CNM Update

CNM update – January 4, 2006 Copyright a campaign issue: CRIA pollA new poll conducted for the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) claims more than two-thirds of Canadian voters support stronger copyright laws, regardless of who wins the upcoming election. Of the more than 1,200 Canadians selected at random for CRIA by Pollara Inc., more than two-thirds – 68% – said they feel the new government formed after this month’s election should commit now to implementing tougher copyright legislation that protects the work of Canadian musicians from unauthorized sharing over peer-to-peer networks. Nearly a third of those surveyed – 32% – also said they’d be more likely to vote for a party or candidate that would support stronger measures to combat unauthorized file-sharing over the Internet, with 17% saying they’d vote against such a party or candidate. With Bill C-60, an Act to Amend the Copyright Act, on hold due to the election, CRIA president Graham Henderson said in an interview with Canadian NEW MEDIA late last year that Canada could become known as a "rogue jurisdiction" where copyright isn’t as strongly enforced if it fails to enact the bill, which contains principles agreed to by Canada at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in 1997. "That's why we want WIPO enacted here, so that we don't wind up as the Barbary Coast of the north," he said, adding he’s confident the WIPO provisions will be enacted by the next government. BC firm offers junior hockey on three screensExponentia Communications Corp. of Vancouver has partnered with TSN and Molson to offer a "three-screen" interactive product that puts international ice hockey fans in the game this winter. PlayAction combines TV, computer and mobile device platforms to give fans following the International Ice Hockey Federation’s World Junior Championship the power to predict the next play as games progress, including the team to score the next goal, draw the next penalty, and the final score. Before the games begin, would-be pundits can also make their call as to who’ll score first, get sent to the penalty box first, and which team will win. The player with the most points overall throughout the series will win a home theatre setup. The gold medal game on January 5 will be the last chance audiences will have to see PlayAction in action. During last year’s World Junior Championship series, viewers registered more than 4,500 picks with the system. A look back at 2005 at Look’s AGMBroadband and dial-up ISP Look Communications held its annual general meeting for shareholders just before the holidays. Key Look executives, including board chairman Michael Cytrynbaum and vice-chairman and CEO Gerald McGoey, were re-elected to their positions along with four other directors of the board. Those board members were granted an additional 750,000 stock options between them, and accounting firm KPMG was appointed as the firm’s auditor of record for the 2006 fiscal year. McGoey also provided a recap of the progress made in 2005 in Look’s continuing transformation from a traditional ISP to a provider of mobile TV and other multimedia video services. "The beta testing of our hand-held units has shown us the technological capability that has generated excitement for the potential of new services not presently available to customers in Canada," McGoey said in a media release. Mail2web.com introduces MediablogBlogging application service provider Mail2web.com of Toronto has rolled out its new Mediablog service, which allows corporate and individual users to upload virtually any file to their own server space for free. The offering is free of file size limits that plague other competing products, according to a Mail2web media release, and works by sending files as email attachments to a special address; the software then publishes the attachment to the user’s weblog. Mediablog also allows users to update and post content to their weblogs from remote devices, such as those running Nokia’s Lifeblog application, and supports the podcasting capabilities of Apple Computer Inc.’s iTunes. New CodeBaby works with FlashCodebaby Corp., an Edmonton-based developer of virtual agents for Web environments, said its interactive solution is now available in Adobe Systems Inc.’s Macromedia Flash format. The firm, which features the tagline "Hello human," has existing customers for its interactive 3D helpers in a variety of industries including online banking, healthcare, telecommunications and e-learning, but in a media release CEO Shaheel Hooda said the new compatibility with Flash gives the firm "the opportunity to deploy our solution to an even broader audience." The virtual agents will now run on both Windows and Macintosh machines, and in a wide variety of web browsers including Internet Explorer, Firefox and Opera, all of which wasn’t possible in its earlier iteration, which used Microsoft Corp.’s proprietary ActiveX controls. Empower-ful media chair to debut at CESRichmond BC’s Empower Technologies Corp. announced it will unveil its Linux-powered line of "smart furniture" at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, January 5 to 8. The PowerPlay chair, flagship of the company’s home entertainment hardware, features built-in 5.1 surround sound powered by a Texas Instruments Inc. digital signal processor and Empower’s own LinuxDA operating system, as well as a PDA-like touch display where users can control the properties and settings of the chair’s sound field. Eatertainment now on the webEatertainment Hospitality and Eatertainment Special Events and Catering, two branches of the a Toronto-based firm operating several specialty restaurants in that city as well as a catering business, announced the launch of www.eatertainment.com, an interactive consumer-focused resource for entertaining at home. The web site, which Eatertainment is calling "Canada’s first-ever lifestyle-based hospitality web address," will feature not just food information and recipes but also tips on décor, seasonal decorating concepts and more, as well as an "ask an expert" section and links to Eatertainment’s products, services and venues. Toronto’s Deates Technology worked with Eatertainment to develop the site. Filmport appeal quashed, project to proceedToronto’s much-anticipated Filmport project overcame a hurdle late last year with the dismissal of an appeal that stalled its construction. An unnamed competitor in the film studio business had tried to block Filmport by filing an objection to a variance to the site plan which would allow uses ancillary to movie production, according to a media release issued by Filmport parent company Toronto Film Studios Inc. The objection was filed with the Ontario Municipal Board, and construction of the nearly 250,000 square-foot complex is now scheduled to start this summer. Toronto Film Studios already operates 360,000 square feet of studio space in east Toronto.

CNM Update

Broadcast | January 4, 2006

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CNM Update

Broadcast | January 4, 2006

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‘An open book for any and all ideas’: Miller announces new audiovisual advisory group

CPAC cuts PrimeTime Politics, L’Essentiel a week after CRTC rate increase approval

National Film Board resistant to possible merger with Telefilm, CMF

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