Archive for February 10th, 2014

Canadian Government To Commit More Money Toward Rural Broadband Initiatives

The CBC is reporting that the 2014 federal budget, which is scheduled to be tabled tomorrow, will feature money to “extend or improve high-speed Internet access to 280,000 households and businesses in rural and remote areas.” A new commitment to broadband access, which was promised in last fall’s speech from […]

February 10, 2014 — 6 comments — News

Competition Bureau Raises Concerns Over Canadian Wireless Market

The longstanding debate over the state of wireless services in Canada has veered across many issues – pricing, roaming fees, locked devices, new entrants, and foreign investment to name a few. At the heart of all of these questions is a single issue: is the current Canadian wireless market competitive?

My weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) notes the competitiveness of the Canadian market is a foundational question since the answer has huge implications for legislative and regulatory policy. If the market is competitive, regulators (namely the CRTC) can reasonably adopt a “hands-off” approach, confident that competitive forces will result in fair prices and consumer choice. If it is not competitive, standing on the sidelines is not option, thereby pressuring government and the CRTC to promote more competition and to implement measures to prevent the established players from abusing their advantageous position.

February 10, 2014 — Comments are Disabled — Columns

Competition Bureau Raises Concerns Over Canadian Wireless Market

Appeared in the Toronto Star on February 1, 2014 as Competition Bureau Raises Concerns over Canadian Wireless Market The longstanding debate over the state of wireless services in Canada has veered across many issues – pricing, roaming fees, locked devices, new entrants, and foreign investment to name a few. At […]

February 10, 2014 — Comments are Disabled — Columns Archive

Panel Discussion: The Internet, Free Trade, and Transparency: An International Perspective

I participated in a panel titled The Internet, Free Trade, and Transparency: An International Perspective as part of Yale University’s Trade and Transparency in the Internet Age.

The panel was moderated by Margot Kaminski and the other participants were Peter Yu, Ante Wessels. We discussed the impact of WikiLeaks leaking a draft of Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement and parts of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement , another free trade agreement. Both leaks led to considerable public debate over both the content of the agreement and the negotiating process. The leaks, and their policy effects suggest there is a need for discussion of trade and transparency in the Internet Age.