Post Tagged with: "crtc"

The App Store by Glen Bledsoe https://flic.kr/p/9rCQw8 (CC BY 2.0)

Not Just User Generated Content: Liberal Government Also Want the CRTC to Regulate Apps Under Bill C-10

Earlier tonight, I posted on the government’s attack on freedom of expression with its astonishing plans to regulate all user generated content posted to sites such as Youtube, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. But the danger doesn’t stop there. For months, the government insisted that it was not going to regulate video games as part of Bill C-10.  In fact, Canadian Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault told the House of Commons:

Bear in mind that we are imposing a number of guardrails. As I said earlier, user-generated content, news content and video games would not be subject to the new regulations.

It turns out none of this is accurate. I’ve blogged about how news is caught by the legislation and the Heritage committee just eliminated the guardrail on user generated content. Now it appears that the government plans to introduce a motion to bring apps under the scope of CRTC regulation.

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April 23, 2021 12 comments News
FreedomMobileHillcrestMall by Raysonho @ Open Grid Scheduler / Scalable Grid Engine, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FreedomMobileHillcrestMall.jpg

The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 84: Dwayne Winseck and Ben Klass on Canada’s Wireless Woes

Last week was a busy one in the wireless world in Canada. Just as people were debating the proposed Rogers – Shaw merger, the CRTC released its long awaited wireless decision involving the possibility of mandated MVNOs or mobile virtual network operators. While the CRTC notably concluded that Canadian wireless pricing is high relative to other countries and attributed that to insufficient competition, it ultimately was unwilling to fully embrace a broad-based mandated MVNO model. To help break down these recent developments, joining the Law Bytes podcast this week are Dwayne Winseck, a professor at the School of Journalism and Communication at Carleton University and the director of the Canadian Media Concentration Research Project, and Ben Klass, a senior research associate at the Canadian Media Concentration Research Project and board member at the Internet Society Canada Chapter. They both join the podcast in a personal capacity representing only their own views.

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April 19, 2021 3 comments Podcasts
Done! by Dave Shea https://flic.kr/p/35uYYK (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 83: Inside in the Industry Committee Hearing on the Proposed Rogers-Shaw Merger

When the proposed Rogers – Shaw merger was announced last month, it immediately became a flashpoint for Canada’s ongoing debate over wireless competition and pricing. The Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology moved quickly to put the proposed merger under the microscope with hearings that have included Rogers and Shaw along with academics, competitors, and regulators. I was invited to appear before the committee and provide my take on the implications of the merger. This week’s Law Bytes podcast goes inside the virtual hearing room with my short opening statement followed by clips of the Q &A with several Members of Parliament.

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April 12, 2021 2 comments Podcasts
botnet by Nicolas Nova https://flic.kr/p/NR9Htb (CC BY-NC 2.0)

The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 82: Jonathan Curtis on the CRTC’s Push to Block Botnets

The Canadian technology community has a long history of working together with government and regulators to counter online harms such botnets, spam, and malicious hacking. It therefore came as a surprise when the CRTC launched a consultation on addressing botnets that raised the possibility of the regulator stepping in with new blocking mandates. The consultation just completed its first round of comments and in addition to industry experts, there were others that opportunistically looked at the blocking discussion as the chance to promote copyright related blocking or other Internet blocking requirements.

Jonathan Curtis has been at the heart of battling botnets and online harms for decades with work at Bell, the CRTC, and leading security companies. He joins the Law Bytes podcast in a personal capacity to place the online security challenges in historical context and to outline both the benefits and risks that come from the potential blocking approaches raised by the CRTC.

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March 29, 2021 1 comment Podcasts
Blocked websites by Tactical Technology Collective https://flic.kr/p/8KDGTc (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Blocking is Back: Why Internet Blocking is the Next Big Canadian Policy Battle

In early 2018, Bell led a consortium of companies and organizations arguing for the creation of a new website blocking system in Canada. Complete with a new anti-piracy agency and CRTC stamp of approval, the vision was to create a new system to mandate site blocking across ISPs in Canada. Canadians challenged the so-called FairPlay proposal and the CRTC rejected the Bell application on jurisdictional grounds. Since that time, the Canadian courts have been dealing with site blocking requests (the Federal Court of Appeal is soon set to hear arguments on the issue) and the Canadian copyright review conducted by the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology decided against recommending the creation of a new administrative system for site blocking.

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March 17, 2021 31 comments News