By Sophall Duch
Canadian media outlets won’t likely see money from Google’s multimillion-dollar media fund this year as this country's broadcasting regulator misses a...
With the NDP and the Bloc Québécois supporting the Liberals, the House of Commons has adopted Bill C-11, the Online Streaming Act, at third reading, despite a request by the...
The Conservative Party Thursday accused the Liberals of “trying to hide...
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday the federal government isn’t...
OTTAWA — Any content levy on internet giants, as the telecom and...
Internet service provider TekSavvy Solutions Inc. has appealed a Federal Court order requiring ISPs to...
The new policy direction for the CRTC announced by the federal government Tuesday is a blunt message to the regulator to make some changes, but the extent to which it will...
BCE Inc. urged the federal government to make virtual private networks (VPNs) used to circumvent...
Electrical utilities and municipalities have arched their backs over...
The list of consumer groups that say they won’t take part in the CRTC’s...
TORONTO — The idea of cross-subsidization of industries did not find...
The CRTC has no jurisdiction to implement a system to block websites...
The new trade pact forged by Canada, the U.S. and Mexico to replace the...
OTTAWA -- Lawmakers need to make net neutrality a major priority and...
As cultural protection emerges as a last-stretch NAFTA sticking point,...
The Quebec Superior Court has ruled against a plan by the Quebec government that would have forced Internet service providers (ISPs) to block unauthorized gambling websites,...
The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) asked a parliamentary committee...
OTTAWA — The expert panel appointed by the federal government to...
An annual report evaluating whether trade partners are implementing favourable policies to the United States — traditionally dismissed by the Canadian government — has sunk Canada’s record on piracy this year because of what...
A proposal to implement a website-blocking system to fight piracy has drawn...
The CRTC decision Thursday not to mandate roaming for WiFi-first mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) brings predictability for large telecoms, financial analysts said. “At the highest level, we believe the CRTC struck a very supportive tone with respect to facilities-based competition and ensuring the wireless industry has continued regulatory certainty,” wrote RBC Capital Market analyst Drew McReynolds in a note late Thursday evening. Instead of mandating WiFi-based players, the CRTC directed large telecoms to offer low-cost data-only plans, in addition to setting new roaming...
A British Columbia court will not delay hearing a challenge brought by...
BCE Inc. is allegedly encouraging its employees to submit comments to the...
The Canadian government announced Tuesday it has reached an agreement with 10 other countries taking part in the negotiations of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). It said it had...
TORONTO — The federal government and the CRTC must pick up the pace and...
Alphabet Inc.’s Google does not have to comply with an order from...
Just over a week before Parliament is set to embark on its five-year review...
Because some aspects of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) raise privacy concerns, the...
BCE Inc. has said it thinks Canada can tackle piracy by mandating that...
OTTAWA — Canada should be cognizant of a potential multi-jurisdictional conflict on how data is handled as it renegotiates the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), University of Ottawa law professor Michael Geist told parliamentarians studying amendments to the...
Canada’s “restrictive” rules around copyright could make it more difficult for those working on artificial intelligence technologies to test and bring them to market, University of Ottawa law professor Michael Geist said in...
Alphabet Inc.’s Google is challenging the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) to order...
More than six dozen civil society organizations and individuals have come out to reiterate support for stronger data encryption in a letter addressed to a quintet of the world’s intelligence...
OTTAWA — In a landmark ruling, Canada’s top court dismissed an appeal...
OTTAWA — Canada’s Supreme Court has ruled that British Columbia has jurisdiction over a privacy case involving Facebook Inc.’s sponsored stories, a decision that experts say could have wider implications for online contracts between consumers and large companies....
In their initial impressions of the government’s biggest attempt to...
The Federal Court of Appeal has granted Voltage Pictures LLC its appeal challenging the costs Rogers Communications Inc. was asking for to disclose customer information in...
NDP heritage critic Pierre Nantel is raising the alarm that cultural protection could be on the chopping block if a wholesale renegotiation of the country’s trade agreement with the United States and Mexico occurs, and is asking the heritage minister to take a stand. In an opinion piece published in French-language...
The upcoming renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) could include pressure to change rules requiring some information to stay in Canada, University of Ottawa law professor...
A Federal Court judge ruled last week that a defendant must pay damages for selling products that allowed users to bypass another company’s technological protections, in the first such ruling in Canada. The case sets a precedent that will have a ripple effect on other industries, including media, according to...
TORONTO — The heritage ministry and the CRTC should engage in a more balanced discussion on what to do about taxes in support of cultural content, as both seem to be moving in...
OTTAWA — Raising the level of broadband Internet service for Canadians would go far in levelling the playing field for both media producers and consumers, a House of Commons committee...
Rogers Communications Inc. must disclose the personal information of a customer accused by Voltage Pictures LLC of violating its copyright, according to a court decision that experts said clarifies the...
A private members’ bill introduced on the last day of Parliament’s session seeks to extend the current copyright terms for authors and composers, from 50 years after their death to 70 years. Peter Van Loan, the Opposition critic for Canadian Heritage, introduced bill C-299 on Friday, according to a press release from the Toronto-area MP's office. The bill would cover the copyright held by “authors of every original literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic work,” the release said. Rules around copyright terms for sound recordings were...
A nearly nine-year spat between Rogers Communications Inc. and a Quebec municipality over the location of a wireless tower came to an end Thursday, with the Supreme Court of Canada handing the company...
New Quebec legislation forcing Internet service providers (ISPs) to block certain online gambling websites from being accessed in the province could put smaller ISPs out of business, industry reps...
OTTAWA — Former BlackBerry Ltd. co-CEO Jim Balsillie doubled down on his dire warnings against the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and what he calls its failure to support Canadian...
Voltage Pictures LLC is seeking certification in Federal Court for a class-action lawsuit against respondents who illegally file-shared its content. The document, filed Tuesday, asks the court to declare that the respondents...
OTTAWA — Extending copyright terms from 50 to 70 years after the death of the author is necessary to boost investment in creative industries, Robert Hutton, executive director of the Canadian Music Publishers Association, argued Tuesday. “The risks economically in creating intellectual property are borne solely by the creator and the investor company,” he said during a panel discussion at an event focused on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, which extends...
The Quebec government has introduced legislation that would require Internet service providers (ISPs) to block some online gambling websites. “The Société des loteries du Québec shall oversee the...
TORONTO — The newly elected Liberal government has indicated infrastructure will be a priority, and that could include telecom infrastructure, said lawyer Chris Tacit during a panel...
The full text of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, published Thursday by the government of New Zealand, shows that the agreement will place limits on rules around blocking Internet...
Online information leaker WikiLeaks published on Friday what it said were parts of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) that reveal provisions for Internet service providers to block access to content...
Details about provisions in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement that could affect Canada’s media and telecom industries remained scant Monday as the government announced the conclusion...
The website for the Pan Am Games, underway in Toronto, has had a rule indicating a ban on unauthorized links removed. On Friday, the following quote appeared on the terms-of-use section for the website Toronto2015.org:...
Bill S-4, the Digital Privacy Act, received royal assent and has become law, Industry Minister James Moore said in a press release Thrusday. The bill is an update to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents...
OTTAWA — Streaming video services like CraveTV and Shomi can and must be regulated as broadcasting entities in order to ensure funding for Canadian programming, the Canadian Media Production...
The Competition Bureau is looking for experts in the fields of online search and advertising, and experts say it's likely related to its probe into Google Inc.'s advertising practices, the Financial Post reported. According to an article appearing online Tuesday, the Post obtained a letter the bureau sent to several companies that said it was looking to contact people with "extensive experience in digital and web-enabled marketing, advertising campaigns that employ search engines and publisher sites across multiple devices, and a thorough understanding of the Canadian...
A case involving BCE Inc.’s mobile-TV service that’s currently winding its way through the Federal Court of Appeal is just one example of how the lines between telecommunications and...
The Ontario government spent months preparing its position on regulating streaming services like that offered by Netflix Inc., according to documents cited in a blog by University of Ottawa law...
BCE Inc.’s appeal of a CRTC decision to ban the use of simultaneous substitution for the Super Bowl in future years could be a sign of more conflict and court challenges to come as the...
Rogers Communications Inc. said Friday that David Purdy, its senior vice-president of content, did not call on government to ban virtual private networks (VPNs) during a media-industry conference in Toronto on Thursday, despite...
Canada has agreed to extend the copyright term to 70 years after the death of the author as part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free-trade deal currently under discussion, the Japanese Broadcasting Corp. reported Feb. 2. The extension was sought by the United States, the report said, which already has a 70-year copyright term. Canada’s copyright term is currently 50 years after the death of the author, according to the website of the Canadian Intellectual Property Office. In a Wednesday blog post, law professor and copyright expert Michael Geist said the Canadian government had...
Quebecor Inc.'s Videotron has been sending out copyright-infringement notices to customers, as directed by federal government's new notice-and-notice copyright requirements, that falsely tell users that the rights holder that has alleged a breach cannot be identified, University of Ottawa professor Michael Geist...
After "significant" investments in time and money to prepare for the notice-and-notice regime that went into effect this month, independent Internet service providers Teksavvy Solutions Inc....
The federal NDP issued a statement Friday calling on the government to prohibit false claims in copyright infringement letters sent under the new notice-and-notice regime. “The Conservatives...
Canadian telecom service providers told the government that surveillance capabilities would soon become a normal feature of their networks, according to an Ottawa academic. Quoting documents obtained...
The federal government’s pursuit of a consumer-driven broadcasting policy instead of a more comprehensive digital strategy has left the CRTC in a difficult position when it comes to regulating Internet video services, says...
Users of Netflix Inc.’s Canadian feed who feel like watching a few episodes of 30 Rock, Louie or Les Revenants will find themselves out of luck. But in a world where Canadians know these shows...
Rogers Communications Inc.’s decision to change its privacy policy to require law enforcement agencies to provide a warrant or court order to obtain subscriber information was made partly due to...
Rogers Communications Inc. said Thursday it received 174,917 requests for information on subscribers from government agencies last year, though it did not say with how many it complied. The company...
Law professor Michael Geist called on the government to strike out parts of the lawful-access provisions in its so-called cyberbullying bill at an appearance on Parliament Hill on Thursday, saying that Bill C-13 should be amended to ensure “appropriate safeguards against misuse of our personal information.” According to remarks posted to his personal website on Thursday, the Canada research chair in Internet and e-commerce law at the University of Ottawa told the standing committee on justice and human rights that the legislation expands the ability of and reduces the legal hurdles for government surveillance on average Canadians. “This kind of privacy harm can victimize anyone,” he said. Geist echoed earlier comments from the Canadian Bar Association that the bill should be split into two parts — one dealing...
Canada is among a dozen countries that agreed to a demand from the United States to extend copyright protection for music and written works to 70 years after the death of the author as part of talks on the Trans-Pacific...
Canada’s net neutrality rules could provide a “competitive advantage for Internet companies seeking a market without paid prioritization,” Michael Geist, Canada research chair in...
The Digital Privacy Act, the government’s most recent attempt to update the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), has experts disagreeing about the effect it...
A question posed by the CRTC in its review of television services, focusing on exempting over-the-top (OTT) services from Internet data caps, could have implications on net neutrality, according to some industry experts. In an...
A Canadian Internet service provider is being required by court order to give information on its subscribers linked with illegal filesharing to a Hollywood production company, and advocates on both sides of the issue are expressing appreciation for the decision. The Federal Court issued a decision Thursday ordering ISP TekSavvy Solutions Inc. to turn over the names and addresses of about 2,000 subscribers to Voltage Pictures LLC. In the decision, the court said: “TekSavvy Solutions Inc. (TekSavvy) shall disclose to the Plaintiff the contact information, in the form of names and...
A group of academics have written to Canada’s leading telecommunications-service providers to ask them about the sharing of customer information with government agencies. The academics sent...
The Conservative government’s new anti-counterfeiting bill passed committee stage with amendments and was referred back to the House of Commons for further debate, a parliamentary committee said. In a report published...
Anti-cyberbullying legislation introduced by the government in the House of Commons this week resurrects many of the lawful-access provisions previously included in its so-called Internet surveillance bill, Bill C-30, though it does not include two aspects that would have been the most costly for telecommunications...
Canada and the U.S. are in a “battle” over ISP liability in the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, Michael Geist, the Canada research chair of Internet and e-commerce law at the University of Ottawa, said in a blog post Thursday. On Wednesday, WikiLeaks posted a 95-page draft of the intellectual property...
The Conservative government’s response to the House of Commons industry committee report offered some indications of new plans for intellectual property reforms. On Wednesday, the government responded to an earlier committee report on Canada’s intellectual property regime. Michael Geist, the Canada research...
Bill C-56, the Combating Counterfeit Products Act, moved into second reading debate on Thursday in the House of Commons. Michael Geist, the Canada research chair in Internet and e-commerce law at the University of Ottawa, said in...
