The CRTC has released a report on the functioning of the do-not-call list. The report notes that there were 103,890 prima facie valid complaints during the reporting period. The Commission initiated 197 investigations.
Archive for November, 2011
The UBB Decision Aftermath: Is the Pricing a Killer?
Questions about network costs are notoriously difficult to pin down. Earlier this year, I published a report that attempted to estimate the cost of a gigabyte of data and others have tried to do the same. The data relied upon by the CRTC is all subject to confidentiality and there have been concerns raised about its validity by both the independent ISPs and the incumbents (groups such as CIPPIC asked the CRTC to reconsider the issue of pricing in one of its interventions but the Commission declined). We should be clear – the lack of transparency associated with the numbers is a significant problem and must be addressed.
That said, I fear that part of the problem stems from years of limited Canadian competition with little innovation in the variety of broadband plans and services.
The Daily Digital Lock Dissenter, Day 36: Canadian Political Science Association
The new law should not allow Digital Rights Management technologies to prevent fair use of published work.
Ottawa Weighs Loosening Ownership Rules in Telecom Sector
The Globe reports that the government is considering changes to the foreign ownership restrictions in the telecom sector by removing restrictions for companies with less than 10 percent market share.
Canadian Anti-Counterfeiting Group Calls For Graduated Response, More Restrictive Digital Lock Rules
On the Bill C-11 front, the CACN wants to gut many of the balancing provisions, including limiting the scope of the already overly restrictive digital lock exceptions, dropping the ISP notice-and-notice approach in favour of a graduated response that could lead to terminating Internet service for individual users, and removing the distinction between commercial and non-commercial infringement for statutory damages despite the fact that Canada is one of the few countries to have such damage provisions (which would pave the way for more Hurt Locker style lawsuits against individuals).
Recent Posts
Debating the Online Harms Act: Insights from Two Recent Panels on Bill C-63 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 199: Boris Bytensky on the Criminal Code Reforms in the Online Harms Act 
AI Spending is Not an AI Strategy: Why the Government’s Artificial Intelligence Plan Avoids the Hard Governance Questions 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 198: Richard Moon on the Return of the Section 13 Hate Speech Provision in the Online Harms Act 
Tweets Are Not Enough: Why Combatting Relentless Antisemitism in Canada Requires Real Leadership and Action
