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Leaked Conservative Election Document Reveals How Social Media Activity Linked to Party Database

The Toronto Star reports  on a leaked Conservative party document setting out the strategy for the 2015 election.  Of particular note is the party’s plans to engage in widespread social media monitoring that seek to identify users based on social media activity for follow-up and engagement.  The Star reports:

the document showed how the party can mine information on “non-CPC branded” websites, using a friendly media “Illustration.” The slide show points to radio station CFRA’s Lowell Green, whom it identifies as an “Ottawa based conservative leaning talk show host.” It says a “recent Facebook posting – non-issue” received 55 Facebook “likes.” The document says the party was able to “positively identify 38 constituents (70 per cent ID rate).” Of those 38, it said five “are current members/donors.” The result, it said: “33 Canadians who would be a ‘warm contact’ for engagement.”

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February 11, 2014 2 comments News

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 […]

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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.

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February 10, 2014 Comments are Disabled Columns

Who Gets a Large Share of Access Copyright Education Licensing Revenues?: US Publishers Say They Do

As the Canadian education community continues to shift away from the Access Copyright licence, relying instead on a combination of site licenses for materials, open access, fair dealing, and individual transactional licences, U.S. publishers are now urging the U.S. government to pressure the Canadian government to take action. The IIPA, […]

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February 7, 2014 10 comments News

CIRA Commits One Million Dollars to Improving Canada’s Internet

The Canadian Internet Registration Authority, the organization that manages the dot-ca domain, has unveiled an exciting new initiative that will deliver a million dollars toward community projects, research, and other related activities (full disclosure: I am a member of the CIRA board and chair of the committee that will review […]

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February 6, 2014 5 comments News