Archive for March, 2009

Saskatchewan Delays Enhanced Drivers Licence

The Canadian Press reports that Saskatchewan has delayed its implementation of the enhanced drivers licence.  I wrote about EDLs in Ontario last year.

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March 16, 2009 Comments are Disabled News

Is There a Fix for Broken TV?

The Ottawa Citizen reports on the Canadian broadcast industry and the recent CRTC hearings.

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March 16, 2009 Comments are Disabled News

Canada Favours Early Release of ACTA Text

While the U.S. claims that ACTA documents are a matter of national security and the European Parliament demands greater transparency, it would appear that the Canadian delegation would favour an early release of the draft treaty.  According to a confidential November 2008 memorandum that was prepared for Stockwell Day, the Minister of International Trade obtained under the Access to Information Act:

At the upcoming meeting in December 2008, given its commitment to transparency in international trade negotiations, the Canadian delegation plans to argue for a transparent approach. . . This approach would result in an earlier release of the text, which would serve to alleviate domestic concerns about the scope of the agreement and the perceived secrecy surrounding the process.  The draft text could then serve as the basis for broad-based public consultations.

Should there be no consensus among the ACTA partners to make the ACTA text public, the Department will need to develop options to address Canadian stakeholders concerns about the lack of transparency in the ACTA process. Department officials will be working with other government departments as well as departmental experts on consultations and communications to develop options for public consultations that would address the issues raised by civil society groups and industry associations. These options would be submitted for your approval.

Notwithstanding the professed interest in transparency, Canada has secretly been a major contributor to the draft text. 

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March 14, 2009 4 comments News
CRTC New Media Hearings – Day Ten: Quebecor, MTS Allstream, CAIP, RipNet, Barrett, Bell, and Telus

CRTC New Media Hearings – Day Ten: Quebecor, MTS Allstream, CAIP, RipNet, Barrett, Bell, and Telus

The final day of the CRTC New Media hearings featured more discussion from ISPs, including Quebecor, MTS Allstream, CAIP, RipNet, Barrett Xplore, Bell, and Telus.  Due to some scheduling difficulties, we are only able to provide a link to the CRTC transcript of the hearing.

Update: Greg O'Brien, the publisher and editor of the terrific Cartt.ca, has kindly offered to have his coverage of the day posted here. Thanks Greg.

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March 13, 2009 5 comments News

U.S. Government Says ACTA a National Security Secret

The U.S. government has denied a freedom of information act request for several Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement documents, invoking a clause that says that the documents are protected as national security secrets. The provision applies in cases where there could be "damage to the national security and the original classification authority […]

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March 13, 2009 4 comments News