Archive for April 18th, 2012

Cutting Community Internet Access Program Highlights Absence of Digital Strategy

The recent federal budget was a hefty 498 pages, but my weekly technology law column (Ottawa Citizen version, homepage version) notes 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.

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April 18, 2012 9 comments Columns

CRTC Says No Need For Another Over-The-Top Video Fact Finding Exercise

The CRTC has written to participants from the last “fact finding exercise” on over-the-top video services to advise that it believes that no further studies are needed as this time. The Commission notes that “over-the-top programming services have not had an impact sufficient to warrant another fact-finding exercise at this […]

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April 18, 2012 2 comments News

The Economist in Support of Open Access

The Economist has an editorial endorsing mandated open access for publicly funded research. It concludes that “government bodies that fund academic research should require that the results be made available free to the public. So should charities that fund research. This would both broaden access to research and strengthen the […]

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April 18, 2012 Comments are Disabled News

More Reaction to the AUCC – Access Copyright Deal

I posted my initial reaction to the AUCC – Access Copyright deal yesterday.  Other comments come from CAUT, Ariel Katz, Sam Trosow, Michael Ridley, and Meera Nair.

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April 18, 2012 Comments are Disabled News