With this edition, Canadian NEW MEDIA begins anew. We’ve increased our publishing frequency, enhanced our look, and improved the editorial section. The closure of Evert Communications Ltd in January led to the suspension of this publication and its affiliated newsletters.

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Brian Katz has left Telefilm Canada's Toronto office to become VP of business development and executive producer of content for Infopreneur, a Toronto-based Internet entertainment provider. The company, with a staff of 60, creates IT, sports and entertainment-lifestyle content for the Internet. Katz, who started March 6, says he's replicated his former position with Telefilm, "except I'm in the marketplace now."

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Internet advertising report released
A 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.

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The Ontario government’s Research and Development Challenge Fund is contributing $12 million to establish a new policy centre for e-commerce, intellectual property and other pillars of the new economy. The initiative is being spearheaded by the University of Toronto, which anted up a further $7 million towards the new Centre for Innovation and Policy. Another $1 million has been committed by the law firm of Osler Hoskin & Harcourt.

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Toronto is losing as much as $3 billion a year and 30,000 jobs because the city is not reaching its potential as a new media cluster, according to a new study conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Re-leased Feb. 4, the report, identifies a serious "digital content gap" emerging in the Greater Toronto Area. Although Canada’s most prosperous region is still the country’s largest business centre, this fact isn’t reflected in the size, scale or stability of a new media cluster, the report’s authors find.

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New media pundits applaud BCE’s proposed purchase of CTV

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AmikaNow! Corp, Kanata ON, has released a web-based version of its message highlighting technology to simplify and reduce the flood of electronic information being forwarded to email-enabled wireless devices. AmikaFree-dom.com promises to significantly reduce the vast amounts and length of email messages through innovative and proprietary artificially intelligent software that enables users to receive condensed summaries based on a set of key words and phrases.

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The Quebec government has adopted a series of aggressive measures – totaling $340 million – to ensure that its residents and businesses are not left behind in the global race to get online. Reflective of last year’s budget which aimed financial incentives at Quebec’s new media industry, last week’s provincial budget split its focus between the underlying network infrastructure, as well as targeted subsidies designed to get families connected to the Internet and businesses involved in e-commerce.

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Nearly 80% of Canadian ISP customers are happy with their service, according to a Decima Research Inc poll conducted for Decima Publishing Inc. The telephone survey of 926 Canadians found 39% are "satisfied" with their ISP, while 40% said they are "very satisfied" (see charts, page 1) Similar figures — 44% "satisfied" and 39% "very satisfied" — were reported when people were asked whether they felt they got value for their money. About 60% of the respondents said they have access to the Internet, either at home or work.

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Legal loophole that gave birth to iCraveTV won’t be closed anytime soon

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