Rogers to probably trial network PVR service under revamped copyright regime

Rogers Communications Inc. will probably conduct a “small trial” of network personal video recorder (PVR) services to test the new copyright regime if there are no amendments to clarify Bill C-11's approach to the services, Ken Engelhart, Rogers’ senior vice-president of regulatory affairs, said at a Senate committee meeting Tuesday. Engelhart appeared before the Senate Standing Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce Tuesday during its last day of consideration of Bill C-11, the Conservative government's Copyright Modernization Act, to urge the committee to recommend an amendment that clears the use of network PVRs and other cloud-computing services without triggering additional royalties. Engelhart, who spoke on behalf of the Information Technology Association of Canada, said Rogers would like to “jump in with both feet” to offer network PVR services to customers but cannot do so under current ambiguities in the bill. He said the company would probably trial a network PVR service “very slowly and cautiously” and “wait for lawsuits” to determine the status of the service under the Copyright Act. “Cable companies like ours, which would otherwise be launching a broadly based NPVR service will, in the face of this uncertainty, have to proceed very cautiously, probably with a small trial and await the outcome of the courts,” he told the committee. The Wire Report reported in March that, according to broadcast distributors offering PVR services, the Conservative government's copyright reform Bill C-11 could prevent the launch of TV recording and playback services stored on their own networks. Existing PVR services have cleared broadcast distributors of potential copyright infringement because individual consumers make the copies of programs on their own devices, as they did with VCRs. Network PVRs could implicate broadcast distributors because the companies would make recorded and stored material available to customers through their networks. TV subscribers who download a recorded program from the network could trigger the collection of payments from rights holders for the so-called communication right included in Bill C-11. In submissions to the House of Commons committee studying the bill, Rogers and Shaw Communications Inc. said consumers should be permitted to download material from online storage spaces without triggering a “double payment.” Broadcast distributors say network PVR services are more efficient and cost effective in part because they allow for easy software upgrades to the services and do not require the use of set-top boxes with hard disks for storage. Engelhart said remarks by Industry Minister Christian Paradis in the House of Commons and the Senate in support of network PVR services and the proposed revisions to the Copyright Act are not enough to ensure that a court will not rule that such services constitute copyright infringement. “Some judges will say, ‘I’m sorry, the statements in Hansard can’t override the words that are before me,’” he said. Paradis told the Senate committee June 21 that Bill C-11 contains provisions to support software innovation and the deployment of new digital media products and services. “For example, it paves the way for increased adoption of cloud computing and services and network personal video recorders,” he said in French. “Our government recognizes the important role of intermediaries in the digital environment. It's why this bill also contains related provisions to exempt them of responsibilities and specifies the obligations of Internet service providers to combat online piracy.” Engelhart told The Wire Report that uncertainty around copyright is “definitely” the main factor preventing Rogers from offering network PVR services. “The late Ted Rogers told me five years ago that he wanted to roll out a network PVR. I had to tell him that I advised strongly against it until we had copyright amendments,” he said in an interview. The Senate committee heard from 44 witnesses over two days of meetings on Bill C-11 on Friday and Tuesday. The committee was scheduled to move to clause-by-clause review of the bill Tuesday evening, in which amendments are proposed and voted on. The bill, which was passed in the House of Commons at third reading on June 18, must now pass the Senate to receive royal assent and become law. The House committee studying the bill passed only minor, technical amendments. Amendments to the bill in the Senate would require it to be returned to the House of Commons for approval before it could become law. The Senate is expected to push the bill through quickly before its scheduled adjournment on June 29. The House adjourned last week. “This amendment is needed because, while the provision explicitly exempts the act of providing digital memory to store copyrighted works, it only implicitly exempts the transmission of that content back to the consumer,” Engelhart said. “This creates legal uncertainty that could chill any investment in network PVR and cloud computing services in this country, tying up the issue in court for years.” nkyonka@thewirereport.ca

Rogers to probably trial network PVR service under revamped copyright regime

News | 06/26/2012 7:07 pm EDT

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