OTTAWA–GATINEAU – An Arizona-based company offering lower credit card rates has been ordered by the CRTC to pay a $145,000 fine for violating Canada’s unsolicited telecommunications rules.
Acting on complaints, the Commission said Monday that it investigated Rainmaker Marketing/Maple Accounting for making unsolicited telemarketing calls to offer lower credit card rates. The pre-recorded automated calls were made to Canadians whose numbers were registered on the national do not call list (DNCL) and without their prior consent. The company also did not display the telephone number from which the calls originated, provide a local or toll-free number where it could be…
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TORONTO – CRTC Telecom vice chair Peter Menzies, U.S. Federal Communications Commission CIO Dr. David Bray, and CRTC Commissioner Raj Shoan are just three of the high level speakers confirmed for the 2015 Canadian Telecom Summit which will take place June 1 – 3 at the Toronto Congress Centre in Toronto.
Now in its 14th year, the Canadian Telecom Summit attracts leaders from the telecom, broadcast and IT industries to discuss the key issues and trends that will impact this critical sector of the economy. Join more than 500 suppliers, policy makers, regulators, customers and competitors in attending this annual…
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OTTAWA–GATINEAU – With a federal election looming, the CRTC laid out the ground rules for entities who call voters, or that engage others to do so.
As part of recent amendments to the Canada Elections Act and the Telecommunications Act, the Commission is responsible for establishing and maintaining a Voter Contact Registry during federal elections. Persons, corporations, or groups that engage in voter contact calls in relation to an election will be required to file registration notices and identifying information with the Commission for inclusion in the Voter Contact Registry.
Political entities, including candidates and political parties, corporations, trade associations and…
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OTTAWA – Canada’s Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) was quick to agree to Thursday’s proposal by the CRTC that it take on the job of dealing with complaints from TV viewers and administer a code of conduct for the industry.
CCTS said that it told the Commission last year during the Let’s Talk TV proceedings that it would accept the new ombudsmen role, should the Regulator decide to create one.
“The CRTC’s proposal that we apply our expertise to this new role is an expression of its continued confidence in our organization,” said CCTS Commissioner and CEO Howard Maker,…
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Le 2 décembre 2013, le CRTC a adopté le Code sur les services sans fil. Le CPRST, l’organisme indépendant et impartial de traitement des plaintes de l’industrie des télécom, s’est vu demander de l’administrer, soit de faire respecter les droits et obligations conférés aux clients et fournisseurs de services, et d’identifier et de publiciser les violations au Code. Nous l’avons fait et constatons que le nombre de violations est en augmentation.
Dans notre rapport annuel de l’automne dernier, nous rapportions les huit premiers mois d’activité du Code (jusqu’au 31 juillet 2014). Nous avions identifié 30 violations de la part…
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On December 2, 2013, the CRTC launched the Wireless Code of Conduct. CCTS, the telecom industry’s independent, impartial complaint-handling body, was asked to administer it – to apply the rights and obligations it affords consumers and service providers, as well as track breaches and report them publicly. We’ve been doing so, and the number of breaches is on the rise.
In our Annual Report last fall, we detailed the first eight months of Code activity (to July 31, 2014). We identified 30 violations by service providers. The biggest category of concern was failure to provide customers with documents required…
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OTTAWA–GATINEAU – In an effort to further “empower” Canadian TV viewers, the CRTC unveiled a new draft code to help viewers resolve disputes with their television service providers, and directed broadcasters to ensure that Canadians with disabilities have greater access to content adapted to their needs.
Thursday’s announcements are the fifth and final decision stemming from the Commission’s TV Policy Review, known as Let's Talk TV.
Under the proposed code of conduct, TV service providers would be required to provide easy-to-understand agreements to their customers, notify them of changes to their services, and clarify the terms surrounding issues such as the addition…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – CRTC chairman and CEO Jean-Pierre Blais said that he finds it “disturbing” that allegations are swirling that Bell Media and CTV may be “manipulating news coverage”.
In a statement Wednesday preaching “journalistic independence”, Blais essentially responded to a Globe and Mail report claiming that Bell Media president Kevin Crull was so “furious” over last Thursday’s CRTC decision to unbundle TV programming packages, that he ordered CTV News president Wendy Freeman to ensure that Blais did not appear on air that day.
Quoting unnamed sources, the report says that Freeman contacted CTV staff to tell them of the directive…
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OTTAWA–GATINEAU – Online dating service Plentyoffish Media has paid $48,000 as part of a settlement over violations to Canada's anti-spam legislation, plus promised to develop a new spam compliance program, the CRTC said Wednesday.
Acting on complaints, the Commission investigated Plentyoffish Media Inc. for allegedly sending commercial emails to registered users of the Plenty of Fish online dating service with an unsubscribe mechanism that was not clearly and prominently set out, and which could not be readily performed, as required by the legislation. Those emails, sent between July 1 and October 8, 2014, notified users of services available through their…
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OTTAWA–GATINEAU – Four air duct cleaning companies have paid $55,000 as part of a settlement over violations to Canada's telemarketing rules, and the CRTC has fined five others a total of $94,000, the Commission said Tuesday.
Acting on complaints, the CRTC launched several investigations and determined that nine companies, all based in the Greater Toronto Area, had made unsolicited telemarketing calls without being registered with the national do not call list (DNCL) operator and without having purchased a subscription to the DNCL.
Four of the nine companies, Bridge Home Services Inc., Cambridge Heating Services, HR Home Services, and Top Line Air Duct…
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