OTTAWA – The Public Interest Advocacy Centre and the Canadian Bar Association locked horns this week in a Parliamentary committee over proposed amendments to the Competition Act, which would authorize the Competition Bureau to conduct entire market studies in the absence of a complaint regarding anti-competitive behaviour.
Bill C-452, a private member’s bill introduced by Bloc Québécois MP Robert Vincent, seeks to change the current law, which says the Commissioner of Competition can only launch an investigation when there is a concern about one or more market participants. While the bill appears to have originally been tabled to…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has pushed back the date of the hearing to investigate vertical integration by six weeks.
In a notice on Thursday, the Commission said that the revised hearing date is June 20, 2011 (formerly May 9), and that the new date for interventions and comments is April 27, 2011 (formerly March 7). The move comes in response to a request from CTVglobemedia to accommodate its trip to Hollywood in May to shop for U.S. programming for the upcoming television season.
The Commission also said that it wishes to discuss two additional matters at the hearing:– the composition of…
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OTTAWA – Budgets are set and regulations are being drafted for the new anti-spam law, an Industry Canada official told the Senate Transport and Communications committee this week.
Bill C-28, the latest Conservative effort to enshrine anti-spam legislation, was tabled in the House of Commons this fall and quickly passed through the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology in a single hearing.
Among other things, it will give the Competition Bureau the ability to target deceptive marketing practices, the CRTC the right to combat unsolicited commercial e-mail, and the Office of the Privacy Commission the authority to fight…
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TORONTO – A newly formed coalition of Canada’s largest accessibility organizations, called Access 2020, will be asking the CRTC to adopt a new approach to accessibility in its May 2011 policy hearing on vertical integration.
“While current regulatory trends mean that sight- and hearing-impaired Canadians will only obtain complete access to television in thirty years, Access 2020’s goal is to achieve fully captioned and described television content within the next decade,” said Beverley Milligan, on behalf of Media Access Canada which is leading the coalition. “We will be inviting the CRTC to empower Canada’s accessibility organizations to research, test, develop…
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NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE, Ont. – Long-time head of the Canadian Cable Television Association, Michael Hind-Smith, died December 3rd from complications due to cancer. He was 80.
Hind-Smith was the longest-serving CCTA president and CEO and oversaw a period of massive growth and change in the cable business during his 15 years (1975-1990) heading the now defunct organization.
“He was such a good representative for the cable industry,” Rogers Communications vice-chairman Phil Lind told Cartt.ca in an interview. “He had some terrific battles with the CRTC (pay-TV, specialty channels, “6 and 5”, pole access) but he kept the association together for a long time….
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OTTAWA – BCE’s proposed tangible benefits associated with its bid for CTV’s television broadcasting assets “falls way short of the mark of what is expected under the CRTC’s tangible benefits policy”, says the Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA).
The organization representing the interests of English-language screen-based media companies in Canada said that it warned the Commission during the Shaw/Canwest proceeding that bending on the tangible benefits policy could de facto establish a new standard.
“It is clear that BCE has mirrored its application to that of Shaw/Canwest,” said CMPA president and CEO Norm Bolen, in a statement. “Bell’s acquisition of CTV is a strategic…
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TORONTO – The future of cable is “outstanding”. Just ask Louis Audet, the president and CEO of Cogeco Inc. and Cogeco Cable.
Speaking with Cartt.ca prior to presenting the company’s 2010 financial results to shareholders in Toronto last week, Audet shared Cogeco’s plans for wireless, why he’s not worried about Netflix, and his thoughts on vertical integration in Canada.
“There are good reasons to believe that”, Audet said about his unshakeable belief in the cable industry’s rosy future. “It’s not a wanton statement.” A perfect example of cable’s ability to evolve is Cogeco’s plans to trial addressable advertising in Canada next year. “This…
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OTTAWA – With some 260 days left before the television industry converts its over-the-air transmitters from analog to digital, the CRTC is calling for comments on the proposed regulations for the digital television transition.
The notice also outlined some guidelines for broadcasters that will be required to air public service announcements and/or service loss notices at least six months prior to the August 31, 2011 deadline. Comments are due by January 11, 2011.
The Commission has also asked for comments on proposed amendments to its broadcasting distribution regulations, which will be effective 1 September 2011.
These amendments reflect determinations made by the CRTC…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC hearing into whether or not BCE can purchase CTV will begin in Gatineau on February 8, the Commission made official on Thursday.
BCE is acquiring the 85% of the broadcaster it doesn’t own in a deal valued at $3.2 billion ($1.7 billion of which is debt).
While the big telco “is of the view that no tangible benefits are required in the circumstances,” according to its original application, additional letters in November and December from BCE saw tangible benefits proposals go from $70.3 million and then to $220.8 million.
The meeting notice said the Commission will be examining…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has released its official decision on the membership requirements of the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS).
As reported by Cartt.ca, the Commission determined that all Canadian telecom service providers must join the CCTS for a period of five years. Previously, membership with the telecom consumer agency was mandatory only for telecom companies with revenues greater than $10 million, and optional for smaller operators.
Click here for more on the decision.
www.crtc.gc.ca
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