CNM Short Takes

Internet advertising report releasedA new report commissioned by the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) Canada provides a snapshot of the Canadian Internet industry. Written by MultiMediator Strategy Group Inc, the report identifies both strengths and challenges. Among the challenges: a lag in Canadian expenditures on online advertising; a lag in Canadian retailers moving online; a lack of venture capital for domestic start-ups; and, a lack of a central voice for the Internet business community. Youth to create BC heritage web sitesIndustry Canada, the B.C. Ministry of Small Business, Tourism and Culture's heritage branch have teamed up with the Ministry of Education and the British Columbia Museums Association to hire young British Columbians to create web sites about the province's history. The program will spend $900,000 over two years to employ youth, develop their technology skills, create B.C. historical and cultural online content and build educational web sites targeted to the province's new social studies curriculum. The program is modeled on Industry Canada's Digital Collections program. Look takes run at foreign domain monopolyLook Communications Inc has entered the domain name market, ending a long-standing U.S.-based monopoly. Through a partnership with a Canadian-based domain registrar, customers can buy and park a domain name for an annual fee of $15. Previously, all domain names had to be registered through U.S. based Network Solutions Inc for a fee of US$70 for two years. SofTV.net and PayForView team on new web siteSofTV.net of Ottawa has reached a deal with PayForView.com to use the sofTV.Media-Suite technology to distribute movies, music, sports and live events direct to viewers online. The new interactive streaming media web site will launch in April. The sofTV.-MediaSuite technology allows web developers to build sites where the streaming media window features both archived and live video. Viewers will also see a selection of "parallel" synchronized content areas, where information, scheduled to coincide with and enhance the streaming video, will be shown. TeleLearning NCEs launch online incubatorsThe TeleLearning Network of Centres of Excellence and two entrepreneurs are launching a business incubator for fledgling online education companies. With a wealth of new educational technologies and expertise available within the TeleLearning NCE, InVentures Incubator Inc will provide support to researchers and developers seeking to build viable companies. InVentures will be led by Daphne Gelbart and Hashim Mitha, who will work closely with the TeleLearning NCE and an advisory board from the technology community. InVentures will help start-up companies build business models and identify financing opportunities. Canadian group wants to wire the world According to a Winnipeg group, the solution to foreign aid for developing countries is getting them hooked up to the World Wide Web. Runnalls, president of the International Institute for Sustainable Development, says the web can't solve all of the world's problems, but it will help empower young people. The IISD is finishing up a report to be released at an Internet conference in Kuala Lumpur this week. It says knowledge, especially Internet skills, is an important aspect of development assistance. But there are some hurdles to overcome. At the 1997 Global Knowledge conference in Toronto, the South African minister of communications pointed out that as many delegates were talking about broadband and bandwidth — half of the world has never made a telephone call. Study shows half of Toronto now on NetA survey of Toronto Internet use by local portal toronto.com shows just over two million of the Greater Toronto Area's four million adult residents use the Internet. About half (47%) depend on the Internet to make purchasing decisions, the survey found. The results are from a ComQUEST Research Inc survey of 1,000 people commissioned by toronto.com in December 1999. Another survey, by consultant Bristol Group in St. John's, said many Internet sites are unfriendly towards customers and driven by technology rather than an ability to connect with the user. The study's report says Internet use often results in declining customer loyalty. Totally Hip Software begins revenue recoveryTotally Hip Software says its 1999 earnings exceeded all of its expectations with a $0.02 cent gain in the first quarter of 2000 and a $0.01 cent loss in the fourth quarter of 1999 and an overall loss of $0.05 in fiscal 1999. The company restructured last May to focus on its QuickTime authoring tool for the evolving broadband-rich media market (CNM, Nov 9/99). The company says the improvement in the balance sheet for 1Q00 is mainly the result of the agreement with Columbia Software to re-acquire the rights to the WebPainter family of products. Debt reduction is one of the company's main objectives for the remainder of fiscal 2000. Canadian military launches hack attackCanada's defence department has gathered a team of scientists and computer specialists in the fight against Internet hackers. Prakash Bhartia, director-general of secretive Defence Research Establishment Ottawa, says 14 experts were hired last year for the new team. He hopes to have a 20-member group in place by July. The researchers have already simulated the recent hacker attacks which disabled Yahoo.com, eBay and other U.S.-based sites. Although the team's main function is to protect Canadian Forces' information systems, it will also likely provide research for a planned national co-ordination centre to fight off hacker attacks on key Canadian computer systems. First hacker conviction made in CanadaA Quebec court made legal history in early March when a judge handed down the country's first conviction in a hacking case. Pierre-Guy Lavoie, 22, a security consultant at Desjardins-Laurentian, hacked into hundreds of computer sites, including the web site at U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. The hacker must do a year of community service and a year of probation after being found guilty of fraudulently using computer passwords to commit computer crimes. He is also forbidden to touch a computer or surf the Internet for one year, unless he is working and under surveillance.

CNM Short Takes

News | 03/20/2000 5:00 am EST

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