Post Tagged with: "crtc"

CRTC Radio Review Needs to Dial In New Frequency

My weekly LawBytes column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) focuses on the CRTC's Commercial Radio Review. I argue that missing from the debate is any real vision about how public policy goals to promote Canadian artists and encourage a diverse, financially successful commercial radio market can be adapted to an […]

May 15, 2006 — 5 comments — Columns

CRTC “Analysis”

The CRTC and the regulation of telecom market has generated an enormous amount of interest in recent weeks with the Telecom Policy Review and CRTC decisions on local forebearance and regulation of mobile television. The coverage from the mainstream media has become entirely predictable – supplemented by supportive quotes from […]

April 18, 2006 — 1 comment — News

Shaw Sued Over Refusal To Carry VoIP Ad

Zingotel, a U.S.-based VoIP provider, has filed suit against Shaw over the cable company's refusal to carry advertising for a competing VoIP service. Zingotel has reportedly also filed a complaint with the CRTC.

March 24, 2006 — Comments are Disabled — News

Telecom Policy Review Panel Calls For Net Neutrality Legal Safeguards

The Telecommunications Policy Review Panel report was released earlier this afternoon and while the immediate reaction will no doubt focus on the recommendations for a market-oriented approach with significant changes to the CRTC, I would call attention to three other recommendations gleaned from reading the executive summary (the full document is nearly 400 pages).

First, the Panel has called for a new legislative provision protecting net neutrality standards. The panel calls this an open access provision, with Recommendation 6-5 stating that:

"The Telecommunications Act should be amended to confirm the right of Canadian consumers to access publicly available Internet applications and content of their choice by means of all public telecommunications networks providing access to the Internet. This amendment should

(a) authorize the CRTC to administer and enforce these consumer access rights,
(b) take into account any reasonable technical constraints and efficiency considerations related to providing such access, and
(c) be subject to legal constraints on such access, such as those established in criminal, copyright and broadcasting laws."

March 22, 2006 — Comments are Disabled — News

“Impertinent and Presumptuous”

Pollara, the company that has conducted several surveys on behalf of CRIA (including the CRTC submission), has posted a lengthy 11 page response to my original blog posting (a comment brought the response to my attention as I was unaware of it until this evening). Pollara suggests that my statements […]

March 21, 2006 — 14 comments — News