Columns

Little New In New Media Hearings

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission new media hearings take a break over the next few days before concluding with a steady stream of appearances by Internet service providers, who are certain to argue next week against the imposition of a new ISP tax to fund the creation of Canadian new media. My technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) this week argues that the break is much needed, as the past two weeks have been huge disappointment with submissions short on specifics, long on rhetoric, and filled with inconsistencies.

While there is plenty of blame to go around, criticism must start with the CRTC, since it set the tone for the hearings with a series of conditions that make little sense. The Commission tried to limit the hearings to "new media broadcasting," explicitly excluding issues such as net neutrality and the potential regulation of user generated and non-commercial content.

Yet each of these distinctions cause the entire new media hearing edifice to crumble.

March 2, 2009 — 6 comments — Columns

Digital TV Transition Opens Door to “WiFI on Steriods”

As noted in last week's column, Canada finds itself lagging more than two years behind the United States in the transition from analog to digital television broadcasting, a process that could leave millions of Canadians without access to over-the-air television signals. While the elimination of "free TV" would spark outrage in many communities, my weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) the most harmful effect of the slow migration will be felt in the competitiveness of Canadian telecommunications, not broadcasting.

February 24, 2009 — 6 comments — Columns

Blurry Outlook for Canadian Digital TV Transition

Earlier this week, hundreds of U.S. television stations plan to shut down their analog broadcasts as they complete the transition to digital over-the-air broadcasts. While the U.S. had planned for a nationwide change this month, last minute legislation has delayed the full mandatory transition until mid-June. My weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) argues that the U.S. experience to date highlights what should be a major concern for Canada – the transition from analog to digital broadcasts is years behind the U.S. with virtually no industry or government support. This sounds like a purely technical issue, yet the policy implications of that transition will have a profound effect on both the national broadcast and telecom landscape.

February 20, 2009 — 3 comments — Columns

Peeking Behind Canada’s Copyright Complaint Against China at the WTO

Late last month, the World Trade Organization released a much-anticipated decision involving a U.S.-led complaint against China over its intellectual property laws. Canada was among a number of countries that participated in the case, which alleged that China’s domestic laws, border measures, and criminal penalties for intellectual property violations do not comply with its international treaty obligations.

On April 25, 2007, David Emerson, then the Minister of International Trade, issued a press release announcing Canada's participation, stating that it was "based on concerns expressed by Canadian stakeholders on a range of issues related to China's intellectual property rights regime." Yet, as reported in my weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) according to dozens of internal Canadian government documents obtained under the Access to Information Act, Canadian officials, unable to amass credible evidence of harm to Canadian interests, harboured significant doubts about the wisdom of joining the case and ultimately did so only under the weight of great pressure from the United States.

February 9, 2009 — 10 comments — Columns

Canada’s Do-Not-Call Disaster

When Canada's do-not-call list was launched last September, two outcomes were easy to predict. The first was that the list would prove enormously popular with millions of phone numbers registered in a matter of months. The second was that Canadians would ultimately be left disappointed with little reduction in unwanted telemarketing calls and concerns about the ability of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications to enforce the law. Four months later, my weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) notes that the do-not-call list contains roughly six million registered phone numbers and, as expected, there are a growing number of Canadians – including Industry Minister Tony Clement – who are expressing misgivings about the potential for abuse.

The problems associated with the do-not-call list fall into three categories.

February 2, 2009 — 28 comments — Columns