CNM Short Takes

Number of Canadians surfing the Internet on riseThe number of Canadian households surfing the Internet continued to grow in 2003, with an estimated 7.9 million (64%) of the 12.3 million Canadian homes having at least one member who used the Internet regularly, according to Statistics Canada. The figure represents a 5% increase from 2002, but is well below the annual gains of 19% and 24% recorded in 2000 and 2001. Internet use was the highest at home, with 6.7 million households having at least one member who regularly used the Internet from home, a gain of 7% from 2002. Of the nearly 6.7 million households with a regular user from home in 2003, an estimated 4.4 million (65%) had a high-speed link to the Internet through either a cable or telephone connection, up 56% from a year earlier. More and more Internet users reported using the Internet to search for medical or health-related information or to use online banking services, while fewer reported downloading music. The data is derived from the Household Internet Use Survey (HIUS), which is a subset of Statistic Canada’s Labour Force Survey. Data gathered in January 2004 covered household Internet use for the 2003 calendar year. There were 23,113 respondents to the survey. CRIA objects to ringtone tariffThe Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) filed on June 30 an objection to the Society of Authors, Composers and Music Publishers of Canada’s (SOCAN) proposed Tariff 24 dealing with ringtones (CNM, March 6/03). CRIA tells the Copyright Board of Canada that the proposed royalties "are excessive, unwarranted and unreasonable, bearing no relation to the value of any copyright that may, in fact, be proven to be in issue in connection with the supply of ringtones by a ringtone supplier to its subscribers. CRIA further states that the proposed royalites are neither fair nor equitable." SOCAN has proposed fees that range up to 10% of a supplier’s revenue, or a minimum fee of $0.20 per ringtone. CRIA’s entry into the board proceeding on Tariff 24 appears to require a slight delay that has been acquiesced to by the other objectors in the case. The board is now considering a request to consolidate three years of Tariff 24 proposals, for 2003-2005, into a single proceeding. CBC makes leave to intervene in private copying appeal caseThe CBC made a motion for leave to intervene in the Federal Court of Appeal case pitting the Canadian Private Copying Collective against an array of retailers and manufacturers over last December’s Copyright Board of Canada decision on private copying (CNM, Dec. 19, 2003). The CBC says it is seeking to intervene since no other party represents the interests of the beneficiaries of the zero-rating program. CNM has learned that the Copyright Board is also planning to make a motion for leave to intervene. Its notice of motion states that the board "will not defend the merits of its decision nor ally itself with any party." E-payments drive one-quarter of economic growth: VisaA study commissioned by Visa Canada and conducted by Global Insight Inc. finds that electronic payments have contributed $107 billion to the Canadian economy since 1983, accounting for 25% of the country’s economic growth. The study further finds that $60 billion of growth in personal spending by Canadians in the last 20 years is directly attributable to electronic payments. Credit cards accounted for more than 82% of this growth, with debit cards accounting for 17%. Electronic payments offer efficiency, security and reliability, says the report. Netgraphe shareholders unhappy with offerA group of minority shareholders owning over 10% of Netgraphe Inc. are unhappy with the purchase offer made by Quebecor Media Inc. in May to buy all Netgraphe shares for $0.63 each. The shareholders, represented by attorney Campbell Stuart, say profits at the subsidiary are growing, and industry price to earnings ratios have improved. Using a price to earnings metric in keeping with the company’s profits and the improved fortunes for the sector as a whole, they say $0.63 is unsatisfactory. The shareholders announcement came July 12, on the same day that the company reported its financial results for Q2 2004. During the period, the company posted total revenues of $8.1 million, and saw operating income before amortization and financial expenses of $904,000. Net income per share was negligible. Pangaea wins contractCalgary-based Pangaea Systems Inc. has won a contract from the Alberta Home Builder’s Association to develop the Alberta Builders Connection Web Portal. The new site will streamline B2B transactions using an online procurement engine, as well as host job placement opportunities and other business-related functions. No value for the deal was released. Cinram acquires TEN Ltd. in U.K.Cinram International Inc. has purchased all the shares of The Entertainment Network Ltd. (TEN), a joint venture of Sony Music Entertainment (U.K.) Ltd. and Warner Music U.K. Ltd. Under the terms of the agreement, TEN will retain its trade name and will continue to distribute on behalf of its two former owners in the U.K., and Ireland. It distributes CDs, DVD, games software and other multimedia products. Mamma.com releases free web tools to compete with Google’sMamma.com Inc. has released two new products free to the market that resemble popular features from Google and others. A toolbar and Explorer bar will facilitate Internet searches from any web page, block pop-ups, and highlight search terms, as well as store search results. The tools were developed with Visicom Media Inc. Cold North Wind announces free digitization to library subsCold North Wind has announced a program to offer institutional library subscribers free credits toward digitizing local newspaper content. Subscription rates will vary according to the size of the library. The company is now testing a beta version of the program with the Markham Libraries and the York Region Newspaper Group. Phantom Fibre to develop gaming platform for DGSToronto-based Phantom Fibre Corp. has won a contract from Digital Gaming Solutions to develop a mobile wagering platform based on DGS software and to be marketed by DGS to sportsbook and casino properties. The licensing arrangement will be in effect for five years. Macromedia offers Flash Lite 1.1 with support for mobileA new version of Macromedia’s Flash product, Flash Lite 1.1, will offer support for mobile devices, including full-color animation, improved audio such as MP3s, and interactive content. The version is an upgrade from version 1.0, which was first offered in the NTT DoCoMo 505i handsets introduced last year. AOL Canada teams with Puretracks for music offersAOL Canada has joined the other large ISPs in Canada by turning to Puretracks to offer music downloads. The offering will be packaged with AOL’s AOL Music bundle of downloads and music information. Chalk Media, Archambault ink agreement for TV showChalk Media Corp. announces that Group Archambault’s Illico on Demand, a wholly owned subsidiary of Quebecor Media Inc., has purchased episodes of the Dave Chalk Connected television show. The shows will be offered on Illico’s video-on-demand service. Shaw sees one million high-speed Internet subscribersShaw Cablesystems says it surpassed the one million high-speed Internet subscriber mark in late June. The service was first launched in Calgary in November 1996.

CNM Short Takes

News | 07/13/2004 4:00 am EDT

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