A consensus has emerged among digital channel applicants that new Category 1 licensees must hit the market by September 1, 2001 at the latest, and it seems to be a view CRTC commissioners support. What isn’t as clear though, is how these new services will be offered. Pure pick-and-pay may be what many consumers prefer, but it doesn’t appear this will be an option for Category 1 services. How much real choice viewers will have next September will depend on how the bundles are offered, and that’s still an unknown. According to research presented by the Canadian Cable Television Association, Canadians want to create their own packages of television services, either on a stand alone...
CRTC commissioners are quickly that more digital television channels doesn’t necessarily mean a wealth of new original Canadian programming. The first two weeks into the commission’s licensing hearing for digital specialty channels – PN 2000-22— revealed a trend by many applicants to rely heavily on repeat programming from their other television channels, at least during the early days of low digital penetration. The practice – referred to as "nesting" by some – poses a difficult policy dilemma for the CRTC, which has a mandate to promote diverse and original Canadian programming. Category 1 applicants said crossover programming is needed to ensure the long-term...
Internet service providers (ISPs) can start selling cable Internet service early next year, assuming negotiations go smoothly with cablecos on the remaining technical and contractual agreements. The arrival of a competitive retail market for high-speed cable access has been a long time coming, but with the CRTC’s release...
After years of squabbling between telcos, cablecos, new competitors and building owners, the CRTC has finally initiated a proceeding to establish rules for in-building access. Released August 25, Telecom PN 2000-124 will examine the possible fees, charges and other terms and conditions associated with access to multi-units...
Cinar may disclose more information from internal auditCinar Corp plans to disclose some of the findings of an internal audit in the next few days. The company also appears close to striking a tax settlement with the federal and provincial governments. The company’s auditors, Ernst & Young, indicated recently they may not sign off on the company’s books for the next several months, leading some observers to...
Sudbury native Sean Brushett has been appointed VP of marketing at Thomcast Communications Inc, a supplier of microwave transmitting equipment. Brushett will develop and drive the marketing strategy for both Thomcast’s core technologies, operations and new initiatives. Most recently he served as senior marketing manager/director of marketing for Cox Communications in New Orleans. Greg Warren is stepping down as...
Jan Pachul has landed himself in a classic David versus Goliath scenario. Last week, the CRTC rejected the Toronto businessman’s application for a community television station for east Toronto (see lead story). But it appears the battle is far from over. Pachul made his pitch for Star Ray TV before a panel of five CRTC commissioners in Hull last December. Below is an edited transcript of his presentation, which includes his company’s vision for community TV. So far what we have done is like an old fashioned barn raising where people in the community get together for a common cause and decide to do it. There has been a whole group of people doing this for over a five-year period, an army of volunteers. One thing that I want to bring up is the "Star Ray TV Viewers...
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.00:15:01: Okay, it’s over. The Machiavellian corporate trainer won. Most people in the business world should have seen it coming a mile away. Now, we’re stuck with the fall-out: a wave of knock-off Survivor experiences. An Ottawa radio station just finished a Survivor game. The last challenge...
Though denied a licence to launch a community TV station, Jan Pachul isn’t about to give up his plan to broadcast over-the-air. He says that he will launch a pirate UHF channel to complement the web content he’s already announced. Pachul is also taking his fight to the federal Cabinet, the Competition Bureau and the...
Mitzie Hunter has been appointed president of SMART Toronto. She will report to chair of the board Dave Wharry. Hunter will work closely with the board to direct all aspects of the organization’s activities, guide its efforts in using Toronto’s strengths in the high tech sector and to promote the city as a worldwide centre for the creation and distribution of digital media. PCsupport.com has named Mark Little as...
Bruce Phillips, Privacy Commissioner of Canada, testified before the subcommittee on Communications of the Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications about Internet privacy on June 19. Below is an excerpt from his prensentation. Three aspects of this marketplace, its interactivity, its inherently...
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. A new report by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) indicates that content, not physical access, is proving the major barrier to getting more Canadians online. As has been highlighted in previous editorials, the report emphasizes the fundamentally unanswered question in Canada’s...
The federal government should invest as much as $50 million to help create cultural and community content that is relevant to peoples’ lives if it wants to see a greater number of Canadians hook up to the Internet, according to the author of a new report released by one of Canada’s main social advocacy groups. The...
A proposed digital TV channel hopes a new video technology will make it stand out from the pack of applicants currently before the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) for new specialty TV licences (CNM, April 20/00). DGNet, one of a large crop of CTV/BCE proposals, is enticing commissioners...
A long-time over-the-air radio broad veteran has made a bold move into cyberspace, announcing a string of 50 new Internet stations in each of Canada’s major markets. Tim Martz, president and CEO of San Francisco-based (with Canadian headquarters in Ottawa) Martz Communications Group Inc, says Internet broadcasting will...
A group of upstart actors, producers and web-heads are hoping to challenge some pre-conceived notions about Internet content with a series of new websites designed to push the bounds of the short-format film. Trailervision Inc recently won a half-million dollar investment from Toronto-based Internet incubator itemus Inc, money the small company will use to hire the technical staff necessary to create two new sites: Zapavision.com and Blipvision.com in addition to their current Trailervision.com spoof site. The sites will feature ever-shorter content, eventually licensing pieces less than 15 seconds long to portals and other sites eager for fresh, hip content to attract eyeballs. To...
An important source of capital for new media and Internet companies has made a series of significant investments, including a first for the New Millennium Internet Ventures Fund. Triax Capital Holdings Inc has invested $43 million in 17 companies through two funds — the Triax Growth Fund managed by Altamira Management,...
A French powerhouse in video game development has chosen Canada as its first server site for a new gaming portal. Launched August 16, GameCitizen.com offers online visitors the chance to play games with others from around the world. It also provides information on strategies, daily news from the gaming industry and free...
Indiqu announces mobile gaming with Bell MobilityMontreal-based indiqu.com Inc has announced a new partnership with Bell Mobility that will see its games available to Bell’s Internet-ready subscribers. The company’s games are interactive and will be available immediately using the Bell Mobility wireless browser. The privately-held company is based in San Diego with a Canadian headquarters in Montreal, and supports a...
This week, the CRTC’s landmark proceeding began to determine the winners and losers in a digital TV world. At least one BDU is concerned that some digital applicants are expecting too much from the CRTC. Below is an edited excerpt from Look Communications’ July 7 comments to the commission. The CRTC has clearly recognized that packaging...
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.Even as this issue goes to print there’s no guarantee that, by the time you read it, Izzy Asper, Jean Monty, or persons still unknown won’t have reshuffled the Canadian media deck yet again in the name of convergence. A couple of years ago, convergence was a concept that was expounded by a few Internet fans and a clutch of communications professors. Skeptics said there would never be enough bandwidth or modem speed for net broadcasters. They believed no news outlets would give away information. They believed the ‘Net would be a poor cousin to traditional broadcasting, good for chatting with strangers and sending email. And those skeptics may still be right. Web broadcasters still haven’t proven that the market is really there for Internet TV. After all, radio on the web is still a minor factor in broadcasting. And news home pages have yet to show profits for Canadian newspapers and broadcasters....
Auditor general Denis Desautel’s report on the state of the management of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp paints a picture of an organization caught between its mandate as an arm’s length entity, and the political reality of a management overseen by a board, and a president appointed by the Prime Minister. The...
Canadian broadcasters being unfairly harassed and denied entry into the United States want the American ambassador to Canada to press his government into reigning in its border officials. Broadcasters and unions say crews have been prevented from entering the U.S. to make documentaries when U.S. Customs staff decided that...
CanWest Global Ltd’s takeover of Canada’s largest newspaper chain should sail through with virtually no scrutiny, senior political sources in Ottawa say. The Canadian Competition Bureau is obliged to look at the deal between CanWest and Conrad Black’s Hollinger Corporation, but only in terms of whether the agreement...
The Canadian Cable Television Association is opposing a proposal by Pelmorex Communications Inc to insert weather warnings on cable signals. In comments filed with the CRTC, the association says it supports the concept of "a cost-effective, technically workable" All Channel Alert (ACA) system. But it notes that...
The days of teenagers carrying transistor radios is over, and the generation that made AM the breakthrough venue for rock and roll still makes up the bulk of radio’s listeners, a Statistics Canada study shows. Average listening time is also on the rise. In the fall of 1999, Canadians listened to the radio for an average...
Broadcasters submit V-chip timetable to CRTCThe CRTC is reviewing a proposal from Canadian broadcasters that would see the V-chip introduced in Canada next year. If approved, broadcasters would begin encoding their programming to work with V-chip equipped television sets. The commission is expected to respond to the proposed timetable within the next few weeks. Broadcasters currently use an on-screen ratings system, that...
Marjean Henderson has been appointed VP and CFO of iMagicTV, a provider of interactive digital television and media-on-demand software solutions for telephone companies and other service providers. Henderson has 15 years of experience as chief financial officer in the areas of entertainment and technology. She was senior VP and CFO at Nucentrix Broadband Networks Inc, a provider of broadband wireless services in medium...
The British Columbia Institute of Technology has named event organizer Julia Blockberger as its new chair. She is the first woman to chair the school’s board of governors. First appointed to BCIT’s board in 1998, she was most recently vice-chair and head of several key board committees. Elizabeth Collet, formerly with Yahoo, has been appointed acting CEO of Chalk.com, Vancouver, as well as to the company’s...
Gordon Ross, president and CEO of Vancouver-based Net Nanny Software International Inc, addressed the Congressionally appointed Child Online Protection Act Commission hearing on Internet filtering and rating at the University of Richmond, VA, on June 20. The commission is evaluating the effectiveness of technological solutions to protect children online. Net Nanny makes filtering software which allows parents to set parental controls over their children’s Internet surfing. Firsthand experience has taught our company that education is key to protecting children online. It must focus not only on children, but on parents as well. Each month, we team up with law enforcement and other computer security specialists to teach a free eight-hour class called the "Internet and Your...
A former high-flying celebrity among new media companies is devoting the next two weeks to getting its financial house in order after filing for bankruptcy protection July 19. After nearly a year, Montreal-based Interquest Inc was unable to complete an announced reverse takeover of Alberta junior capital pool company...
Any potential sale of Imax Corp to a foreign company won’t go ahead without the approval of the foreign investment branch of Canadian Heritage, says the country’s top review official. The Toronto company announced July 13 that it was looking at "strategic alternatives" including the sale or merger of the...
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. Under ordinary circumstances, one might lament the potential sale of Imax Corp to a much larger, international, entertainment conglomerate. Deals like these are often accompanied with the loss of important executive and technical jobs in Canada. Staff at Mississauga headquarters will likely have...
A prominent communications lawyer is calling for free-trade in top-level Internet domain names, warning that restrictive Canadian policies will trigger trade retaliation for domestic companies working abroad. Tim Denton, working on behalf of Tucows Interactive Ltd, told delegates at a recent conference in Ottawa that...
A broadly-based working group of consumer, government and private sector representatives is working to implement a "seal-of-seals" program later this year to certify ecom sites (CNM, July 12/00). Canadian consumers have repeatedly demonstrated their lack of trust in electronic transactions, a situation which costs online retailers millions of dollars every year in potential sales. Now, an outgrowth of the private sector Canadian E-Business Opportunities Roundtable Report, published in mid-January, is working to create a Canadian-branded consumer protection trustmark, backed by a neutral dispute resolution mechanism. If all goes well, the working group will have a...
BCE Inc is offering to spend $61 million on new media content, training and research as part of its $2.3-billion bid to buy CTV Inc. Canada’s broadcast regulator requires a so-called "benefits package" whenever a broadcast licensee changes owners. On July 17, Canada’s largest corporation filed an application...
Museum professionals are ahead of Canadians in adopting new Internet technologies, according to a new study of the sector by Canadian Heritage. In a report published last month by Wendy Thomas of the Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN), 93 per cent of respondents to a 1998 survey had used the Internet, and 36 per...
Recordable DVD to overtake CD-RW sales by 2004, says IDCMarket analyst IDC says consumers will buy far more DVD-ROMs than CD-ROMs by 2004. Current sales are less than US$2 billion and more than US$3 billion, respectively, of manufacturers’ revenues. In 2004, DVD-ROM units will generate almost US$4 billion vesus only US$400,000 for CD-ROM drives. Higher storage densities and richer multimedia possibilities are being...
A large rift has opened up in the Canadian television industry over how new digital specialty channels will be sold to consumers. The Specialty and Premium Television Association (SPTV) and the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) are facing off against the major cable companies, represented...
BCE Inc has voluntarily exceeded regulatory and Canadian content obligations to convince federal regulators that its plan for CTV Inc is the best remedy for Canada’s largest private broadcaster and for the country’s broadcasting industry as a whole. In an application that’s sure to impress...
The CRTC is gearing up to spend much of the next three years on the transition from analog to digital broadcasting, but the regulator’s broadcast section also has a full load of business and cultural issues to review. The line-up is outlined in the newly released CRTC Action Plan 2000-2003, a follow-up to last...
Cost and content will likely the overriding factors that determine whether the CBC or a joint bid by Chum Limited and Astral Media succeeds in winning a national licence for a French-language arts channel. The CRTC has begun its deliberations following a June 27 public hearing in Montreal, with a decision expected to follow...
Canadian documentary films are enjoying astounding annual growth, but their quality and marketability could decline because of funding agency priorities, a study funded by government agencies and industry players concludes. The report, written by Michel Houle, a consultant with Industries culturelles et...
The CRTC has allowed CanWest Global Communications Corp to become a national network, but at the same time has quashed a bid by Corus Entertainment Inc to own more analog specialty channels. CanWest is seen to be coming out of the carving up of WIC with the best deal. In its June 6 ruling, the CRTC departed from its usual policy of prohibiting a company from owning more than one TV station in a given market and ruled CanWest does not have to divest any stations, as had been speculated. CanWest concluded the deal for WIC last November following a 19-month tussle with Shaw Communications Inc that ended with the two dividing up WIC’s assets. But Corus, a division of Shaw, can’t keep much of WIC’s specialty business that it coveted. CanWest gets WIC’s outstanding shares,...
Broadcasters submit V-chip timetable to CRTCThe CRTC is reviewing a proposal from Canadian broadcasters that would see the V-chip introduced in Canada next year. If approved, broadcasters would begin encoding their programming to work with V-chip equipped television sets. The commission is expected to respond to the proposed timetable within the next few weeks. Broadcasters currently use an on-screen ratings system, that...
In the wake of its takeover by Alliance Atlantis, Great North Communications president has named Andy Thomson executive VP, Alliance Atlantis television production. Thomson’s appointment is effective immediately and he will be based in Alliance Atlantis’ head office in Toronto, reporting directly to Peter Sussman, president, Alliance Atlantis television production. Eamon Hoey, a telecommunications veteran, has...
Senator Sheila Finestone has introduced an amendment to the Broadcasting Act that, if approved, would provide financial assistance to consumer groups that intervene in broadcast proceedings. Bill S-24 moved into second reading on June 29. Below is below is an edited transcript of Finestone’s comments to the Senate on that...
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.The CRTC has moved relatively quickly to approve most of the deal between CanWest Global and Shaw to carve up the assets of WIC. Global becomes a national network, Shaw gets lucrative distribution properties, and the TV viewers in western Canada come out, at the very least, even. The next major...
Budget cuts haven’t stopped the new media division of CBC Radio from reaching out to young Canadians over the web. While plans for CBC Radio 3, a network aimed at the youth audience, never got off the ground due to an estimated $10-million price tag, the new CBC-produced web site – www.120seconds.com – promises to deliver flash broadcasts, games, pop culture and news to a diverse range of ‘tweeners and youth. The site is being produced by Gabriel-award-winning journalist and web designer Carma Livingstone from CBC’s radio new media headquarters in Vancouver. Livingstone and the other six employees at Radio 3 will work closely with other CBC radio staff on an ad-hoc project...
The CRTC has put its formal, public stamp of approval on the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund’s application to be eligible to receive contributions from broadcast distribution undertakings (BDUs) (CNM, May 5/99). On June 29, the commission certified the fund officially as one of several independently-administered...
Aprominent new media think tank, the Banff New Media Institute (BNMI), is in the preliminary stages of formalizing its role as an incubator in partnership with government and the private sector. Sara Diamond, the BNMI’s executive director, says she has engaged in talks with the Alberta government and partners such as...
WorkdayTV teams with National PostMedia darling WorkdayTV.com has teamed with the National Post Online in a strategic alliance to integrate content and provide investors and viewers with breaking investment news. The arrangement will result in regular daily broadcasts on WorkdayTV.com from the National Post newsroom and the Post will feature a link to the Internet broadcaster. No details of the arrangement were disclosed....
Kenneth Power is now CFO at Image Power Inc of Vancouver. A B.Comm graduate of the University of British Columbia, he has worked for a variety of companies including CHC Helicopter Corp, Smartire Systems Inc and Totally Hip Software Inc. The federal government has appointed four new members to the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC). Christopher Beaumont is a professor of oceanography at...
An optical network dedicated to Internet traffic may sound futuristic, but not for people who work at Canada’s advanced Internet development organization. At CANARIE Inc, it’s an obvious solution to the current bandwidth and technical limitations of existing telephone networks. With digital media applications and services becoming more widespread...
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. Those not in attendance at Net 2000 sponsored by CANARIE Inc missed an educational and eye-opening conference. There are few other events each year which bring policy-makers, infrastructure builders, content providers, researchers and educators together in a single forum. The lesson was clear:...
Details of a tax credit designed to help Ontario new media companies have been implemented after a two-year wait — but the final product isn’t broad enough to help most firms in the province, critics charge. On June 7, the Ontario Film Development Corporation unveiled details of the Ontario Interactive Digital Media Tax...
Ottawa-based Internet broadcaster Inetcable Inc has ended a year-and-a-half long search for a broadcast encoding partner and purchased the technology from Connecticut-based USA Video Interactive. Under the direction of experienced helmsman Ted Boyle, former president of satellite TV provider Bell ExpressVu, the company can...
New media and communications incubator Itemus Inc, Toronto, has turned one of its latest acquisitions, Ottawa-based Intrasoft Technologies Inc, into the sharp end of its corporate stick. With over a dozen companies under the Itemus Inc investment umbrella, the new unit – now named Itemus Solutions Inc – will serve as the pivot around which the disparate technologies in the group will revolve. Executives say it will act as an information broker both facilitating communications between member companies and for the group as a whole to provide Internet and application service provider (ASP) services globally. The new unit will be wholly-owned by Itemus Inc – a former junior mining...
Embattled Internet broadcaster iCraveTV.com is preparing to take another run at viability this fall, this time with retransmission rights secured and a new blocking software that should appease rights holders. If the maverick company is successful, the re-launch will mark an end to its voluntary break in operations, which...
The the House of Commons Heritage Committee has waded into the battle over proposed CBC cuts to regional programming, demanding the CRTC intervene to prevent any scale-back of local newscasts. Sources within the CRTC say they would like to take on the CBC, which, they believe, arrogantly brushed aside the CRTC’s...
Ted Rogers and his wife Loretta have donated $25 million to the University of Toronto and $10 million to Ryerson Polytechnic University to help train a new generation of engineers and communicators. The U of T will permanently name its department of electrical and computer engineering the Edward S. Rogers Sr....
Television producers outside Toronto and Montreal are worried that proposed changes to the Canadian Television Fund (CTF) will cut off the special funding and regional bonuses they receive. The CTF is the largest source of public funding for TV production in the country, particularly for companies based in British...
Approval of Food Network Canada opens door for Canadian versions of other U.S. channelsThe CRTC has approved a licence application by Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc for a Canadian version of the Food Network. Released Tuesday, the decision bodes well for digital channel applicants who are trying to win licences for Canadian franchises of other U.S. channels, such as A&E’s Biography.Food Network Canada will replace the Food Network on all cable systems that currently carry the U.S. service. Programs will cover the culture of food, food selection, preparation , presentation and cooking instruction. Feature films on the new service will be restricted to theatrical releases with food as a central theme, and no more than one film can be broadcast each week.Canadian programming must make up 50 per cent of the schedule, with a minimum of 175 hours of original Canadian programming in the first year. That level will increase over the licence term, to a minimum of 350 hours per year by 2006.Alliance Atlantis owns 51 per cent of Food...
Jacques Bensimon, former managing director of TFO, has been appointed executive VP of the Banff Television Festival. Bensimon left TFO following a dispute over the vision for Ontario’s pubic broadcaster. Doug Beeforth has been appointed VP and GM of Sportsnet. Beeforth has been a key player on the Canadian sports broadcasting scene for many years. He spearheaded the original licence applications for Sportsnet....
It’s been six months since the United States required a Canadian invention to be installed in most television sets. And its success hasn’t been as widespread as many would like. In Canada, the Action Group on Violence on Television has filed a proposed timetable with the CRTC to begin encoding their programming to...
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.Some corporations are so large that an ownership chart looks as confusing as a Tokyo street map. Even executives have a hard time keeping track of interests, partnerships, and alliances. Throw in cultural protectionism, and things can become very scrambled indeed. Such is the case in Vivendi’s...
The US$30-billion takeover of Seagram Ltd by Vivendi SA and its subsidiary, the French pay TV network Canal Plus, is threatening to re-open the politically charged issue of allowing foreign film distributors into the Canadian market. The issue centres on PolyGram, which four years ago as a foreign-owned company, applied to...
Honhenheim University conducted a survey recently to find out why Germans are buying less digital pay TV than consumers in Spain, Great Britain and France. It seems the main entry barriers in Germany are a lack of standardized decoders, 35 free television channels and high costs. Percent of digital subscribersthat buy digital pay...
The CRTC wants satellite TV and wireless cable companies to create a standards council to deal with the rising number of consumer complaints. Now, consumers who have problems with satellite or wireless systems must turn to the company, rather than an industry organization, for help. The CRTC warns that, while this system...
The CRTC plans to review the future of community channels in Canada within the next few months, after receiving hundreds of complaints about how cable operators are operating the local channels. The criticism has been particularly vocal in Quebec, where individuals, organizations and institutions have written asking that...
Canadian content quotas and funding programs are stifling the new media industry’s ability to raise money and develop content for a global audience, industry executives told delegates attending the Summer Institute of Film and Television. Held June 21 in Hull QC, the annual training symposium stepped outside of the...
The federal government has finally launched a single source on the Internet for consumer information. The new Canadian Consumer Information Gateway web site (http://ConsumerInformation.ca) seamlessly combines content from 27 different federal departments on information ranging from car seat safety to banking fees. In development since last September, the site promises to end confusion over which departments are responsible for issues ranging from tele-marketing fraud to travel advisories. It should also help staff at Industry Canada’s Office of Consumer Affairs (OCA) route callers to the best source of information in less time and with fewer difficulties. The success of the...
Digital TV public hearing schedule publishedThe CRTC has published a list of companies that will appear at a hearing in August on new specialty digital television stations. Companies have anywhere from 20-60 minutes to make their case to commissioners. The full list can be found at www.crtc.gc.ca/ENG/PROC_BR/HEARINGS/2000-5/AddInfo/proCal-e.htm.Artcyclopedia continues scoring contracts with art retailersCalgary-based...
Brett Kondruk, most recently president and CEO of NRI On-line, has joined Calgary-based Cquay Inc as VP, special projects. Kondruk has over 25 years of experience in sales, marketing and management, including in applying GIS technology in the oil and gas industry. Medbroadcast Corp, Vancouver, has appointed Su Grimmer as acting VP, sales and marketing for the company effective immediately. Grimmer joins Medbroadcast...
Canada isn’t the only country in the world struggling to cope with the staggering influence the Internet is having on communications policies. In the U.S. – like in Canada – regulatory policies rooted in monopolies and oligopolies are quickly evolving to become instruments of international trade and domestic expression. And the catalysts driving...
New media advocates and the recording industry are battling again over blank tape levies as the two sides prepare for a hearing on higher rates this fall. Black storage media such as blank cassettes, rewriteable CDs and mini discs have been subject to a small fee for six months now following a controversial decision last...
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. Proposed increases to the blank tape and other storage media levies will hurt Canadian new media and other IT firms unfairly, and is clearly bad policy-making. Nonetheless, the agency responsible for collecting and distributing the cash is now asking for fees which are, in some cases, nearly 10 times higher than those currently in place. The Copyright Board has given opponents of the fees no latitude to argue against their existence, and the best that the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance and other opponents can accomplish in this fall’s hearings is to hold the line on further increases. The issue is yet another example of how the recording industry has been consistently missing the boat on a new paradigm of the music business. As MP3.com and Napster experience legal difficulties, other sites and programs such as Gnutella are rapidly gaining ground. We can be absolutely sure that even newer technologies...
The Multimediator Strategy Group Inc (MMSG), Toronto, is teaming up with two longtime high tech recruiters to launch a headhunting company for new media professionals. Executives at Pixel-Scout say their new firm is targeting an untapped niche for specialty recruiting in a sector which has been wanting for some...
The federal government is investing $5 million in 11 organizations in the first phase of a $50-million program to help more Quebec businesses get online and participating in ecommerce. On June 20, Canada Economic Development (CED) announced the winners from the first round funding competition of its Electronic Commerce...
The Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance (CATAAlliance) is rallying against proposed new guidelines for intellectual property enforcement, warning that the Competition Bureau’s heavy-handed approach to enforcement will discourage innovation, particularly by smaller companies. The CATAAlliance highlighted its concerns in...
Last year the board of the Canadian Television Fund (CTF) recognized that the current structure of the fund needed to be reviewed and asked (public administration consultants) François Colbert and David Silcox to look at the governance issues surrounding it. (CCR, April 27/00). to change. In particular, they suggested...
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.The CRTC's decision to award three new radio licenses in the Toronto area draws attention to the regulator's role as gatekeeper of the FM and AM waves. The two FM licences went to stations aimed at people who were not served by an existing service. There will be a strong market for the...
A report by Auditor General Denis Desautels on the management of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp should be released within days, but at least one crucial chapter probably will not be made public, federal sources tell Canadian Communications Reports. The report, which examines the internal...
Consumer groups are promising to intervene more in broadcast proceedings if the federal government passes a new bill that would help subsidize their regulatory battles. Groups such as the Ottawa-based Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) and the Montreal-based Action Réseau Consommateur (ARC) passed an important...
Bell ExpressVu has applied for a licence amendment that would end its last roadblock to serving clusters of multiple unit dwellings, one of the broadcast distribution industry's most lucrative markets. In December, 1999, the CRTC asked for comments on ExpressVu's application to serve multiple unit dwellings...
As applicants for new pay and specialty television services prepare for the licensing hearing in August, many are wrestling to satisfy the CRTC's desire for enhanced television services that make the most of new digital technologies. The CRTC made it clear in its call for new digital pay and specialty applications (PN 2000-6) that one of the criteria for winning a much-coveted Category 1 licence would be "innovation in the use of the digital medium". But the federal regulator neglected to define what exactly is meant by innovation or even interactivity. CRTC releases schedule for digital specialty TV hearings The CRTC has released the schedule for August's...
Shareholders of Cinar Corp are restless about the company's prospects of being traded again soon, as executives try to untangle the company's web of offshore financial dealings and settle its tax credit problems with the federal and Quebec governments. Published reports said last week that some of Cinar's...
The CRTC has granted the last FM frequency spaces in the Toronto market to a company that will broadcast "urban music" and other genre created or inspired by black musicians and to a broadcaster specializing in Native programming. B. Denham Jolly, applying for Milestone Radio Inc, landed the FM 93.5 frequency...
Alberta's senior trial court is expected to hand down a ruling within the next six weeks on the legality of C Band satellite programming sales in Canada. Lawyers Greg Cheung and Bill Mackenzie, acting for WIC Premium Television Ltd, asked for an injunction against Home Box Office, Showtime, Arts and Entertainment...
Quebecor says it won't sweeten Videotron offerQuebecor Inc says its $5.9-billion proposal to take over Groupe Vidéotron ltée will remain as it is, until a court rules on the right of the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec to block a rival arrangement with Rogers Communications Inc. Videotron's controlling shareholder, the Chagnon family, is contesting the Caisse's right under an agreement between the...
Stornoway Communications Limited Partnership has appointed industry veteran Bill Gray to the position of executive vice president operations. Gray's responsibilities will initially focus on Stornoway's applications before the CRTC for four new specialty television licenses at the August 2000 hearings: The Issues Channel; @work.ca; The Dance Channel; The Pet Network. Gray was senior executive vice president of CineGroupe, a Montreal-based film and television production, distribution and multi-media company. Previously, he was general manager for CanWest Global'sPrime TV as well as special projects consultant. Fred Fuchs, who co-produced The Rainmaker, a major motion picture directed by Francis Ford Coppola, is the newly appointed executive producer of Toronto's ExtendMedia Inc. Founded in 1991, ExtendMedia is a production company specializing in creating interactive content or the television, Internet and wireless convergence market. Lori Asshton Smith is the Canadian Cable Television Association's new VP of...
CANARIE Inc is investing $10 million in a variety of different projects in hopes of identifying which technologies hold the most promise for online learning. A close scrutiny of recently funded projects will also determine whether future new media applicants can expect a larger share of the $15 million available until...
WSi sells wireless stakeWSi Interactive Corp, which currently holds a 40% stake in Ariel Wireless Technologies Inc, is swapping its shares for six million shares of Petra Resource Corp. On completion of the deal, Ariel will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Petra. Theo Sanidas, WSi's president, will become a director of Petra on closing. Ariel's main asset is a worldwide, non-exclusive OEM agreement with a...
Brian Jennings has been appointed VP and CFO of Iceberg Media.com Inc, Toronto. Jennings is a CA from Ernst & Young Inc where he held the position of VP. He spe-cializes in complex corporate restructurings. Iceberg is in the process of launching an all-Canadian content site in partnership with Canoe called Jamcaster.com. It already operates an entertainment portal at www.icebergmedia.com including audio and...
Government regulation is a fact of life for many Canadian industries. New media are not among them, and that's generally a good thing.But absent regulation, industries have both an incentive and a responsibility to act on their own. They should not wait to be told to do something - whether on privacy protection or...
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. Placing blame and legal liability for faulty security software on technology vendors and merchants is a timely and compelling one. Software failure has been democratized in the networked environment, drilling down beyond public institutions and corporations. When security software doesn't...
The private sector and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) may be heading for a showdown over the lobby group's push for better consumer protection in electronic transactions. As provinces across the country prepare to enact the Uniform Electronic Commerce Act (UECA), PIAC has made a public stand in favour of...
Consolidation of Ontario funding for multimedia funding welcome move Government officials and industry leaders are praising the Ontario government's plan to merge responsibility for several cultural industries under one new roof. Announced as part of its May 2 budget, the province is renaming the Ontario Film Development Corp (OFDC) to the...
A bed manufacturer which has dabbled in coffee houses and mining over the last few years has reinvented itself once again over the past year as an Internet broadcaster specializing in investor news. On June 6, the Vancouver-based company - Global Investment.com Financial Inc - took another step to strengthen its presence on...
One of Canada's few home-grown free access providers is hoping a marriage of music and sponsorships will flesh out its multiple option marketing strategy. Funcow.com, which launched this February, has struck an agreement with EMI Music Canada to co-brand compact discs that will provide music by well-known artists as well as the software necessary to get online for free. Company executives say once online, subscribers will have access to a performer-specific site offering information about the musician, upcoming concert date, fan club memberships and promotions for new releases. Funcow's manager of marketing and communications, John McDonald, says there's no particular...
