CHUM Ltd. is extending its community focus into cyberspace with a new virtual reality world that has already enjoyed good success in Europe. On June 28, the company’s interactive arm and Sulake Canada Inc. announced the introduction in this country of the Habbo Hotel. The venture will work on a revenue-sharing basis with CHUM Interactive sharing in money spent by users on their virtual domiciles in return for promoting the site to MuchMusic viewers.

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Canadian youth are seeing few consequences in taking advantage of free music downloading services, according to a recent study, and are downloading in greater numbers as a result. The number of youth using peer-to-peer applications such as Kazaa isn’t at its all-time high levels as it was before a spate of publicity about legal actions taken against pirates, but the activity is on the upswing, according to the Solutions Research Group’s (SRG) latest poll.

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Internet service providers dodged a bullet June 30 when the Supreme Court of Canada found they aren’t liable for music communicated online. The court ruled in the Tariff 22 case that ISPs are merely conduits for content passing through their pipes, and that the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) can’t pursue a tariff from them. The court’s unanimous decision puts to rest a dispute that dates back to 1996, when Tariff 22 was first filed. SOCAN was originally pursing a licence fee of 3.5% of ISPs’ revenues as compensation for the pirated music traversing their networks.

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The most recent Delvinia Interactive Inc. Interactive Media Producers Survey strikes a welcome note of cautious optimism this year that the industry may be on the upswing. But, cautions Delvinia head Adam Froman, potential growth in the industry will depend on external factors, including the continued expansion of the Canadian economy.

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A who’s who of the online music industry has lined up against steep new tariffs proposed by copyright owners on digital reproductions (CNM, May 14/04). A broad range of players including online retailers, ISPs, record labels and broadcasters, both in Canada and in the U.S., filed objections with the Copyright Board of Canada in late June to a tariff proposal by the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency (CMRRA) and the Société du droit des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs au Canada Inc. (SODRAC) that would slap a hefty $0.10 per track fee or 15% of gross revenue for permanent music downloads to be paid to songwriters and publishers for the reproduction right online.

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