OTTAWA – Consumers need more effective privacy rules to protect the collection, use and disclosure of their location, says a new report from the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC).
The report, Off the Grid: Pinpointing Location-Based Technologies and the Law, examines whether Canada has sufficient protections in place to address risks posed by location-based technologies. It also addresses whether Canadian consumers have sufficient disclosure regarding how and when telecommunications service providers collect and use location-based personal information.
“Location is highly unique, highly identifiable, and highly personal in nature, even when anonymized and aggregated,” said PIAC executive director and general counsel…
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OTTAWA – It’s rare when the incumbent wireless carriers and the new entrants find themselves on the same side of an issue, but the response to a Canadian Network Operators Consortium (CNOC) appeal of the CRTC’s wholesale wireless decision last month is one of those occasions where the normally combative firms see eye to eye.
CNOC has appealed portions Telecom Regulatory Policy 2015-177, saying the Commission erred in fact and made errors of law in not granting mandated mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) access to the radio access networks (RANs) of the wireless carriers. The second…
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WINNIPEG – Local TV – the place where many Canadians turn to for news about their community and country – may cease to exist inside of a decade, thanks to the unending growth and development of technology and the opportunities and challenges that development fosters.
A new discussion paper from Winnipeg consultancy Communications Management Inc. entitled Canada's Digital Divides paints a grim picture of the near future of both local TV and newspapers – and tries to make sense of what that means for journalism and democracy. Ubiquitous broadband, argues the paper “continues to enhance news-gathering and distribution,…
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OTTAWA – The Community Radio Fund of Canada (CRFC) has announced a new round of funding for its Radiometres program which will provide $3 million to campus and community radio stations across the country.
Radiometres is a flexible program that is designed to improve local programming, offer better training, supervision and retention of volunteers, and increase community engagement.
Only one round of funding will take place this year, and all campus and community radio stations with a valid CRTC license are eligible. Applicants have until October 16, 2015 to submit their funding application, up to a maximum of $50,000 per individual application,…
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OTTAWA – Registration is now open for Community Media Convergence, a national professional and policy development conference for community media practitioners.
Scheduled for November 22 – 24, 2015 at Carleton University in Ottawa, the event invites practitioners from community television, radio, online and gaming platforms to join with academics and policy makers to discuss and develop new strategies for community media in the digital environment.
The conference promises to foster and celebrate Canadian community media through panels, workshops and a three-day media festival while also brainstorming a more holistic approach to policy at a day-long policy forum. The policy proposals that emerge…
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MONTREAL and OTTAWA – It took just five days. And that includes a weekend.
On Tuesday, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre filed a formal complaint with the CRTC against Vidéotron’s Unlimited Music plan, which exempts music streaming services from its mobile data caps.
Vidéotron announced Unlimited Music last Thursday, as we reported. It exempts music streaming services Stingray, Rdio, Google Play, Deezer and Spotify from Vidéotron Mobile’s data caps for people with Canada-wide plans with at least 2GB data, or an Internet and mobile package with at least 1 GB of mobile data. Videotron said no money…
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A BRIDGE IS A musical term meaning a bit of a song which gets you from the verse back to the chorus. We thought the term was a good one to characterize Peter Bissonnette, an accomplished musician, as well as the outgoing president of Shaw Communications (his official last day was yesterday).
Bissonnette has worked in cable for more than 30 years, the last 25 of which for Shaw Communications. He’s been president of the company since 2000, working under company founder JR, and then both his sons, Jim and Brad Shaw – and has much prior experience working for…
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TORONTO – A union representing some employees at TV stations operated by Rogers Media is using the upcoming federal election to help push forward its demand that the CRTC “hold Rogers to account” for cutting news on its OMNI TV stations earlier this year.
In a letter to the CRTC dated August 29, 2015, Unifor Local 723M says that “ethnic communities across Canada have been denied access to free television news about the election in their languages since the election was called” earlier this month. This, continues the letter, is why the Commission should expedite Unifor’s request filed in…
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TORONTO – Groupe Média TFO has received a seven-year renewal of its broadcast license for French-language educational television service TFO, a move that it describes as a “vote of confidence from the CRTC and the Francophone community”.
The CRTC issued the license renewal, for the period September 1, 2015 to August 31, 2022, on Friday.
The company is still waiting to hear, however, if the Commission will grant its application for must-offer status by TV service providers outside of Ontario. Groupe Média TFO said Monday in a news release that it believes that decision will be announced soon.
"Groupe Média…
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MONTREAL – Quebecor Media’s Vidéotron announced it as a first in Canada on Thursday, but its plan to exempt music streaming from mobile data caps has already raised alarms from net neutrality activists and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre.
The Quebec mobile provider announced Thursday morning its Unlimited Music service, which exempts a series of streaming services (Stingray, Rdio, Google Play, Deezer and Spotify) from counting toward mobile data usage for customers with Canada-wide plans with at least 2GB data (a plan that costs about $65/month).
But the company argues this move doesn't go against CRTC regulations because it doesn't offer…
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