CNM Short Takes

Keep Copyright Board, CRTC separate, IIC conference hearsThe idea of rolling the Copyright Board of Canada into the CRTC or similar agency got a rousing thumbs down at the meeting of the Canadian chapter of the International Institute of Communications. At a Dec. 3 session examining the future structures of various regulatory agencies, all panelists dismissed the proposal. "The idea of combining the Copyright Board with the CRTC has been around a long time," Peter Grant of the McCarthy Tétrault LLP law firm told delegates. "This will exacerbate the situation and make things worse rather than better." He pointed out that the CRTC allows broadcasters to follow policies that favour Canadian content without running afoul of international trade agreements. But if the Copyright Board attempted to discriminate in favour of Canadians, it would be in violation of World Trade Organization rules. His fellow speakers agreed with him. "The Copyright Board is primarily concerned with the distributive effect, not the allocative one," Lawson Hunter, executive VP of BCE Inc., noted. Another panelist worried that any such merger would overwhelm the CRTC. Phyllis Yaffe, CEO of Alliance Atlantis Broadcasting, said the regulator has enough trouble getting through all of the broadcasting and telecommunications issues for which it currently has jurisdiction. Adding more responsibilities would be a step backward, she said. "The notion of melding the two strikes me as fruitless," she added. Electrohome sells plant to former tenant ChristieElectrohome Ltd. has closed the sale of its 292,000 sq. ft. facility in Kitchener ON to its largest tenant, Christie Digital Systems Inc. The deal will result in a $5.5-million gain to Electrohome that will be used to repay mortgages on the property. Christie manufactures projectors and displays for virtual reality, 3D, movie theatres, broadcast monitoring systems and other applications. Electrohome will lease back its current offices from the new owners. Electrohome is a 30.6% owner in Fakespace Systems and owns a 5.7% interest in Immersion Studios. The company expects to now generate most of its revenue from Fakespace and trademarks. Heritage quietly releases report dealing with music distributionA fascinating new report on music distribution in Canada completed in April has just been posted online by Canadian Heritage. The report by trade journalist Larry Leblanc notes the existence of emerging digital distribution mechanisms without making any recommendations. Leblanc says that some indie distributors believe that electronic distribution "may eventually lead to strengthening the multinational’s hold even further, and may present independent artists with even greater access challenges." The report is online here. Archambault to sue pirates?Canada.com reports that Groupe Archambault Inc. is considering suing music downloaders in Canada. CEO Natalie Lariviere is quoted as saying that, "it’s ridiculous that only 9% of pirates realize that piracy is illegal." The company is also said to be considering offering a new download service later this month. Archambault’s distribution arm has an estimated 40-65% penetration rate in Canada’s French-speaking marketplace, and owns about 90% of the independent French-language labels in Quebec. The company also operates 12 Archambault superstores. Cloakware opens Carleton University laboratoryOttawa-based Cloakware Corp. has announced itself as the lead corporate research sponsor of the new Cloakware Security Research Laboratory at Carleton University. The lab is expected to provide a focal point and resources for exploring ways to prevent reverse engineering and software tampering, as well as address network intrusions and software security. The lab will be led by Paul Van Oorschot, the Canada Research Chair in network and software security at the school. He is also now principal research associate at Cloakware. New Media BC on the moveNew Media BC has moved its office in the wake of the New Media Innovation Centre’s failure (see lead story). Its new address is 212-2223 West Broadway, Vancouver BC, V6K 2E4. Its telephone number remains the same: (604) 739-9878, and fax remains (604) 739-9819. Government funds CHRC new media study initiativeHuman Resources Development Canada has provided $457,900 in funding to the Cultural Human Resources Council, in part to help fund a New Media Human Resources Analysis project. The initiative will undertake a training needs analysis from the employers’ perspective, develop a competency chart/profile, identify sources of training supply, and develop a national human resources strategy for the new media industry and content providers. The initiative is similar to previous projects undertaken by the group (CNM, Oct. 10/03). Puretracks nails Quebec dealsPuretracks, the Canadian-owned and operated music download service, has struck licensing deals with Quebec labels Guy Cloutier Communications, Delphinemusik and La Tribu that should pave the way for the launch of a French-language service in early 2004. The labels are in addition to those added earlier in November including with DEP Distribution, Diffusion YFB, Tacca Musique and others. BioWare wins accolades for Star Wars gameEdmonton-based BioWare Corp. has won a Golden Joystick Award for Xbox game of the year for its Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic game. The awards are presented by MTV UK, Computer and Video Games.com, and PC Zone UK, and chosen by fan vote. Chalk Media purchased by Giantstar in reverse takeoverChalk Media Corp. has been wholly acquired by Giantstar Ventures Inc., which will now take on the Chalk Media moniker. At the same time, New Horizons Capital Corp. acquired approximately 17% of Giantstar’s issued and outstanding shares in a private placement. In return for Chalk’s assets, Giantstar issued 15 million shares to 29 Chalk shareholders at a deemed price of $0.15 per share, which represents approximately 66% of the company’s outstanding shares. FRV Média to acquire Group INEOFRV Média has signed a letter of intent to buy Group INEO, a training and education content company, in a stock deal worth $600,000. The transaction is subject to approvals. Bell Fund announces winnersThe Bell Broadcast and New Media fund has issued a shorter-than-usual list of winners in its first round of announcements since having its funding cut by 40% this summer (CNM, July 24/03). The following received production grants for their broadcast/new media projects: Brady’s Beasts:Vivatoon Inc./Vivatoon Inc. and Ndi Media This is Daniel Cook: Marble Media Inc. Inuk (season two)/Inuksite2: Tube Nunavut inc./Pop6 Media Much Music Movie/DIY Road Trip: Brightlight Pictures & CHUM/Snap Media Corp. Casules Zérolimite/Site Zérolimite: Balestra Productions Inc. Deaf Planet (season two)/Deaf Planet.com (season two): Marble Media Passepart (season two)/Passepart.com(season two): Groupe ECP. Development grants were awarded to Cité-Aérique’s Dragon, Creative Atlantic Communications’ Keys Cut Here, Sarbakan Inc.’s Obscura, and Digtal Wizards’ Test Lab Interactive. Professional development funding was provided to the Banff Television Festival, a New Media Weekend to be held by Women in Film and Television, and the Innoversity Creative Summit. The Snap Media project is a new direction for the company, working as they are on a companion web site for a feature film for the first time. SNAP Media’s creative director Mark Hand tells Canadian NEW MEDIA that the associated web site will incorporate SNAP’s usual emphasis on community-building, and may even offer the opportunity for local music groups to upload their songs. While the film will have a limited run in the theatre, Hand says SNAP hopes the site will continue for an indefinite period of time, continuing to grow its user base. WIFT president Kate Hanley tells CNM that its New Media Weekend will be a case-study format workshop to look at the use of interactive web sites for broadcast projects. Topics will include financing, marketing, and business opportunities such as licensing and merchandising.

CNM Short Takes

Broadcast | December 4, 2003

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