By Konrad von Finckenstein and Philip Palmer
THE 2017 BUDGET CALLED FOR A REVIEW of the Telecommunications and Broadcasting Acts. The review is both timely and necessary, but it ignores that there is a third pillar of Canadian communications law: the Radiocommunication Act.
The late 1980s and early 1990s proved a fertile time in the history of Canadian communications law. In the years from 1989 to 1993, Parliament adopted a new Radiocommunication Act (1989), a new Broadcasting Act (1991), and a Telecommunications Act (1993).
Both the Telecommunications and Broadcasting acts emerged from policy considerations of the late 1980s. The Broadcasting Act attempted…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC will reimburse almost $600,000 to telemarketers after the total amount paid for violations in 2017-18 exceeded its estimated regulatory costs.
The Commission said Wednesday that $3,892,723 was paid under the Unsolicited Telecommunications Fees Regulations last year, $592,723 more than the $3.3 million it estimated in telemarketing regulatory costs. In accordance with the formula set out in subsection 4(2) of the Regulations, the CRTC must refund the overage.
The Regulator also estimated its telemarketing regulatory costs for fiscal year 2018-19 at $3.3 million. Costs to enforce the national Do Not Call List are covered by fees paid by telemarketers…
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GATINEAU – Content piracy is real, it’s growing, it’s costly, it harms individual Canadians, companies and the economy – and we should be taking a new and reasonable step towards curbing it, reads the FairPlay Canada Coalition’s official response to all of the interventions filed in reaction to its January proposal.
The 30-member coalition is a collection of Canadian artists, content creators, unions, guilds, producers, performers, broadcasters, distributors, and exhibitors who have proposed the CRTC establish something called the Independent Piracy Review Agency (IPRA), which would assist the Regulator in identifying websites blatantly engaged in content theft – and then…
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OTTAWA – The Supreme Court of Canada has agreed to hear appeals from Bell Canada and the National Football League (NFL) over the CRTC’s simultaneous substitution (simsub) ban for Super Bowl games.
In Thursday’s decision, the Court took the unusual step in giving reasons why it agreed to hear the appeal (and even combined it with another case) saying that the appeals “provide an opportunity to consider the nature and scope of judicial review of administrative action” (i.e. CRTC decisions) and encouraged Bell and the NFL to “devote a substantial part of their written and oral submissions on the…
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OTTAWA – In a move that seems dangerously close to stepping on the CRTC’s toes, the Competition Bureau has kicked off a new market study to examine broadband competition and consumer habits in purchasing internet services.
The Bureau said Thursday that the study will focus on the state of competition in Canada’s broadband sector plus seeks “to identify positive steps that regulators or policymakers could take to further support competition among broadband providers”.
The study will address four broad themes: the ability of broadband providers to deploy competitive service offers, consumer reactions to new competitive alternatives, the impact of existing regulation…
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COVERING THIS INDUSTRY for as long as we have has meant that on a few occasions, folks we know have asked us to please send a letter to the CRTC to support this or that application.
Each time, we’ve said no. Not because certain applications don’t have merit, but because it’s not Cartt.ca’s role to file an official letter of intervention on something we are also trying to objectively cover.
That said, we do of course publish opinion or commentary pieces (like this one) that most definitely take a stand, whether ours or another’s (some of which we may not…
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LAST WEEK’S 9(1)(h) renewal hearing was the fourth such one for the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network and each one has been a new test for APTN’s leadership.
“The challenge we face every time for APTN is to justify its existence – and obviously it generates a fair amount of reaction from the rest of the industry, especially the BDUs,” said CEO Jean La Rose in an interview last week.
“Many are supportive of the network, but it has an impact on their bottom lines and they would rather not have that… We are asked the same questions…
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VANCOUVER – Independent Vancouver radio station Roundhouse Radio will go off the air Sunday.
The community-focused talk/interview with some music station launched in October of 2015 and has let the community know of late that it is struggling financially. It’s at 98.3 FM and is a low power station available only in the city of Vancouver and the North Shore.
In a media release today (May 4), the station did confirm it had an offer to take over operations, but that it needs CRTC approval to change owners, which can’t be done…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC said today the wholesale pricing structure offered by Rogers for NFL Sunday Ticket and NHL Centre Ice pay-per-view packages does not violate the Commission’s TV wholesale code of conduct.
Vidéotron had alleged its affiliation agreements with Rogers for NHL Centre Ice for the 2016-17 and 2017-18 NHL seasons, as well as NFL Sunday Ticket for the 2016 NFL season, included a minimum revenue guarantee, which runs contrary to section 4(g) of the Code Conduct, recounts the decision. (Ed note: Rogers no longer controls the rights to Sunday Ticket, which was purchased by OTT provider DAZN prior to…
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GATINEAU – This month the CRTC will provide a report to help the Government figure out the future of video consumption by Canadians, but our CRTC chairman started this week’s hearing by invoking the ghosts of hearings past.
Lots may have changed but issues and attitudes remain entrenched. To guess the outcome of a this hearing, you don’t need to look ahead, but back.
Not all CRTC hearings are created equal. Some attract national media and generate multiple stories. Others, not so much. The hearing held this week was of primary importance…
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