By Ahmad Hathout
Using precedent, the Federal Court is entering relatively new territory in the site-blocking era, as it ordered internet service providers Monday to block websites that allow people to turn streaming music videos into free downloadable audio files.
Trade group Music Canada brought the action on behalf of its members, including Sony, Universal, and Warner, which targeted such “stream ripping” websites that allow users to input URLs of music videos from YouTube and turn them into downloadable and permanent MP3 files.
“The stream ripping platforms operated by the John Doe Respondents circumvent the security measures implemented by YouTube in order…
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It was probably only a matter of time, but the CRTC has now turned its attention to new device setup charges and SIM fees that Rogers is charging customers, following the telecom regulator’s ban on activation fees that took effect June 12.
The CRTC has already taken Rogers competitors Bell and Telus to task over new fees those two telcos recently introduced that the commission has said do not appear to fall under the exemption for optional services and products in its new policy prohibiting fees for activating, modifying and cancelling mobile and internet plans.
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Rogers Sportsnet and CBC announced Tuesday that Canada’s national public broadcaster will no longer carry NHL broadcasts.
As the national media rightsholder for NHL games, Rogers had been sub-licensing to CBC the rights to nationally televised regular season games on Saturday nights as well as playoff games, up until the end of the current season. That sub-licensing deal was initially signed in November 2013, as part of Rogers’s exclusive 12-year, $5.2-billion broadcast agreement with the NHL, which gave Rogers all of the national rights to NHL games starting with the 2014-15 season…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Quebecor’s Videotron is asking the CRTC to get involved in adjusting the wholesale roaming access prices charged by SaskTel, which would reverse over a decade of regulatory forbearance.
In a Part 1 application with redactions made public Monday, Videotron is claiming it is being forced to pay unfairly high wholesale roaming prices to the dominant wireless service provider in Saskatchewan with no regulatory avenue because the CRTC in 2015 excluded the Crown corporation from the policy that regulated those rates for market power players Rogers, Bell, and Telus. However the regulator “retained the power to…
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Rogers Sports and Media on Tuesday announced its 2026-27 slate of new and returning programming across its specialty channels HGTV, Food Network, Discovery and Bravo.
HGTV’s lineup includes the first fruits of Rogers Sports and Media’s previously announced exclusive production deal with home renovation experts Bryan and Sarah Baeumler. Announced Tuesday, the Baeumlers will produce and star in two new Canadian original series for HGTV — Baeumler Ranch (working title) and Sarah Baeumler by Design — as well as host HGTV’s new Canadian original Home Town Takeover Canada series going into production later this month.
Other new shows coming to HGTV…
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Bell on Monday announced it has committed more than $25 million to expand its wireless network capacity in Toronto and Vancouver to support upcoming FIFA World Cup matches and fan experiences in the two host cities.
At the centre of Bell’s Toronto network enhancements is its 5G+ Advanced network, which went live in the city in March, and is the first in Canada to launch with 5-carrier aggregation (CA) on 3800 MHz spectrum, enabling peak theoretical speeds of up to 4.3 Gbps, according to Bell.
Bell said it has nearly tripled its network capacity…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Rogers can force a competitor to connect at a traffic hand-off point of its choosing because its commission-approved tariff allows it, the CRTC ruled Thursday.
Cambridge, Ont.-based Fibernetics argued in a 2024 Part 1 application that Rogers was forcing it to connect its fibre half a kilometre away from the cable giant’s head-end facility in Calgary because Fibernetics was using a third-party, not Rogers, to route the traffic back to its office. Fibernetics, which was backed by other wholesale-based competitors claiming similar experiences, argued this effectively disadvantaged it because Rogers was forcing a competing internet…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The Shaw Rocket Fund has filed for a court review of a CRTC decision last month that did not require Rogers to continue paying into the fund beyond August 2025 — and did not find a public hearing was warranted on the matter.
The Federal Court of Appeal application, dated May 21, seeks clarification about whether an administrative renewal of Rogers’s licence – which involved no public consultation – meant that the commission effectively extended for the rest of the term that funding mandate, which was a condition of approving the cable giant’s purchase of Shaw Communications’s broadcasting…
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Bell on Tuesday announced the launch of a new suite of always-on internet solutions for its all-fibre Bell Fibe internet customers, including uninterruptible power supply (UPS) products and a wireless internet backup solution designed to keep users connected during service disruptions.
Bell’s new Power Backup solutions help to keep Fibe internet customers’ modems up and working during local power failures. Bell is currently selling two UPS options — an Anker SOLIX C300 portable power station for $300 (providing backup power for up to nine hours) and a CyberPower SX950U-FC UPS…
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By Howard Law, author of MediaPolicy.ca and Canada vs. California: How Ottawa took on Netflix and the streaming giants (Lorimer, 2024)
The other shoe dropped last week when the CRTC delivered two rulings that nearly complete its new regulatory framework for Netflix and the rest of the Hollywood streamers, as well as Canadian television broadcasters.
The reaction to the rulings from the Hollywood streamers and their Canadian enablers offered more heat than light. Media reports played them as a trade story and some breathlessly speculated on Culture & Identity Minister Marc…
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