Punish hotel broadcaster who infringed on copyright: Bell tells CRTC

BCE Inc. is supporting a Quebecor Inc. application for the CRTC to revoke the Coopérative de câblodistribution Hill Valley’s status as an exempt broadcasting distribution undertaking (BDU) after the Quebec-based company allegedly illegally distributed copyrighted content from the two incumbents. “Our support stems, not only from the facts surrounding Hill Valley's illegal distribution of Quebecor's copyrighted content, but also from our own direct experience with Hill Valley's illegal activities,” Bell wrote in a June 7 intervention. Hill Valley, Konek Technologies Inc., and Libéo Inc. are three related companies under common ownership that provide entertainment products for hotel rooms. Libéo provides technical and broadcast infrastructure to its clients, Konek provides the hardware and software that receive broadcast signals in hotel rooms, and Hill Valley distributes the programming content. In February, the Federal Court ruled that Hill Valley and Konek operated illegally. According to the court documents, the company was only authorized as an exempt BDU in February 2021. “This means that Hill Valley was operating illegally for a minimum of six months,” Bell argued in its intervention to the commission. Bell said that its experience with “Hill Valley's illegal business practices mirror the experience of Quebecor in all material aspects.” Quebecor filed a Part 1 application in April, after the court ruling, arguing it violated the terms of the CRTC’s BDU exemption order. The order exempts broadcasters with fewer than 20,000 subscribers from certain regulatory requirements. In addition to the revocation of the hotel broadcasters’ license, Quebecor also calls on the CRTC to sanction them for their conduct. Bell, in its intervention, told the commission that Hill Valley retransmitted Bell Media broadcast signals including over-the-air signals covered under the Copyright Act – Noovo and CTV – and signals not covered under that section of the Act such as its French-language mainstream sports service, Réseau des sports (RDS). Bell said when Hill Valley registered as an exempt BDU it was only permitted to distribute its CTV and Noovo stations. “However, evidence indicates that Hill Valley continues to illegally distribute RDS to its hotel clientele,” Bell wrote. “Hill Valley has, despite promises to the contrary, plowed ahead with full knowledge of the illegality of its practices, and consciously and persistently continued to infringe our copyright. It ignored multiple cease and desist letters. In our view, such bold and flagrant flouting of the law cannot be brushed over or tacitly accepted by the commission.” Bell also requested that the CRTC sanction the company but did not suggest an amount for the penalty. Marketing company Antidote Médias told the commission in its own intervention that if it were to revoke Hill Valley’s status hoteliers would be required to invest additional funds in technological equipment, because Hill Valley’s services are included with the same amenities provided by Hill Valley at no additional cost to the hotelier. Association Hôtelière de la région de Québec also asked the CRTC to maintain Hill Valley’s status, arguing that the company offers inexpensive technologies integrated into its box system which are essential for a modern hotel room, and which are not offered by Videotron. “Videotron and the other cable companies do not offer any services comparable to those offered by Hill Valley. In fact, hotel guests have access to much better technologies at home than what can be offered to them at the hotel with the technologies offered by other cable distributors such as Videotron. They have not innovated for decades in the services offered to our industry,” the association argued. Three other hotels in the area which use Hill Valley’s services also submitted interventions claiming Hill Valley offered the most cutting-edge technology for the industry which cable companies do not offer hoteliers. – Reporting by Jenna Cocullo at jcocullo@thewirereport.ca and editing by Paul Park at ppark@thewirereport.ca .

Punish hotel broadcaster who infringed on copyright: Bell tells CRTC

Broadcast | June 7, 2022

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Punish hotel broadcaster who infringed on copyright: Bell tells CRTC

Broadcast | June 7, 2022

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