that an increase in clicks on infringing sites led to a small increase in clicks on authorized music sales sites.Mar.18/13Comments (2)

• Federal Librarians Muzzled Under New Code of Conduct

  The National Post has a disturbing story on a new code of conduct at Library and Archives Canada, which appears to muzzle librarians, going so far as to describe teaching or speaking at conferences as "high risk".Mar.18/13Comments (7)

• National Post Appears to Drop Fair Dealing Licensing System

  Last week I wrote  about the National Post seeking $150 licences for posting short excerpts online. It appears that the paper has now dropped the system.

  Mar.12/13Comments (1)