CNM Short Takes

Heritage committee hears testimony from witnessesThe Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage will begin hearing from witnesses this week as part of its review of the Copyright Act. On tap October 23 to make presentations are representatives of the Canadian Photographers’ Coalition, the Canadian Library Association, the Writers’ Union of Canada, the Société des auteurs de radio, télévision et cinéma, and others. The hearing is scheduled to be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in room 308 of the West Block on Parliament Hill. Feedback trickling in over Froman proposal for CNMAsComments from both New Media BC and from the board of directors of CANEMA Inc. have been received regarding a controversial proposal circulating regarding the future of the Canadian New Media Awards (CNM, Oct. 10/03). Jane Green, executive director of New Media BC, writes: "It’s an interesting proposal. I don’t know how achievable it is given the financial precariousness of most provincial associations and the limited pool of government funding available to support association initiatives." Sam Punnett, one of three board members and partners besides Adam Froman in CANEMA, the non-profit entity that owns the awards, says the partners were caught off guard by Froman’s letter. The group’s official statement reads: "We did not back away from wanting the Canadian New Media Awards to continue. Adam expressed an interest in producing the Awards this year himself, and we, as the majority of the board, agreed to let that happen. As for the ‘Academy’ concept being circulated by Adam, we were not advised of this plan, nor has our input or advice been sought." In subsequent conversations with Canadian NEW MEDIA, Punnett is guarded about the group’s plans for dealing with the proposal. Punnett says he is personally interested in maintaining an ownership stake in CANEMA, but is confused about several elements of Froman’s plans. He says, for example, he’s unsure of how the academy structure would work in practical terms, and whether a new body formed to advise the awards is workable unless it has an advocacy function. Further comment should be available following the upcoming NextMEDIA festival in P.E.I. this week. SMS use low, says new Decima/Bell researchShort messaging service (SMS), commonly referred to as text messaging, usage is still low in Canada, according to new research done by Decima Research Inc. and Bell Canada. Of all survey respondents who use a cell phone, 14% indicated that they’d sent and/or received text messages on their cell phone. This translates into 6% of all Canadians. As might be expected, younger Canadians are more likely to use SMS. A report summarizing the results notes that 30% of those aged 13 to 24 who use a cell phone indicated that they have sent and/or received text messages. Young Canadians are far more likely to use alternatives to traditional landline telephony than their older counterparts, according to the results of a comprehensive survey of Canadians’ communications usage done by Decima Research Inc. and Bell Canada. The survey is based on telephone interviews with 1,012 people in all provinces and territories, conducted from July 24 to August 4. The results are considered accurate within +/- 3.1%, 19 times out of 20. A report summarizing the results of the extensive survey will soon be available on the Decima Publishing Inc. web site. The following chart from that report shows the usage of different communications technologies by age. Despite the low level of SMS use by Canadians, figures from the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) demonstrate that overall SMS traffic is on the rise, and has been since Canada’s wireless operators introduced inter-carrier text messaging in April 2002. The operators announced the agreement in November 2001. The CWTA is now reporting that Canadians now send more than 800,000 text messages daily. The Decima/Bell survey was conducted between July 24 and August 4, 2003. Results are considered accurate within +/-3.1%, 19 times out of 20. The comprehensive Decima/Bell report will soon be available on Decima Publishing Inc.’s web site. Vodafone picks up content from Toronto’s Tira WirelessEuropean wireless carrier Vodafone will make several titles available from Toronto-based Java games developer Tira Wireless. The games will include NHL Slapshot Hockey and Sun Crosswords2Go, and will be available through the Vodafone live! service. The agreement spans 13 countries. No financial terms for the deal were disclosed. Tira is a private company funded by Brightspark Ventures and Flagship Ventures. Software piracy on rise, says alliance against software theftThe Canadian Alliance Against Software Theft (CAAST) says piracy rose across most of the country in 2002, and that on a national average, around 39.4% of installed software was stolen. Alberta, Ontario, the Northwest Territories and Quebec reported the lowest levels, just slightly below the national average, while some provinces were significantly higher. Prince Edward Island, for instance, had a rate of software piracy hovering around 65%, a figure that was 15 percentage points higher than in 2001. CAAST reports that the theft resulted in the loss of $408 million in sales of business software applications. "The decision to use unlicensed software clearly has far reaching implications for business owners, our communities and local economies. We encourage business owners to seriously consider the many risks associated with buying or using unlicensed software," the Alliance says. Degrassi sweeps GeminisThe Snap Media-designed Degrassi: The Next Generation web site has won both the best interactive and most popular web site awards at the annual Gemini Awards distributed October 19. In the popular category, the site beat out 28 other competitors in a web shootout. Over 30,000 viewers cast electronic ballots to determine the winner. The site, which accompanies a show now in its third season, now has 217,000 registered users in Canada, 71,000 in Australia, and thousands of American users as well. Ubi Soft prevails over Electronic Arts staffing showdownElectronic Arts Inc. (EA), which recently announced plans to open a studio in Montreal (CNM, Aug. 28/03), has lost a legal battle in its attempt to poach five staffers from rival Ubi Soft in the same city. On October 10, Ubi Soft was successful before the Quebec Superior Court in arguing the workers are bound by one-year non-compete clauses. It’s expected the court battle will continue. In an interview with CNM, EA Montreal head Alain Tascan acknowledged that staffing issues will be a key challenge for the company as it sets up shop. He is set to discuss the situation with Quebec Finance minister Yves Séguin in the near future. Teletoon says new games driving traffic on web siteTeletoon says that after launching six new games online this summer, it has received more than a million monthly visitors who spend an average of over 21 minutes on the site per session. The new games were supported by on-air ads and the traffic well exceeded expectations, say company executives. The company will be launching two new games this fall. In other Teletoon news, the company has also developed in-house a new web site to support its My Dad the Rock Star show, produced by Nelvana Studios from a concept developed by KISS frontman Gene Simmons. Steve Szigeti, Teletoon’s director of online media, says the company remains committed to in-house development of web site properties, and even of non-show related entertainment despite a general trend toward paring back many broadcaster sites to brochure-ware. CATAAlliance consolidates T.O. operations at Exceler@torThe Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance (CATA) has created a new CATA Toronto Technology Community (CTTC). The body combines the former members of the SMART Toronto Technology Alliance and CATA’s existing Toronto base. The group will be housed at the University of Toronto’s Exceler@tor technology incubator on College Street. It will function as a division of CATA. "This partnership with the Exceler@tor will allow CATA to provide CTTC members with the highest level of services, seminars, workshops and educational programs that will help to facilitate the growth of our talented and dynamic membership bases. CTTC will be better equipped to act as a business amplifier on the national stage for its member companies, which in turn will result in increased attention to the and the attraction of national players," writes CATA president John Reid in a media release. No further details on the group’s structure or management were released. The SMART Toronto Technology Alliance was acquired in a sudden move this summer, much to the consternation of new media producers who fear the technology-focused organization will be a poor advocate for content companies (CNM, Aug. 28/03).

CNM Short Takes

Broadcast | October 22, 2003

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