EVEN THE VERTICALLY integrated companies know they need a code of conduct to help guide how – as the 800-pound Canadian gorillas – they do business in a country where they own most of the content and distribution channels.
CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein said repeatedly during last month’s vertical integration hearing that he wants to see some sort of code of business practices for vertically integrated media companies set out in writing in order to try and avoid new regulatory and legal battles when the new BDU regulations come into force this September. So final replies, which were due…
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OTTAWA – As the CRTC continues to sort through the potential impact of vertical integration, it offered a clarification to its original continuation of service notice.
The Commission said Tuesday that it has amended paragraph 2 of Broadcasting Regulatory Policy 2011-415 as follows (the changes are in bold):
2. The preceding determinations shall remain in effect until 30 days following the publication of the Commission’s decision in the above-noted proceeding. The Commission clarifies that affected broadcasting distribution undertakings and programming undertakings are not precluded from renegotiating the rates, terms and conditions or any combination thereof of pre-existing distribution agreements during the…
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MARKHAM, ON – Xplornet Communications is disputing allegations made by law professor Michael Geist in an article that he wrote last week about the CRTC’s inability to enforce its net neutrality guidelines.
The satellite Internet provider, which is formerly known as Barrett Xplore, issued a statement Tuesday afternoon saying that Geist’s depiction of its dispute with Ontario-based Internet phone company ExaTEL omitted "material information" and drew "incorrect conclusions regarding Barrett Xplore Inc.’s actions”.
Cartt.ca will have more on the story shortly.
– Lesley Hunter
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GATINEAU – Independent ISPs and some of their supporters came under significant criticism on day two of the CRTC’s wholesale usage-based billing hearing for wanting to profit off the backs of the incumbent providers and not invest in their own networks because the deal is too good.
CRTC vice-chair of broadcasting Tom Pentefountas first took OpenMedia and the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) to task in the morning session wondering whether there is actually an incentive for the independent ISPs to invest in building out networks. “Isn’t part of the issue that the deal is so…
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HALIFAX – The CRTC seems to have a rather unlikely ally in its desire for stronger means to enforce its guidelines on net neutrality.
Responding to an article by Michael Geist questioning the Commission’s record for protecting consumers from Internet management practices, the Liberals suggested that the CRTC conduct “pro-active audits” in order to “measure” such practices.
“Without the threat of sanctions from the CRTC, Internet service providers have little reason to follow the CRTC’s established management framework”, reads a statement from Geoff Regan, Liberal Critic for Industry and Consumer Affairs. “Without pro-active audits by the CRTC to measure internet management practices, there…
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OTTAWA and TORONTO – Wait just a minute: we didn’t mean that the whole licence renewal hearing should be postponed.
That was the message from the Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA) and the Documentary Organization of Canada (DOC) after learning that the CRTC decided to push back the CBC’s licence renewal process from September to June, 2012. While acknowledging that they both supported a request from the Quebec English-language Production Committee (QEPC) for more detailed financial data from the CBC, the two organizations were quick to issue statements expressing their collective disappointment with the Commission’s decision to delay the…
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GATINEAU – Aggregated volume pricing (AVP) shouldn’t be seen as a penalty on independent ISPs, but as an incentive for them to manage their network congestion, Bell Canada told the CRTC during the first day of the re-hearing of the wholesale usage-based billing issue.
Bell argued its AVP approach is a better economic internet traffic management practice (ITMP) than the 95th percentile method proposed by the Canadian Network Operators Consortium (CNOC) because it provides returns on network investments and incents independent ISPs to reduce congestion in their networks.
“ ensures that incumbents receive an appropriate return on their…
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GATINEAU – It didn’t take long for the CRTC to modify its schedule in the usage-based billing proceeding. With Bell Canada’s appearance lasting all morning on Monday, the Commission has decided to push the testimony from the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Centre and OpenMedia.ca until Tuesday.
Konrad von Finckenstein, chair of the CRTC, noted that the OpenMedia.ca-CIPPIC appearance is likely to be lengthy and therefore would be better to hear from the consumer advocacy groups on Day 2 of the hearing.
The other interveners on Day 1 were Telus Corp., a panel of consumer interests from Ontario…
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OTTAWA – The standstill that some asked for during the CRTC’s recent vertical integration hearing has been granted.
The Commission said Friday that programmers and BDUs currently engaged in a terms of carriage negotiation must continue to operate under the terms of their previous agreement as the CRTC reviews the regulatory framework relating to vertical integration.
The continuation of service was issued “in order to better permit the Commission to implement determinations that may result from (the vertical integration) proceeding”, reads the notice.
www.crtc.gc.ca
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OTTAWA – Two years after establishing guidelines on net neutrality, the CRTC has fallen short on its goal to protect users, writes Michael Geist, a University of Ottawa law professor who holds the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law.
Geist’s report, which also appeared Friday in the Toronto Star, says that after filing an access to information request and reviewing “hundreds of pages of documents”, he found “that virtually all major Canadian ISPs have been the target of complaints, but there have been few, if any, consequences arising from the complaints process. In fact, the CRTC has…
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