OTTAWA – In move that could have implications for a number of cross-border broadcasters, the CRTC has summoned three B.C.-based radio companies to a hearing in October for allegedly broadcasting in Canada without a licence.
According to the Commission, Radio India, which is owned and controlled by Baljit Kaur Bains; Radio Punjab, owned and controlled by Gurpal S. Garcha; and Sher-E-Punjab, owned and controlled by Surinder Kaur Badh are all producing programming for broadcast on the radio and over the Internet without licences to carry on a radio programming undertaking in Canada, contrary to the Broadcasting Act. Their primarily South…
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GATINEAU – Suitelife Vacations Club, which sells travel and vacation packages, has paid $20,000 in administrative monetary penalties as part of a settlement over violations of the Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules, the CRTC announced today.
The company also agreed to end its previous telemarketing practices.
Acting on complaints submitted by Canadians, the Commission investigated Suitelife for alleged violations of the Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules. It found that through third-party firms, the company made unsolicited telemarketing calls to Canadians who had registered their numbers on the National Do Not Call List. Suitelife had also failed to register with and subscribe to the List before…
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OTTAWA – The Public Interest Advocacy Centre and the Consumers Association of Canada Tuesday published an open letter to CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais decrying the Commission’s decision to call carriers in for a meeting on paper billing practices instead of allowing for a public process.
Both PIAC and the CAC had submitted a formal application to the CRTC, asking it to prohibit charging Canadians an extra fee to receive a paper bill.
The CRTC issued a press release last week noting it has called the industry in to explain itself. "We are concerned that not all Canadians…
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GATINEAU – Local TV is struggling mightily. Ad revenue is down and showing no signs of growth, while the ever growing lineup of new specialty channels and the rapid rise of Internet-based alternatives are blasting away at what has always been the bedrock of the television system in Canada.
Some are telling the CRTC that it’s time to adopt a radically different approach for local TV, one that would bolster the revenue side of the ledger while also helping to encourage the development of compelling Canadian content.
For example, Bell Canada and CBC/Radio-Canada suggest shutting down over the air infrastructure completely…
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OTTAWA – Netflix and Google will be among the first three stakeholders to weigh in on the Canadian television system when the CRTC kicks off phase 3 of Let’s Talk TV: A Conversation With Canadians.
The public hearing is scheduled to begin September 8 at 9:00 AM at the usual Gatineau spot, Conference Center, Portage IV, 140, Promenade du Portage – just down the street from the CRTC offices. According to the agenda, the proceedings will last 10 days and will include presentations by 121 interveners.
Cartt.ca will be there and provide detailed coverage.
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has summoned the country’s telcos and TV service providers to a meeting next month to review their practice of charging extra fees to customers who receive paper copies of their bills.
Based on the results of last year’s fact-finding exercise on these practices, the Commission said that it discovered “a wide variation” in how companies approach paper bill fees. For example, 36 companies said last November that they do not charge any fees, but 27 companies claimed that their fees range from $0.99 to $5.95 per month for paper bills. While certain companies provide exemptions to these…
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OTTAWA and GATINEAU – Four companies in the Toronto area have paid $84,000 in administrative monetary penalties as part of settlements over violations of the telemarketing rules, and have agreed to put a stop to their current telemarketing practices, the CRTC said Wednesday.
The Commission launched an investigation into the marketing practices of Ecosmart Home Services Inc., Loyal Seal Windows and Doors, Home Comfort Group and Mr. Brian Jones (using the trade name Pegasus Peaks) for alleged violations of the Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules. The CRTC determined that these companies were making, either directly or through a third-party firm, unsolicited telemarketing calls to…
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GATINEAU – The quest of both the CRTC and the federal government to ensure consumers have more choice in their TV packages is running into some difficult headwinds. Vertically integrated broadcast distributors as well as content developers acknowledge that Canadians do say they want more channel flexibility, but they don’t want a so-called “skinny basic” tier of TV channels.
In the official TV Policy Review Notice of Consultation (2014-190), the Commission has proposed a basic cable package that only includes local Canadian TV stations, the 9(1)(h) must-carry channels, provincial educational services if they exist, and in some cases, the community…
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GATINEAU – Among the 2,704 official filings to the CRTC for its Let’s Talk TV formal policy review coming in September is an 11-page warning from over-the-top video behemoth Netflix which said, essentially: Don’t slap any new regs on us, thanks.
While the CBC, Canadian Media Producers Association and others want the CRTC to tap Netflix’s Canadian revenue for contributions to Canadian content, the U.S.-based online video provider says the Commission has no right, and besides, it already has a ton of Canadian content, produces some things here and is merely complementary to the regulated system.
The CBC, however, says it’s…
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TORONTO – CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais used a speech in Toronto to serve notice to rogue telemarketers, spammers, phishers, spoofers and identitiy thieves that the Commission stands ready, willing and able to pursue and punish those who would use technology to attack or even aggravate Canadians.
In a speech some expected would be about the TV policy review or domestic wireless roaming rates or third party broadband access, Blais instead addressed how the Regulator will help Canadians live more freely, securely and peacefully in a digital world. “Technology is now an integral and ubiquitous part of our daily lives. This…
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