Archive for January, 2011

Stoddart to Give Public Lecture on Privacy Protection

Privacy Commissioner of Canada Jennifer Stoddart will give a free, public lecture on making privacy protection more effective for Canadians at the University of Ottawa on Wednesday, January 19, 2011 at 4:00 p.m. Details here.

January 17, 2011 — 1 comment — News

CRTC Says Rogers Not Complying With Net Neutrality Disclosure Requirements

CRTC concerns with Rogers and its response to net neutrality complaints escalated this week when the Commission sent a letter to the company advising that it has received a growing number of complaints and that its public disclosures have not been compliant with CRTC Internet traffic management policy requirements. The […]

January 14, 2011 — 18 comments — News

CRTC Rogers Net Neut Letter

CRTCRogerstrafficmgmt.pdf

January 14, 2011 — Comments are Disabled — General

Ringing Up Support for the Bell – CTV Deal

The deadline for interventions into the forthcoming CRTC hearing on the Bell – CTV merger passed earlier this week with hundreds of submissions from across the country. Many cultural groups focused solely on the proposed benefits package associated with the transaction (e.g. Directors Guild of Canada, Alberta Motion Pictures Industry Association, the Documentary Organization of Canada) but there are many others rallying to support the deal.

Local organizations and businesses are effusive with their praise for the transaction – everyone from the Ottawa Senators to retailer Tommy & Lefebvre to the Westin Hotel in Ottawa to the Surrey Honda auto dealership to Dodd’s Furniture and Mattress in Victoria, BC to the Soho Bar and Grill in Calgary took the time to chime in with support. Moreover, MPs from across the political spectrum write with their support including Conservative MPs Bruce Stanton, Bev Shipley, Patrick Brown, and Garry Breitkreuz, Liberal MP Marcel Proulx, NDP MPs Irene Mathyssen, Brian Masse, and Joe Comartin, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson, Halifax Mayor Peter Kelly, Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie, and Ontario MPP Bob Chiarelli.

The views expressed by the politicians are remarkably consistent. For example, Chiarelli says:

January 13, 2011 — 10 comments — News

CRTC Proposes to Change Standard for Broadcasting False or Misleading News

The CRTC last week quietly proposed a significant change to the rules on false or misleading news broadcasts on radio or television. The law currently provides that a broadcast licensee “shall not broadcast any false or misleading news.” The CRTC is proposing to amend the law with respect to television and radio by lowering the standard to “any news that the licensee knows is false or misleading and that endangers or is likely to endanger the lives, health or safety of the public.” In other words, it would perfectly permissible for a broadcaster to air false or misleading news, provided that it not endanger the lives, health or safety of the public.

If enacted, the changes would move the Canadian broadcast framework closer to that found in the U.S. The Federal Communications Commission has a limited rule against broadcast hoaxes that provides:

January 12, 2011 — 47 comments — News