Michael Geist

Latest Posts

Digital Locks Emerge As Election Issue in Battleground Riding

Digital locks emerged as one of the first issues discussed last night in one of Canada’s most hotly contested ridings. An all-candidates debate in Kitchener -Waterloo, home of RIM and one of the closest ridings in the 2008 election, moved quickly to a discussion of digital locks and the “PlayBook […]

April 20, 2011 — 57 comments — News

Comparing the Political Parties on Arts Policy

The Canadian Conference of the Arts has posted an excellent summary of political party views on arts and culture issues, including copyright. The CCA received responses from all parties other than the Conservatives. It confirms that the NDP support new culture contributions payments from over-the-top services such as Netflix and […]

April 20, 2011 — 2 comments — News

Liberals on C-32’s Digital Lock Rules

Liberal Marc Garneau, who served on the C-32 committee and as the party’s Industry critic, issued a tweet last night that provided the clearest statement yet on the Liberal support for reform to the digital lock rules. Garneau stated: “Liberals believe Copyright Bill C-32 must be amended to allow digital […]

April 20, 2011 — 2 comments — News

OECD Broadband Rankings: Canada Ranks 28th out of 33 Countries Based on Bell, Rogers & Shaw Data

The OECD published its latest comparative broadband Internet data last week, confirming yet again that Canadian consumers pay more for less when it comes to Internet access. While some will undoubtedly claim that the OECD methodology is faulty, it should be noted that the data is provided to OECD member governments before publication. For this survey, the OECD focused on three of Canada’s largest ISPs – Bell, Shaw, and Rogers – covering 18 of their offerings at a range of speeds and pricing points.

The focus should be on the numbers, which tell a discouraging tale. Among the findings on price of Internet services (all as of September 2010):

Speed	Rank
Overall	28th out of 33
Below 2.5 Mbps	17th out of 24
Between 2.5 an 15 Mbps	28th out of 33
Between 15 and 30 Mbps	29th out of 33
Over 45 Mbps	23rd out of 28

April 19, 2011 — 54 comments — News

The PlayBook Tax: Why the Conservative’s Copyright Plans Create a Hidden Cost for RIM’s PlayBook

Research in Motion, Canada’s technology giant, releases its much-anticipated PlayBook this week. The PlayBook, a tablet competitor to the Apple iPad, is enormously important to the company and some commentators have cited its importance to the country as well. This weekend, the Globe noted “there is a lot on the line for Canada, too, of course – not because it needs the PlayBook but because the country’s technology sector has come to rest heavily on RIM’s success.”

Given its importance, one would think that Canada’s political parties would ensure that their policies do not create unnecessary roadblocks or barriers to its success. Yet the Conservative plan for copyright reform (as found in Bill C-32) establishes a significant barrier that could force many consumers to pay hundreds in additional costs in order to switch their content from existing devices to the PlayBook.

The PlayBook may be competitively priced with the iPad, but the hidden cost of transferring content to the new device – effectively a PlayBook tax – may mean that many Canadian consumers take a pass.

April 18, 2011 — 51 comments — News