CNM Update

Wednesday, May 4, 2005 Motion to consolidate digital music tariffs filedBell Canada – on behalf of itself and a group including the Canadian Cable Telecommunications Association and the Canadian Recording Industry Association and its members individually – has filed an application with the Copyright Board of Canada to try to force a consolidation of several tariff hearings dealing with the digital delivery of music. The tariff hearings in the application consist of those filed by CMRRA/SODRAC Inc, including its online music services tariff submitted last summer (CNM, May 14/04), and the webcasting tariff filed in late March this year (CNM, April 15/05), as well as the Society of Authors, Composers and Music Publishers of Canada’s recently re-filed Tariff 22. Interested parties have until May 5 to file objections to consolidating the proceedings. The Canadian Association of Broadcasters has supported the motion, as has Groupe Archambault in a separate filing. Canadian NEW MEDIA will have further details in an upcoming issue. Xbox to be unveiled on CTV infomercialThe next-generation Xbox will be unveiled in Canada during a half-hour special on CTV to be hosted by Lord of the Rings star Elijah Wood. Rock band The Killers will perform during the special, to air Friday, May 13 at 12:30 am. The show will demonstrate the games console’s features and online gaming service, as well as provide celebrity interviews and insider footage on the making of the console. Canadians slow to adopt HD-TV: Astral MediaJust 14% of Canadians have a high-definition (HD)-ready television set, and of those that do, only 40% have a HD set-top box required to receive HDTV, according to an Ipsos-Reid poll commissioned by Astral Media Inc. The survey further finds that only 6% of Canadians are viewing programming in HD. One in five who say they do not have an HD set-top box state it is because they are satisfied with watching DVDs on their HD sets. The survey was conducted between April 19 and April 21 with 1,000 randomly selected Canadians 18 or over by telephone. The results of a poll this size are considered accurate to within +/- 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.Electronic Arts awards cash in student competitionElectronic Arts awarded more than $50,000 to Canadian post-secondary students on April 30 as part of its Electronic Arts Great Canadian Art Competition. The contest rewarded students for outstanding work in three-dimensional digital animated shorts. The top 25 students were flown to B.C. last week and given tours of EA’s facilities. They also met senior executives and Hollywood art directors, including EA’s senior art director, Henry LaBounta, and chief visual officer, Glenn Entis. The finalists attend colleges, art schools and universities across Canada.Chalk Media reports record revenues at year endChalk Media Corp., Vancouver, saw revenues rise in its fiscal year 2004, ended Dec. 31, 2004, to $4.8 million, which represents an 85% gain from 2003. Its net loss for the year increased slightly to $2.46 million from $2.27 million in 2003. “We are very pleased to have hit our projected revenues for 2004,” said president and CEO Stewart Walchli in a media release. “We have continued to sigh new deals with our existing marquee accounts and have signed several new blue chip accounts in 2004.”QSound reports reduced loss in Q1For the three months ended March 31, 2005, QSound Labs, Calgary, reported a loss of $375,000 as compared to a loss of $643,000 in the same period in fiscal year 2004. The company reports a working capital surplus at March 31 of $3.11 million, $2.75 million of which is cash. The company sells audio enhancement software for mobile phones. Qualcomm Inc. recently licensed the company’s technology, and is now shipping samples to their customer base for use in 3G enhanced mobile products.Innovapost files for trademarkInnovapost Inc., a subsidiary of Canada Post, has filed for trademark protection for the word “Homep@ge.” The application notes that the trademark would be used to “cover the provision of a secure Internet location that is geo-specifically tied to physical addresses. This location is to be used as a secure communications environment for all points of call in Canada to receive high-value communications. These communications are a mirror of what Canadians receive in their physical mailbox today.” A company spokesperson tells Canadian NEW MEDIA that Innovapost has no immediate plans to launch a product associated with the mark.Canadian Heritage discloses contractsCanadian Heritage has announced several routine contracts, which have been disclosed as part of federal government requirements. The department issued a contract on Dec. 16, 2004 to Wall Communications worth $14,025 for a technology assessment of heritage institutions in Canada. The contract is for Wall Communications to “provide their expertise in research being conducted by (Canadian Heritage Information Network) on the use of information technology in heritage institutions. Specifically, expertise on the design and methodology of data collection is being sought from the contractor.” The final delivery date for the three-stage contract is due May 5. The department’s film, video and sound recording branch on Dec. 15, 2004 contracted the Cultural Human Resources Council to conduct a feasibility study for $23,364.The study will examine the feasibility of offering links to training providers in film, television and new media. Work on the study was to have been completed by April 30. The department’s trade and investment branch on Nov. 18, 2004 contracted the Canadian Independent Record Production Association (CIRPA) to coordinate the Canada stand at MIDEM 2005 and facilitate strategic business-to-business meetings at the show. The contract had a value of $185,000. As part of the contract, CIRPA was to have expanded and re-designed the Canada stand at the music conference to accommodate the needs of industry delegates, and improve its technological capabilities, as well as develop and deliver a high-profile international networking luncheon. On Dec. 15, 2004, the department contracted Pope Productions Ltd., St. John’s, to undertake the MediaJamTV.com project as part of the Citizens Participation Initiative at the International Exposition to be held at Aichi, Japan this year, including the online launch of the site. The contract was worth a maximum of $10,000.Bell files for games-related trademarksBell Canada has filed several trademark applications for kids-games-related marks: “kidsmania,” “foulejeux jeunesse,” and “gamer kid sidekick,” among others. The applications note that the trademarks and graphics would be used in conjunction with “pre-recorded video cassettes and CD-ROMs for PC games, video games, kits and startup guides,” as well as, “computer game information provided by means of a global computer network, namely an electronic computer game magazine; store flyers, and product promotional material for others; electronic games provided by means of a global computer network that provide access to a wide portfolio of games contents; electronic game contests by means of a global computer network.” Bell currently offers a Gamesmania gaming site, and the applications would indicate the company is planning to carve out a kids section for it.

CNM Update

News | 05/04/2005 4:00 am EDT

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