Post Tagged with: "telus"

Reflecting on the CRTC’s Hate Site Blocking Decision

My weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) looks at last week's flurry of activity over Internet-based hate sites at the CRTC, including the request for an order to permit voluntary blocking and the Commission's decision to deny the request on Friday.

Had the CRTC addressed the substantive questions, the case would have presented an enormously difficult choice. There is little doubt that the content in question is illegal and that Warman faces a serious threat. By directly targeting Warman, the foreign sites have arguably brought themselves within Canada's jurisdiction. Further, by merely asking the CRTC to issue a voluntary order, Warman avoided state-sanctioned censorship and placed the issue in the hands of ISPs.

Despite the good intentions behind the application, however, there remains some cause for concern.

August 28, 2006 — 12 comments — Columns

Telus Joins Call for Fair Use

While things have been publicly quiet on the copyright reform front this summer, indications are that the government has been busy, with a copyright bill likely to be introduced this fall. One important voice that has come forward is Telus, Canada’s second largest telecommunications company. In a letter to Canadian Heritage Minister Bev Oda, the company outlines its top priorities for copyright reform.

Leading the way is fair use, with Telus calling for a "living" fair use model that would expand upon the current fair dealing user right. In particular, Telus states that:

August 15, 2006 — 6 comments — News

Does the Government Have a Role in Internet Connectivity?

My weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) picks up on Toronto Hydro’s announcement last week of its plans to blanket the City of Toronto with wireless Internet access. I note that the announcement has sparked an important debate about the appropriate role for governments and public institutions in providing Internet connectivity, which comes on the heels of the CRTC’s recent decision to distribute $652 million to major telecommunications providers such as Bell and Telus to help defray the costs of implementing high-speed connectivity in rural Canadian communities.

These developments place the spotlight squarely on a critical question for new Conservative Industry Minister Maxime Bernier – what, if anything, should government do about Internet connectivity?

The starting position for a Conservative government might well be to argue that government has a very limited role to play here, concluding that this is strictly a marketplace issue and that the private sector has plenty of incentives to develop networks for consumer use.

Given the Web’s importance, I argue that government cannot adopt a hands-off approach, though it must recognize that its role differs in the urban and rural markets.

March 13, 2006 — 4 comments — Columns

A Fourth Wireless Carrier?

The Globe and Mail is reporting that the Telecom Policy Review panel may recommend creating a fourth wireless carrier in order to stimulate competition. Not surprisingly, the established players say it is completely unnecessary. Number portability would be another way to stimulate competition as would greater attention to the broadband […]

February 26, 2006 — Comments are Disabled — News

Coming Soon: The Two-Tiered Internet in Canada

Several Canwest papers run a story this morning (Montreal Gazette, Edmonton Journal) on the move toward a two-tiered Internet in Canada. I’m quoted expressing concern, but the most important part of the story comes from Telus, which not only confirms the move toward tieried pricing ("The industry has to move […]

January 30, 2006 — 12 comments — News