By Bill Roberts
BANFF – One of the more nicely grounded sessions so far at the 2022 Banff World Media Festival (BWMF) featured Ian Scott (above, right), chairperson and CEO of the CRTC, and was moderated by Monika Ille (left), CEO of the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network Inc. (APTN).
APTN has long been concerned that smaller broadcasters like theirs would be at risk under Bill C-11 because they do not possess the market clout to negotiate with online, streaming distributors without CRTC help.
So, it was a nice piece of meaningful and enlightened programming to have the accomplished and trilingual Ille in…
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By Bill Roberts
BANFF – Today the Banff World Media Festival (BWMF) featured a brief, whistle-stop appearance by Pablo Rodriguez (above), minister of Canadian Heritage.
Valerie Creighton, president and CEO of the Canada Media Fund, and a strong advocate for Bill C-11, The Online Streaming Act, provided his introduction – but not before extolling “the stellar job” done by BWMF staff in organizing the in-person event and breaking out into several bars of delightful song!
It appeared to me to be a riff on the old Frank Sinatra Summer Wind, but with revamped lyrics appealing to the promise and possibilities of getting…
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THOSE WHO ARE CLOSELY following the approval process of the proposed merger of Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications will know the outside date for closing the transaction was extended from March 15, 2022, to June 13, 2022, and was extended again last month to July 31, 2022.
So, we are already looking in the rear-view mirror at one (soon to be two) outside closing dates.
What is going on? A lot.
Competition Tribunal
Last month, the Commissioner of Competition Matthew Boswell filed an application to the Competition Tribunal seeking to block the merger. He also filed an application seeking…
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By Irene Berkowitz
BILL C-11, THE ONLINE STREAMING ACT, is Canada’s second attempt at modernizing media legislation. As many of us remember, in June 2021, its nearly identical predecessor, Bill C-10, failed to pass before Parliament dissolved.
Bill C-11’s progress through Parliament has been strategically plotted and the 2022 bill is likely to pass. However, since virtually every Canadian consumes media, every Canadian should know what’s been happening recently in Parliament.
For policy wonks like me who watch Parlvu, the Canadian Parliament webcast, recent episodes have been unforgettable. Twenty hours, May 24-June 2, of expert witness testimony to the…
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By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – After a Heritage Committee business meeting started an hour late due to votes (already scheduled), the parliamentary secretary of the Minister of Canadian Heritage proposed a motion to have the clause-by-clause study of Bill C-11, the Online Streaming Act, start on Monday, June 13, while suggesting a study of allegations of the involvement of Hockey Canada in the settlement of a sexual assault lawsuit could be conducted before the end of the current session.
A Conservative member had proposed an amendment on June 6 to hold a hearing on the issue before the clause-by-clause phase.
At…
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By Len St-Aubin
IN HIS RESPONSE to my critique of his article on regulating user-generated content under Bill C-11, Howard Law included a link to an opinion piece I wrote a year ago for Cartt.ca about Bill C-10, the predecessor to C-11.
(Note: You can read Law’s original commentary here, St-Aubin’s response here, and Law’s response to St-Aubin’s response here.)
While I appreciate that Law recommended my article to Cartt.ca readers, I want to correct a statement he made.
My article proposed an alternative approach to promoting CanCon online rather than intrusive, heavy handed and problematic regulation under the Broadcasting Act. Among other…
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TORONTO — Canadian satellite telecommunications company Kepler Communications announced today it has selected Tesat-Spacecom (TESAT), a German satellite payload equipment provider, to supply optical inter-satellite links for its next-generation constellation.
“TESAT’s ConLCT80 (constellation laser communication terminals) will be installed on Kepler’s first tranche of ÆTHER satellites, enabling optical service for The Kepler Network, a real-time, always-on communication network in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) providing the internet in space for space assets,” explains a Kepler press release.
Kepler’s next generation of satellites will provide data on-demand at up to 2.5 Gbps for the end user, according to the press release.
“The first orbital…
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Contribution of foreign streamers updated to $1B
By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – Minister of Canadian Heritage Pablo Rodriguez took an aggressive stance in responding to Conservative members’ questions today at a meeting of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, on whether platform users would be regulated under Bill C-11.
He started by saying that “platforms are in, but users are out.” This triggered arguments from Conservative Rachael Thomas who, amongst others, said platforms are fed by users and therefore by regulating the platforms, you are regulating the users.
The minister answered saying the platforms can only be captured if they stream commercial…
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By Howard Law
ON MAY 27 CARTT.CA published my suggested compromise on provisions in Bill C-11 impacting Canadian user-generated programming hosted by Facebook, TikTok and Google’s YouTube.
I argued a ministerial policy directive ought to direct the CRTC to regulate user-generated programming that is analogous to conventional broadcasting but exempt the remaining digital first content from regulation.
Last week Leonard St-Aubin wrote a rebuttal. Here is a summary of my take-aways from his critique:
Financing and creating CanCon should not be seen as a burden to broadcasters, but incumbent Canadian media companies treat it this way by electing to spend…
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By Konrad von Finckenstein
THE ONLINE NEWS ACT, recently introduced by Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez is explained on Canadian Heritage’s website as follows: “Digital platforms have come to play an integral role in Canada’s news ecosystem, shifting the way Canadians access news content that is vital to democracy. They can play an important role in supporting the production of trusted news and information.”
The basic underlying rationale is clear. Canadian news businesses, primarily newspapers, have been severely disrupted by the Internet. Their advertising market and classified ad market has gone online and newspapers’ financial viability is in great danger.
Online platforms do…
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