CNM Short Takes

Goldstein seeking support for industry initiativeLillyann Goldstein, CEO of @Wallace Studios, is distributing a letter asking for support for a new portal, directory and e-learning initiative dubbed MyMediaBiz.com. The portal would be a partnership with Dante Entertainment and with Humber College on board as part of a strategic alliance. According to a letter of support Goldstein has asked industry players to sign, the initiative would: "provide cost-effective and timely enhancement of industry-specific skills essential in today’s fast paced media environment; "increase the number of highly qualified, skilled workers in one of Ontario’s fastest growing and most labour intensive industries; "connect and strengthen the diverse and fragmented geographical and organizational aspects of the industries; and "facilitate strategic alliances between businesses, organizations and individuals in order to build Ontario’s business competitiveness in the world arena." Wireless short codes now for sale on commercial basisWireless short codes - five and six digit numbers to which text messages can be sent - are now available to be sold on a commercial basis from the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA). Common short codes will work with all of Canada’s wireless carriers. The initiative has been in the works since March when the CWTA announced it would work as a clearinghouse for the codes, which can be used in applications such as voting on TV shows, soliciting quick responses to outdoor and other advertising, or in any use where users want to avoid typing in a full 10-digit phone number. While this marks the first time inter-carrier short codes are for sale, the codes have been used for shows such as Popstars - The One where Rogers AT&T Wireless users could obtain a code to vote, and on TSN’s CFL football programming where users can text message a vote for the player of the game. American Idol also used short codes as part of a partnership between AT&T Wireless and Fox. Canada takes WIPO standCanada has submitted to the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights its position on a new exclusive signal right for broadcasters (CNM, Dec. 20/02). The submission reads: "Any Contracting Party may, in a notification deposited with the Director General of WIPO, declare that it will apply the right to authorize or prohibit the simultaneous retransmission by wire or wireless means of unencrypted wireless broadcasts only in respect of certain retransmisions, or that it will limit it in some other way, or that it will not apply it at all." The move is a compromised version of the signal right being sought by broadcasters, and the Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ senior VP of policy and legal affairs Erica Redler tells CNM that broadcasters here don’t support Canada’s position. "Frankly," she writes in an email, "the credibility of Canada’s one clause proposal, in comparison with full treaty proposals from the EU, the US, Japan and other countries is minimal at WIPO. However, it is ironic that the government made a proposal regarding a Broadcaster Treaty that is opposed by broadcasters. We will be making this point more forcefully in the next round." An exclusive signal right would reverse the compulsory licence on the retransmission of foreign signals. The committee’s timetable has now been pushed back a year, with the target of a diplomatic conference before the summer of 2005, with two more meetings in between then and now. Changes to nextMedia festival nextMEDIA, formerly known as the International New Media Festival, has seen its venue change from a resort in Brudenell PEI, to one in Charlottetown and a change in dates to October 22-25. The change was made as the original date was in conflict with the Gemini awards in Toronto. It has also been announced that Toronto-based Fourth Wall Media will be responsible for the introduction of interactive technology for the festival. Charest hears earful from Alliance numériQCThe Alliance numériQC has written an open letter to Quebec premier Jean Charest over budget cuts to measures supporting the multimedia industry in that province (CNM, June 25/03). The full text is available here.TV series files for trademarkRaj Dhanna Films Inc., Toronto, has applied for trademark protection for the mark "Raja and Rani". The mark would be used in connection with a television series and merchandise including computer games and CD-ROMs. Broadcast industry big donor to federal Liberal partyBroadcast industry players continued to be big donors to the Liberal Party of Canada in 2002, according to documents released July 2 by Elections Canada. Among the largest corporate donators to the Liberals were BCE Inc., which gave $29,305, and its subsidiary Bell Globemedia, which donated $13,692. Broadcaster CanWest Global Communications Corp. donated $5,989.10, CanWest Media Inc. $4,575.20, Global Television Network Inc. (Calgary) $896.04, and the company also made further donations through some of the newspapers it owns.Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. gave the Grits $10,601.80, with another contribution from its Quebec distribution arm Alliance Atlantis Vivafilm amounting to $4,305.50. Astral Media Inc. gave $8,611.00 and Astral Radio Inc. $4,305.50. The Craigs were another major contributor, with Craig Broadcasting Alberta Inc. contributing $9,334.50, Craig Broadcasting Systems Inc. on the list for two donations ($913.17 and $2,787.60), and Craig Wireless International Inc. giving $4,269.40. Rogers Group of Companies gave $39,910.45, while Rogers Media Publishing donated $5,989.10. Shaw Communications Inc. donated $1,448.02. Law firm McCarthy Tétrault, which does legal work in the broadcast area, gave $32,937.07.Industry associations were again on the list of Liberal donors, including the Canadian Association of Broadcasters ($10,966.22), Canadian Film and Television Production Association ($1,309.12), Canadian Cable Television Association ($5,106.35), Canadian Motion Picture Distributors Association ($1,101.34), Writers Guild of Canada ($896.04), Canadian Association of Film Distributors and Exporters ($1,430.55), and the Directors Guild of Canada ($4,269.40).Individual donors to the Liberals included Craig Broadcasting’s Boyd Craig ($448.02), CRTC commissioner Barbara Cram ($440), Vision TV president and CEO Bill Roberts ($430.55) and former CBC chair Guylaine Saucier ($1,000). Finnish creative team wins Banff edition of CyberPitch Accidental Lovers, created by Finnish producers Leena Saarinen and Mike Tuomola of CRUCIBLE STUDIO at the University of Art and Design in Helsinki, won the CyberPitch held during the Banff Television Festival June 13. Canadian Internet Project on track as Caron visits OxfordAndré Caron, head of the CITÉ at the Université de Montreal will be in Oxford, UK July 16-19 to participate in a meeting of 30 nations working on the World Internet Project. Caron will represent the Canadian Media Research Consortium, which is conducting a broad reaching study of Internet usage in Canada that will then be used in a global survey now underway (CNM, Oct. 16/02). New PSA to hammer home anti-piracy message to youthThe lastest in a series of public service anti-piracy announcements produced by the Canadian Value of Music Coalition is now in circulation (CNM, March 6/03). The spot features music by Canadian recording artist Andy Stochansky, and is touted as being the "most emotionally-charged of three PSA spots produced by the ." Heritage surveying SMEsCanadian Heritage is apparently surveying small- and medium-sized enterprises in the cultural industries, including in new media, to be used to help the industry. The survey is available here. No other details are available at this time. Film & television industry creates new Ontario consortiumThe Ontario Media Development Corp. has helped launch a new Ontario Film and Television Consortium with a membership of more than 30 companies, unions and guilds. Brian Topp, executive director of the Association of Canadian Cinema Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA), Toronto Performers, and Patrick Whitley, president/CEO of Dufferin Gate Productions, are the organization’s first co-chairs. More info about the consortium can be obtained from ACTRA’s Kim Hume, khume@actratoronto.com.

CNM Short Takes

Broadcast | July 11, 2003

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