A consortium of broadcasters and rights-holders have won an opening salvo of a fight against a television pirate in the Federal Court. BCE Inc. and Rogers Communications Inc. were joined in the court action by Columbia Pictures Industries Inc., Disney Enterprises Inc.,...
The CRTC cannot direct internet service providers (ISPs) to implement age verification techniques on pornographic websites in Canada, because the regulator must adhere to the...
The Canadian government should broaden its consultation over its online harms bill, a Wednesday Canadian...
An initiative explored this past month in a Senate...
An organization with the aim of keeping an open and affordable internet is...
The House of Commons Heritage committee has moved...
As the House of Commons Ethics committee considers the protection and privacy of individuals online, advocates criticized its lack of consideration for sex workers Monday and questioned how existing legislation may adequately protect people from exploitation and the non-consensual sharing of sexual content while avoiding a regulator with a mandate that may negatively impact their industry. Responding to a question from Conservative MP Colin Carrie, Melissa Lukings -- a JD candidate at the...
The federal government has launched a consultation document to solicit feedback on whether or not it...
The Communications Security Establishment (CSE) has argued that the average Canadian’s cybersecurity...
Telecommunications companies big and small have expressed opposition to a...
The Internet Society (ISOC) has highlighted what it says are “significant risks” in the CRTC’s proposal for Canadian ISPs to be required to block malicious botnet traffic on their networks....
In an ongoing dispute between Rogers Communications Inc. and some of its third party internet access (TPIA) wholesale customers over COVID-19-related internet traffic management practices (ITMPs),...
BCE Inc., Quebecor Inc.'s Groupe TVA, and Rogers Communications Inc. — the trio of companies behind Canada's first ever website-blocking order — have submitted a draft order adding new domains to the Federal Court. In a...
Both the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) and the Canadian...
Fresh documents are shedding light on how Canada’s first piracy case...
In a precedent-setting decision, a Federal Court judge has ordered internet service providers to block specific websites hosting copyright-infringing TV content. In a Nov....
In the event Federal Court allows a site-blocking application brought by...
The big three telecoms are telling the CRTC that their practice of slowing...
The CRTC has asked several telecoms to explain how their throttling of wireless speeds once customers exceed their data allotments doesn’t violate the commission’s regulatory policy on internet...
Canada’s current laws implicitly protecting net neutrality are sufficient...
The CRTC is formally asking the federal government to make one regulatory body the ultimate decider on disputes over access to infrastructure like utility poles and water towers, expressing worries that overlapping jurisdictions and a “growing resistance” from...
OTTAWA – Conservative senators doubled-down on a previously-raised...
The CRTC is reviewing Canadian ISPs’ traffic management and differential pricing practices for compliance with its net neutrality framework, according to a letter sent out by the commission requesting specific information from...
OTTAWA -- Lawmakers need to make net neutrality a major priority and...
The federal government is affirming its commitment to enforcing the...
TORONTO — If there was a single point of agreement among panelists representing both small and big...
A motion asking the government to consider enshrining the concept of net...
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC)’s repeal of its 2015 net neutrality rules will take effect...
The House ethics committee said that if the CRTC rules in favour of a...
A decades-old organization that is pushing for a multilateral approach to decision-making on the future of the internet has registered to lobby the government for the first time. The Feb. 20 registration under consultant Kathleen Monk of Earnscliffe Strategy Group is on...
OTTAWA — Representatives from Canada’s biggest telecoms argued that...
OTTAWA — The idea of of explicitly making net neutrality part of...
A broad coalition made up of Canada’s largest telecoms and broadcasters, as well as groups representing...
Opposition leader Andrew Scheer has said he supports net neutrality, despite statements by his Innovation...
The United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted 3-2 Thursday to overturn its net neutrality rules, though legal challenges to the vote were being announced...
Opposition leader Andrew Scheer isn’t going public with his position on...
In a release on Tuesday, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Ajit Pai announced his plan to end net neutrality rules established during Barack Obama’s presidency. Pai’s goals, outlined in a statement, include...
The United States Senate confirmed Monday current Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Ajit...
Various groups praised the promised investment in production and promotion...
The CRTC’s incoming vice-chairwoman of broadcasting, Caroline Simard, has...
On Wednesday, major internet and tech companies teamed up to rally against...
Major internet-based companies and organizations are preparing to participate in a Wednesday campaign...
Net neutrality is a digital pillar in citizens’ right to free expression, according to a report by the United Nations special rapporteur, or independent expert, on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion...
BCE Inc., Rogers Communications Inc. and Telus Corp. are trying to lure customers of Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron with targeted promotions, following a similar offer from Videotron. Videotron was the first to launch a “break your contract” campaign, on May 17,...
Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron is asking the CRTC for more time to comply with...
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is seeking comment on its...
The growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) will force a new perspective on net neutrality and zero-rating, a report from the Montreal Economic Institute argues. “The development of the Internet of Things will bring to the...
A U.S. appeal court said Monday it won’t reconsider an appeal of the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) net neutrality rules. In July 2016, CTIA-The Wireless Association asked the court to...
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will introduce a proposal next month for a new plan to replace the existing Open Internet order, also referred to as Title II, Chairman Ajit Pai said Wednesday. Speaking at an event in Washington, D.C., the head of the American telecom regulator said his proposal — the text of which will be released Thursday — aims to “reverse the mistake of Title II and return to the light-touch regulatory framework that served our nation so well” during the [former president Bill] Clinton administration, [former...
The CRTC’s decision Thursday to ban most forms of zero-rating means telecoms will have to rely on service in order to stand out from the competition, analysts said. The...
As the CRTC banned most forms of differential pricing practices Thursday — including declaring that telecoms can’t pick and chose Internet content to zero-rate and...
A new report from broadband equipment maker Sandvine Corp. says that some Internet users are avoiding data charges by disguising Internet traffic to look like zero-rated content. “Enticed by the potential of receiving...
The CRTC may very well complete the record on net neutrality policy in Canada when it releases its decision Thursday afternoon on differential pricing practices,...
Facebook Inc. is increasing its government relations presence in Ottawa, with three new registrations filed with the lobbying commissioner’s office last month. According to the federal lobbyists’...
On May 27, members of the Conservative Party of Canada will select who will succeed former prime minister Stephen Harper as permanent leader of the party, relieving interim Opposition leader Rona...
The CRTC’s review of the Wireless Code “generates regulatory risk across the industry,” with the biggest potential threat being mandating the separation of device costs from...
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said Friday it won’t “focus on denying Americans free data” going forward, as it ended its investigation into zero-rated offerings. New chairman Ajit Pai said in...
Ajit Pai has been picked by the new U.S. president to lead the United States' telecom regulator, Pai announced on Twitter Monday. In a statement, Pai said he looks “forward to working with the new Administration, [his] colleagues at the Commission, members of Congress, and the American public to bring the benefits of the digital age to all Americans.” According to his bio on the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) website, Pai, a Republican, was first nominated as a commissioner and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in May 2012. A lawyer by trade, Pai spent five...
A branch of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said it had concerns with the differential pricing practices used by Verizon Communications Inc. and AT&T Inc. as it...
A tepid launch of Amazon.com Inc.’s Prime video streaming service in Canada doesn’t seem likely to pose a challenge to existing players in the Canadian streaming market — for...
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Tom Wheeler is leaving his post as head of the United States regulator on Jan. 20, 2017. Wheeler said in a written statement Thursday that serving as chairman...
The CRTC has suspended a Part 1 application by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) asking the commission to declare as unconstitutional a Quebec law that would force providers to block certain online gambling...
A branch of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is engaging in a “wild goose chase” by investigating a pair of companies’ zero-rating offers, according to one commissioner. In a statement posted to the American regulator’s website Friday, commissioner Mike O’Rielly called for the FCC chairman to “halt this wild goose chase at once,” citing direction from U.S. Congress to “avoid directing attention and resources to complex or...
Jeffrey Eisenach has been named to U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s “landing team,” with responsibility for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), according to a Monday press release. Mark Jamison,...
OTTAWA — With more than six months left in his term as CRTC chairman, Jean-Pierre Blais isn’t ready to start using the word “legacy” in relation to his term as head of the Canadian regulator, but in a...
An organization representing four-dozen major online-based companies has reached out to president-elect Donald Trump, congratulating him on his victory while proposing digital policy planks for his administration to consider....
GATINEAU, Que. — Those who innovate shouldn’t be penalized because their competitors can’t keep up, the CRTC heard Friday from representatives of the telecom company...
GATINEAU, Que. — While Rogers Communications Inc. said it generally does not support differential pricing practices (DPP), it suggested Wednesday that the regulator should stay flexible in its approach given...
GATINEAU — The CRTC shouldn’t take the non-participation in this week’s hearing by content providers who might eventually benefit from zero-rating and other differential pricing practices as non-interest, a...
GATINEAU — On the first day of the CRTC’s hearing on differential pricing practices, a consortium representing small telecoms asked the CRTC to allow but regulate the practice of zero-rating,...
Users of Reddit Inc.’s website have largely railed against differential pricing in a discussion initated by the CRTC, with an overwhelming number of comments on the social platform expressing...
Even among those who support differential pricing practices such as zero rating and sponsoring data, there isn’t a consensus as to how they should be regulated by CRTC, according to additional comments filed with the commission in its proceeding on the issue. Supplemental interventions were published on the CRTC’s website on Thursday, ahead of the five-day public hearing, which begins Oct. 31 in Gatineau, Que. During the week-long hearing, the CRTC panel will hear...
The CRTC will host a public discussion on differential pricing practices for Internet data plans on Reddit Inc.’s website, the regulator said Monday. The commission said in a notice it...
Reponses filed with the CRTC last week by consumer, advocacy and industry groups indicate that all parties support the CRTC’s preliminary view on Quebec’s Bill 74, which would block access...
The CRTC received nine Internet traffic management practices (ITMP) complaints in the three months ended June 30, bringing the yearly total (since July 1, 2015) to 33. The quarterly number of complaints was the same as the...
Much of the divide between the two leading candidates for the U.S. presidency is that one has articulated policies on technology and innovation while the other has not, according to a new report by Information Technology and...
The CRTC is looking for input on a preliminary view it’s taken regarding the legality of blocking of Internet content, as it considers how to deal with a complaint about a Quebec law mandating blocking of illegal gambling websites. In a letter Thursday, the CRTC said it holds a preliminary view that section 36 of the Telecommunications Act “prohibits the blocking by Canadian carriers of access by end-users to specific websites on the Internet, whether or not this blocking is the result” of the Internet traffic management practices (ITMPs) of service providers. It said...
The Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) has put out guidelines that clarify its rules on net neutrality, including zero-rating. The guidelines will serve as...
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains took questions from Twitter Inc.’s Toronto office Friday afternoon, in a question-and-answer session during...
An American association representing wireless service providers is asking for the United States federal court to rehear and re-evaluate June’s decision upholding the Federal Communication...
The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) has filed a court challenge to a Quebec law that would force telecoms to block some illegal gambling websites, telling the court...
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) is asking the CRTC to deem as unconstitutional a Quebec law compelling Internet service providers (ISPs) to block certain online gambling websites. In a new Part 1 application...
The Federal Court of Appeal has upheld the CRTC’s ban on BCE Inc.’s zero-rated mobile-TV plans, a year and a half after the commission ruled the company couldn’t exempt the service from data caps. In a...
A U.S. appeals court has denied an industry appeal of the Federal Communications Commission’s net neutrality rules. The court issued a decision Tuesday in favour of a framework the FCC imposed last year,...
Advocacy group OpenMedia is calling on the CRTC to end data caps, which it says are a result of a “broken telecom market,” ahead of a commission hearing on zero-rating. In a Tuesday press...
TORONTO — Executives from Canada’s telecom companies took aim at a new bill by the Quebec government that would force Internet service providers (ISPs) to block some gambling websites Tuesday, saying the CRTC should take action on the issue. During a panel discussion at the Canadian Telecom Summit Tuesday, Ted Woodhead, senior vice-president of regulatory affairs at Telus Corp., said the Bill 74 measure to block certain gambling websites is “about as offensive to the net...
The CRTC has extended the deadline for comments in its review of “differential pricing practices.” An original deadline of June 17 for the filing of interventions regarding zero rating and...
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...
Zero-rated services are in the public interest and “unlikely” to stand in the way of an open Internet, according to a new report from an American think tank, which recommends that U.S....
CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan has filed another court challenge regarding the ability of CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais to assign commissioners to panels that make decisions on issues before the...
Net neutrality advocates welcomed the CRTC’s launch of a new consultation on “differential pricing practices” for both wireline and wireless data plans Wednesday, a process that will see a public hearing kick off on Oct. 31. Tamir Israel, a lawyer with the Samuel-Gloshko Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic, said in a phone interview that having “this broader review that’s going to put in place a more-principled framework and look beyond ad-hoc scenarios that have come up so far is a good step.” He added: “I think having a clear...
If communications providers stick to principles of transparency and openness, zero-rated and sponsored data services can stay out of regulatory and consumer trouble, according to a report released...
OTTAWA — A panel discussion on net neutrality Friday dug into whether zero-rating can help or harm market competition, with Ted Woodhead, senior vice-president of regulatory affairs at Telus Corp. taking issue with the...
T-Mobile U.S. Inc. announced Thursday it has added more video providers to its unlimited mobile video streaming service, Binge On, including Google Inc.’s Youtube, Google Play Movies and Discovery GO. It said in a press...
BCE Inc.'s appeal against a CRTC decision banning the provision of mobile-TV services that are not subject to regular data charges was heard by the Federal Court of Appeal in Toronto on Tuesday, and the court is expected to render a decision some time in the coming months. Almost a year ago,...
Verizon Communication Inc. announced Tuesday it is introducing a new sponsored data service, called FreeBee Data, to help businesses drive better consumer engagement without cutting into...
The CRTC is asking Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron to answer 16 questions regarding its Unlimited Music service, including why it chose to launch a zero-rating service rather than increase data caps....
Tom Wheeler, the chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), told reporters Tuesday a service that exempts some video from wireless data caps is “highly innovative and highly competitive,” Bloomberg...
Facebook Inc. said in a press release Monday that “more than 60 new services are available” on its Free Basics app in the 29 countries where citizens can access it. “Free Basics is now available to more than one...
The European Commission voted Tuesday to set net neutrality rules for the first time in the European Union law. The new law, which was detailed in a fact sheet on the commission’s website, will include no blocking or throttling of online content, applications and services. The fact sheet said that “every European must be able to have access to the open internet and all content and service providers must be able to provide their services via a high-quality open internet,” adding that blocking certain websites or asking for extra money for certain services, such as...