TAGGED AS BTLR
Google $1B news initiative won’t stop new legislation, gov’t says
Media | 10/01/2020 7:34 pm EDT
An announcement Thursday from Alphabet Inc.'s Google that it would put aside $1 billion to spend on news publishers around the world -- including two in Canada -- has not...
Gov’t to introduce web giant, CanCon, news legislation in fall: Guilbeault
Media | 06/16/2020 3:00 pm EDT
Legislation modernizing Canada’s Broadcasting Act is “pretty much ready” and will be tabled in Parliament in the fall, when the Liberal government also intends to...
Advertising market in ‘modest recovery’: Corus
Media | 05/27/2020 6:34 pm EDT
Canada’s television advertising market has moved to a stage of “modest recovery” after chapters of...
BTLR recs could see U.S. tariff levies under USMCA: Geist
Media | 02/20/2020 11:36 am EST
OTTAWA — Any content levy on internet giants, as the telecom and...
BTLR on telecom: a Q&A with Janet Yale
Media | 02/14/2020 5:31 pm EST
In a phone interview with Broadcasting and Telecommunications Legislative Review panel chair Janet Yale,...
VMedia blasts ‘regressive’ BTLR recommendation
telecom | 02/05/2020 4:38 pm EST
VMedia Inc. says a recommendation from the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Legislative Review...
Confusion over Guilbeault remarks on BTLR online news recs
Media | 02/03/2020 1:27 pm EST
OTTAWA — On Monday Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault, with some help from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, walked back comments he made over the weekend to CTV News regarding licensing of online news, following the recommendations of an expert panel that news websites be...
CanCon producers praise BTLR terms of trade recommendation
Media | 01/31/2020 5:01 pm EST
OTTAWA — The reintroduction of an agreement governing contracts involving...
BTLR panelist ‘optimistic’ about CBC funding
Media | 01/30/2020 6:12 pm EST
OTTAWA — Whether or not CBC/Radio-Canada can move away from advertising revenue is a “political...
Gov’t should move on passive infrastructure ‘yesterday’: Yale
telecom | 01/30/2020 5:28 pm EST
OTTAWA — The recommendations on passive infrastructure from the expert...
Guilbeault promises BTLR legislation in ‘months’
Media | 01/30/2020 12:53 pm EST
OTTAWA — Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault says his government will introduce legislation to...
BTLR reaction mixed, no clarity on gov’t implementation
Media | 01/29/2020 5:32 pm EST
OTTAWA — A broadcasting and telecommunications legislative review report...
CRTC should regulate foreign digital services, news sites: BTLR
Media | 01/29/2020 12:00 pm EST
The blue-ribbon panel tasked with modernizing Canada’s communications...
‘Clock ticking’ on new content rules for web giants, Guilbeault says
Media | 01/13/2020 2:30 pm EST
The Liberal government's minority mandate means it will have to move fast...
CIPPIC training AI to highlight patterns in regulatory, court docs
Media | 12/10/2019 4:32 pm EST
The Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) is teaming up with an artificial intelligence platform that it hopes will produce insights, which would otherwise be missed, from a...
BTLR chair twice as busy as expected
Media | 12/05/2019 4:18 pm EST
The work of the chairwoman heading the review of the broadcasting and telecom acts turned out to be more time-consuming and complicated than the government initially planned for, according to a memo obtained through Access to Information. The initial terms and conditions of Janet Yale’s appointment provided compensation for the equivalent of two days a week of work. That proved to be insufficient, according to the secret memo to then-Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez in June 2019. “The Progression of the panel’s work has required the Chair to dedicate additional time over...
Ordering pirate site blocking would ‘leapfrog’ BTLR: TekSavvy lawyer
Media | 09/13/2019 3:42 pm EDT
OTTAWA — On the second and final day of a potentially precedent-setting court hearing on site-blocking, a Federal Court judge gave the parties until Wednesday to negotiate a revised draft site...
BTLR panel timetable ‘unaffected’ by member exit
Media | 07/17/2019 4:03 pm EDT
Despite being “saddened” by the exit of one of its members, the panel reviewing Canada’s communications laws said it was forging ahead with its final recommendations, due in January 2020. Hank Intven, a lawyer and...
Rodriguez promises CanCon rules for ‘web giants’
Media | 06/26/2019 5:53 pm EDT
Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez said in a social media post Wednesday that the Liberal government plans...
Few surprises in BTLR ‘what we heard’ report
Media | 06/26/2019 10:30 am EDT
The blue ribbon panel in charge of reviewing Canada’s communications legislation has released its...
Don’t expect recommendations in June BTLR report: Yale
Media | 06/03/2019 4:37 pm EDT
TORONTO — The interim report due at the end of this month from the expert panel in charge of reviewing Canada’s communications laws will only summarize the input the members have received so far, chairwoman Janet Yale said at a telecom industry conference.
“The...
Corus asked BTLR to immediately change foreign ownership rules
Media | 05/30/2019 4:19 pm EDT
Corus Entertainment Inc., the only major Canadian broadcaster refusing to...
Calgary recommends national digital strategy addressing 5G deployment
telecom | 04/15/2019 5:06 pm EDT
The City of Calgary says the government should develop a “modernized” national digital strategy that addresses open access infrastructure policies, municipal rights-of-way, smart city urban design...
BTLR commissioned research on passive infrastructure, video games
Media | 04/05/2019 2:06 pm EDT
The panel in charge of reviewing Canada’s communications laws has hired...
CanWISP asks BTLR for help solving disagreements with incumbents
telecom | 03/29/2019 3:19 pm EDT
There should be a mechanism in place to help resolve disputes between small ISPs and incumbents, an organization representing wireless internet service providers told the panel in charge of reviewing...
Small players out-flanked at ‘policy-shaping,’ BCBA tells panel
telecom | 03/14/2019 4:14 pm EDT
The British Columbia Broadband Association (BCBA) says a new legal framework for the telecom sector should simplify regulations and facilitate more regulatory participation by small operators....
Content exporters ask consulting panel for CMF envelope they can access, match
Media | 03/12/2019 7:07 pm EDT
A trade association for Canadian-based television and content distribution...
CWTA tells panel review MVNOs would hurt investment, rural access
telecom | 03/11/2019 2:20 pm EDT
The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) took aim at mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) in its submission to the ongoing review of Canada’s communications legislation....
Few internet giants weighed in to BTLR, submission list shows
telecom | 03/08/2019 4:13 pm EST
The panel in charge of reviewing the broadcasting and telecom acts received...
Accessibility groups ask BTLR for legislative changes, new advisory office
Media | 03/07/2019 4:31 pm EST
Canada’s broadcasting and telecommunications legislation should be amended to include a number of references to accessibility for Canadians with disabilities, according to...
Telecom act should equalize prices across Canada: NWT gov’t
telecom | 03/06/2019 5:45 pm EST
The government of Northwest Territories says the Telecommunications Act should aim to ensure telecom services of the same quality and at the same prices are available across the country. In its...
Shaw Rocket Fund wants CBC to broaden children’s programming
Media | 03/01/2019 4:54 pm EST
The Shaw Rocket Fund wants CBC/Radio-Canada to expand its focus on children’s content to reflect a broader age range and is asking for new communications legislation to ensure it has the funding...
Distributors ask for Canadian film exhibition quotas on broadcast, OTT
Media | 03/01/2019 12:11 pm EST
Both over-the-top services and broadcasters should be required to show a certain amount of Canadian feature films, the Canadian Association of Film Distributors and Exporters is asking the panel...
Online discoverability a challenge for books, magazines, BTLR hears
Media | 02/25/2019 2:31 pm EST
Organizations representing Canadian publishers are flagging the difficulty...
Flaws in rural broadband funding hot topic in telecom law review
telecom | 02/25/2019 12:41 pm EST
Rural broadband funding programs in Canada suffer from “significant” design flaws that have in some cases put investments by small providers on hold, a regional broadband group is warning -- one of a number of submissions to the ongoing review of Canada’s...
Double CBC funding, CMG tells communications review
Media | 02/22/2019 3:59 pm EST
The real value of the funding CBC/Radio-Canada receives has slipped significantly due to inflation, the...
CACTUS asks BTLR for $150M community TV framework
Media | 02/22/2019 12:53 pm EST
A group representing the Canadian community TV sector is asking the panel reviewing the broadcasting and...
Press council warns BTLR of ‘gap’ in complaints process for broadcasters
Media | 02/15/2019 4:16 pm EST
The National NewsMedia Council wrote to the expert panel reviewing...
Lack of clear CRTC industry data is an obstacle: small ISPs
telecom | 02/13/2019 8:47 pm EST
TekSavvy Solutions Inc. has filed a complaint with the CRTC flagging a concern that the regulator’s latest data report doesn’t provide a clear picture of the industry, which could make it more...
ITPA pitches ‘sustainability component’ for rural broadband programs
telecom | 02/13/2019 4:38 pm EST
The government should create a “sustainability component” to rural broadband funding projects so they don’t dwindle in quality or eventually fail, according to an association representing...
Language representation at CRTC raised to Yale panel
Media | 02/12/2019 2:37 pm EST
Better representation at the CRTC of official language minority communities is a concern a number of...
Don’t exclude online services from Broadcasting Act: Private radio
Media | 02/04/2019 12:00 pm EST
Canada’s private radio broadcasters are fighting against a push to keep...
Public music should feature Canadian content, Stingray says
Media | 02/01/2019 1:18 pm EST
Music in public establishments such as malls, bars and restaurants should...
Bell’s panel submission calls for CMF to get 20% of foreign OTT revenues
Media | 01/29/2019 3:25 pm EST
BCE Inc. wants to inject the Canada Media Fund (CMF) with a potentially significant influx of cash by forcing foreign over-the-top (OTT) services to fork over 20 per cent of...
Gaming companies bristle after review panel suggests they’re broadcasters
Media | 01/28/2019 4:05 pm EST
A meeting with individuals leading the federal government’s review of...
New Broadcast Act should ‘unambiguously exclude’ OTT: Netflix
Media | 01/25/2019 4:51 pm EST
Netflix Inc. is defending against calls to rope foreign over-the-top...
Might be ‘late’ for regional wireless competitors: Cogeco
Media | 01/23/2019 5:05 pm EST
Cogeco Inc. is raising caution about the negative impact the government's...
Shaw calls for removal of 5% BDU content contribution
Media | 01/22/2019 6:17 pm EST
Shaw Communications Inc. is asking the government to drop the five per cent revenue contribution TV service providers make to Canadian content, but says if CanCon needs a subsidy then it should be a direct one from government...
Be ‘wary’ of regulating online speech: Facebook
Media | 01/22/2019 5:57 pm EST
While online misinformation needs to be taken seriously, that doesn’t mean the government should begin regulating speech online, Facebook Inc. is telling the panel leading the government’s review of the broadcasting and telecom acts.
It said there are three types of...
Preventing LGBTQ content discrimination raised in BTLR consults
Media | 01/21/2019 4:15 pm EST
The CEO of an independent specialty TV channel is raising concerns that a lack of regulation could let foreign-based digital companies operating in Canada de-monetize or discriminate against types of...
FRPC wants CanCon visibility on search engines
Media | 01/21/2019 12:50 pm EST
As a rule, when Canadians search keywords on the internet, they should be presented with Canadian content...
Groups diverge on handling of net neutrality in comms laws
Media | 01/18/2019 5:25 pm EST
Canada’s current laws implicitly protecting net neutrality are sufficient...
Fast-track OTT review, clock ticking on CMF ‘top-up’: CMPA
Media | 01/18/2019 10:41 am EST
The Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) wants the government to...
‘Many’ ISPs could shut down due to wholesale regime: CNOC
telecom | 01/17/2019 4:34 pm EST
Small, wholesale-based internet service providers could be forced out of...
Big telecoms fight calls for an ‘ISP tax’, pitch new OTT rules
telecom | 01/16/2019 5:55 pm EST
Some of Canada’s biggest telecom companies rejected calls to force ISPs...
Platforms could pull out of Canadian market if regulated: Google
Media | 01/16/2019 2:17 pm EST
Alphabet Inc.’s Google already contributes to the Canadian creative...
Utilities, cities clash with telecoms over infrastructure jurisdiction
telecom | 01/15/2019 7:35 pm EST
Electrical utilities and municipalities have arched their backs over...
CBC calls for site-blocking provisions for ‘manipulated content’
Media | 01/11/2019 4:09 pm EST
CBC/Radio-Canada wants the federal government to grant the CRTC the ability to issue orders requiring ISPs to block websites sharing “manipulated content, including news,”...
CRTC asks Ottawa for single regulator on passive infrastructure
Media | 01/10/2019 6:28 pm EST
The CRTC is formally asking the federal government to make one regulatory...
Top telecom and media stories to watch for in 2019
Media | 12/21/2018 5:46 pm EST
As the new year begins, the months ahead promise a new spectrum auction, new CRTC announcements on...
Former CRTC commissioners criticize Harnessing Change report
Media | 11/07/2018 7:15 pm EST
TORONTO — The idea of cross-subsidization of industries did not find...
Comms law review panel extends comment period
Media | 11/05/2018 1:13 pm EST
The comment period for the government-appointed, blue-ribbon panel that’s reviewing Canada’s communications laws is being extended into next year. It is being lengthened to January 11, 2019, the panel has confirmed to The...
Comms acts review panel urges ‘practical’ submissions
Media | 11/01/2018 7:11 pm EDT
OTTAWA — Members of the panel tasked with providing recommendations to bring Canada’s communications laws into the digital era are urging public submissions be “concrete” and “practical” to hasten the resulting report’s ability to pass government scrutiny. ...
Yale responds to criticism about review panel consumer reps
Media | 11/01/2018 2:29 pm EDT
OTTAWA – Conservative senators doubled-down on a previously-raised...
Rogers’ network ‘our contribution’ to content ecosystem: VP
Media | 10/31/2018 7:24 pm EDT
OTTAWA — The billions of dollars Rogers Communications Inc. says it’s...
CRTC needs clarity over who can resolve 5G rollout disputes: Scott
Media | 10/30/2018 4:34 pm EDT
OTTAWA — The head of Canada’s telecom regulator says clarity on where...
Ensure ISPs don’t have to contribute money to CanCon: CCSA
Media | 10/23/2018 4:33 pm EDT
The Canadian Communications Systems Alliance (CCSA) is asking the Senate...
Combine Heritage and ISED, move spectrum to CRTC: professor
telecom | 10/18/2018 2:16 pm EDT
The government should combine the Heritage and Innovation ministries, and...
OPC asks for more flexibility on info sharing with CRTC
telecom | 10/16/2018 4:38 pm EDT
OTTAWA — Canada’s federal privacy watchdog asked a Senate committee...
Senators criticize makeup of comms acts review expert panel
Media | 10/04/2018 12:55 pm EDT
OTTAWA — Two senators on the Senate transport and communications...
‘Narrow window’ to make new comms laws with USMCA: Nordicity
Media | 10/02/2018 3:28 pm EDT
OTTAWA -- There is an “urgent need” for Canadian lawmakers to set out a new communications framework now that Canada has hammered out a new trilateral agreement on trade to replace the North...
As CRTC rejects FairPlay, proposal could move to legislative reviews
Media | 10/02/2018 11:20 am EDT
The CRTC has no jurisdiction to implement a system to block websites allegedly engaging in piracy, it said in a highly-anticipated decision Tuesday, cracking open another...
Broadcast, telecom acts review panel kicks off consultation
telecom | 09/25/2018 5:31 pm EDT
OTTAWA — The expert panel in charge of reviewing Canada’s...
Senators asked to champion net neutrality in comms laws review
Media | 09/18/2018 6:38 pm EDT
OTTAWA -- Lawmakers need to make net neutrality a major priority and...
CMPA to tour country ahead of broadcast, telecom acts review
Media | 07/30/2018 1:40 pm EDT
The Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) has launched a Canada-wide...
Joly out at Heritage as Pablo Rodriguez named new minister
Media | 07/18/2018 5:00 pm EDT
Former chief government whip Pablo Rodriguez is the new heritage minister,...
Broadcast, telecom act review panel plans ‘outreach’ in Sept.
Media | 06/28/2018 5:32 pm EDT
The panel appointed to lead the review of the Broadcasting Act and Telecommunications Act has met for the first time this week, and will continue to meet regularly over the summer, the federal government said in a press release Thursday. “As a first priority, the Review Panel identified the development of a consultation plan as well as its approach to meeting its research needs. The Review Panel expects to launch this process of consultation and outreach in September 2018,” it added....
Experts to ‘find solutions’ in broadcast, telecom review: Joly
Media | 06/05/2018 8:10 pm EDT
OTTAWA — The expert panel appointed by the federal government to...
CRTC calls for ISPs to pay for CanCon, ‘equitable’ OTT contributions
Media | 05/31/2018 11:18 am EDT
GATINEAU — The CRTC is recommending the government undertake a bevy of...
Government needs to move quicker, do more on telecom issues: panel
Media | 11/08/2017 6:13 pm EST
TORONTO — The federal government and the CRTC must pick up the pace and...
Creative Canada ‘cultural policy, not tax policy’: Joly
Media | 11/02/2017 9:39 pm EDT
OTTAWA — Opposition MPs continued their criticism of Heritage Minister...
Future reviews to determine much of DigiCanCon strategy: experts
Media | 09/28/2017 11:25 am EDT
OTTAWA — While the response to the long-awaited results of Heritage...
Mixed reaction to budget viewed as long on potential, short on details
Media | 03/23/2017 9:37 pm EDT
For all the focus on the digital economy, there was little in Wednesday’s budget for digital content creators, broadband infrastructure enthusiasts or fans of long-term planning, according to...