Search Results for: casl

A week from now, Canada will wake to a new government and there are certain to be changes impacting the information and communications technology and services sector. We already know that there will be a new Minister of Industry, since James Moore is not seeking re-election.

We do not yet know who will be Prime Minister, or whether we will have a minority or majority government.

A couple months ago, I wrote about “Building a digital platform“, providing some of the elements that I would be looking for as parties released their vision for how they would lead the country.

Will broadband for low-income households become an issue? Net neutrality?

What about a review of Canada’s Anti-Spam Laws?

Telemarketing continues to bother Canadians – and robo-calls from politicians are not likely going to be a welcome addition to Canadians’ dinner time interuptions. You have to love the idea that politicians exempted themselves from many of the more onerous provisions of the do not call regime.

Will any party commit to studying the impact and cost effectiveness of these laws?

A month later, I followed up with “A digital agenda for Canada“, listing the kinds of programs that I thought should find their way into party platforms:

• Inclusiveness: Which political parties will recognize the need to get low-income households online? There are solutions for connecting rural and remote regions, but the bigger issue is that of affordability, regardless of geography. As frequent readers know, my personal priority is to ensure all school aged kids have access to a connected home computer.
• Skills development: ICTC – the Information and Communications Technology Council – has launched a project in partnership with Microsoft Canada to develop a national digital talent strategy, seeking to ensure that Canada will have skilled talent to drive innovation and competitiveness, as entrepreneurs or as part of the workforce.
• e-Government: What kinds of efficiencies can be derived from an effective e-Government strategy, including e-Health, distance education and delivery of other government services?
• Digital economic policy: An expert panel should reviewing legislation and policy to ensure consistency with a drive to have Canadians benefit from and lead in the development of a digital economy. Canada is long overdue for an overall Telecom Policy review; the last report was delivered in 2006 [which called for a review to be held every 5 years -we are coming up on 10 years]. The last review pre-dated the AWS spectrum auction [that led to the creation of WIND Mobile, and the mobile operations of Videotron and Eastlink], CASL [Canada’s Anti-Spam Law], copyright reform, digital surveillance, Digital Canada 150 and major changes to policy and regulation emanating from the CRTC [such as Talk TV].

The major parties have now released their platforms and they all disappoint from a digital perspective.

The Conservatives mention keywords, such as “digital”, “internet” and “broadband”, but there are no surprises in the platform; from an ICT perspective, we can expect a continuation of the past few years and with token funding for further rural broadband expansion.

The NDP also use all three keywords, but continue to refer to the “digital divide” in the same sentence as rural broadband expansion; of the three parties, one might have thought that the NDP would pick up on the need to increase digital access for low income Canadians.

The Liberals don’t use the terms “broadband” or “internet” at all, but “digital” is used twice: to refer to improving the delivery of government services; and, in discussing access to open data.

I won’t add further commentary or indicate any preferences. I encourage you to follow the links provided above and explore the policies and plans for each of the parties. After you do so, be sure to go out and vote!

Together with all industry stakeholders, I am looking forward to working with the new Minister of Industry and the department to help create a more digitally inclusive Canada, enabling improved digital literacy among all of us, with legislation and policies that sensitive to privacy and security issues, as we continue the journey to transforming our digital economy.

Last month, I asked if digital issues will factor into the way people vote. We are now 40 days away from Canada’s federal election and looking to see signs of how the major parties will differentiate their approach to substantial issues to drive the digital economy.

What are the key elements that need to be addressed?

• Inclusiveness: Which political parties will recognize the need to get low-income households online? There are solutions for connecting rural and remote regions, but the bigger issue is that of affordability, regardless of geography. As frequent readers know, my personal priority is to ensure all school aged kids have access to a connected home computer.
• Skills development: ICTC – the Information and Communications Technology Council – has launched a project in partnership with Microsoft Canada to develop a national digital talent strategy, seeking to ensure that Canada will have skilled talent to drive innovation and competitiveness, as entrepreneurs or as part of the workforce.
• e-Government: What kinds of efficiencies can be derived from an effective e-Government strategy, including e-Health, distance education and delivery of other government services?
• Digital economic policy: An expert panel should reviewing legislation and policy to ensure consistency with a drive to have Canadians benefit from and lead in the development of a digital economy. Canada is long overdue for an overall Telecom Policy review; the last report was delivered in 2006 [which called for a review to be held every 5 years -we are coming up on 10 years]. The last review pre-dated the AWS spectrum auction [that led to the creation of WIND Mobile, and the mobile operations of Videotron and Eastlink], CASL [Canada’s Anti-Spam Law], copyright reform, digital surveillance, Digital Canada 150 and major changes to policy and regulation emanating from the CRTC [such as Talk TV].

In what other areas are you are you expecting leadership from the parties that hope to form the next government?

As political parties release their digital platforms, what do you want to see?

---

[Update: September 9, 5:00 pm]
The Green Party has released its platform [pdf], calling for digital skills upgrades, enshrining net neutrality rules in legislation and repealing the electronic surveillance provisions of Bill C-51.

A couple months ago, I noticed that Canada Revenue Agency tweeted a reminder to folks to be wary of phishing scams that may come by email as we begin tax return season.

In the past few months, a number of scams have crossed my desk – by email and by phone.

For months now, I have been receiving multiple calls from an IVR, telling me that, as a result of my last flight on Westjet, I have been selected to receive a $999 credit on a vacation – press “1” for more information. I can’t even remember the last time I flew Westjet, but pressing “1”, I went to an agent who asked if I was over 30 years of age and had a credit card. The correct response took me to an agent for Santos Resorts in Mexico who tried to convince me to hear her pitch for coming to check out their time-shares.

Now, my wife doesn’t like me taking up the time of underpaid, commissioned labourers who regularly call to offer air-duct cleaning services. I asked the agent from Santos to confirm she was salaried, not commissioned, before letting her waste her time delivering her pitch on the speaker phone while I continued my work, giving periodic “uh, huh” sounds. When she paused in her pitch to ask if I had any questions, I asked if she had heard of Canada’s rules for telemarketing. That prompted a hang-up.

I continue to receive spam, mostly dealt with by my email and anti-virus client, but some inevitably trickle through. And I continue to receive annoying phone calls. But as I have said before, our laws went too far, and ended up punishing legitimate firms, not spammers and scammers, inhibiting e-commerce and adoption of digital communications.

Despite last week’s first penalty being levied against a spammer under CASL, I often think the easiest way to deal with with these problems is to take matters into your own hands: just hang up, or hit the delete button.

Last summer, I wrote a brief blog post called “Regulating the internet” suggesting it may be worthwhile for some academic researchers to take a look at the impact of regulating internet content in Canada, from such perspectives as economic and social policy, cultural issues, etc.

Are we restricting the evolution of creative business models and innovation through regulation?

• Internet Traffic Management Regulatory Policy (Net Neutrality)
• Canada’s Anti-Spam Law (CASL)
• New Media Exemption Order
• NFL Mobile Content Decision
• Others? (such as digital copyright, lawful access, etc.?)

Yesterday, I saw an article by Brian Fung of the Washington Post, seeking to explain “How the cable industry is trying to reshape the economics of the Internet“. He writes, “As it waits for the regulatory shoe of net neutrality to drop next month, the cable industry is going on the offensive.”

As I read the article, it struck me that internet services in the United States could be on the verge of some very heavy handed regulation.

In launching a countdown clock, American Enterprise Institute asked, “Will February 26, 2015 mark the death of Internet freedom?“, referring to the upcoming vote by the FCC on its Open Internet process. In the view of AEI, “Title II reclassification of ISPs would cripple our nation’s dynamic and thriving Internet ecosystem.”

If the US moves to apply new regulations and government intervention in internet access and network management and interconnection services, what opportunities might arise for Canada?

Will Canada see such moves as an opportunity to lead or will Canada’s regulatory and policy authorities follow suit?

A number of sessions at The 2015 Canadian Telecom Summit [June 1-3 in Toronto] will be well suited to discuss these issues and more:

• On Monday morning, June 1, a panel of world leading telecom policy economists and academics will be exploring “Competition in Telecom”
• That afternoon, another panel will examine “Cyber Security”
• Tuesday morning, June 2, former Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff will be speaking about global internet governance in a talk entitled “One Internet or Thousands: Preserving the World Wide Web in a Diverse Globe“
• That session will be followed by our always popular “Regulatory Blockbuster”, featuring Canada’s leading regulatory affairs personalities
• Wednesday morning, June 2, has a panel looking at “Internet of Things: Hyperconnectivity“
• Wednesday afternoon explores the video revolution in a session we are calling “Coming to Any Screen Near You”
• Our closing speaker that afternoon will be Dr. Kellie Leitch, Minister of Labour and Minister of Status of Women.

How can Canada seize opportunities for competitive advantage in the emerging digital economy?

Be sure to join us at The 2015 Canadian Telecom Summit.

Early bird savings are available through February 28.

Have you registered yet?

The Internet Association, a Washington based lobby group representing “America’s leading Internet companies” (such as Google, Netflix and Amazon), released a paper today called “Canada’s Internet Economy is Primed for Takeoff.”

The Canadian Press report on the story blames businesses’ slow uptake of digital technology for Canada “losing its international edge on the Internet”. The report calls for the government to introduce a Digital Renovation Tax Credit to encourage Small and Medium sized businesses to improve their online presence.

I noted that the report includes one of the main messages from Google and Netflix that were expunged from the record of the CRTC’s Talk TV consultation when Internet Association members Google and Netflix refused to provide information sought during their oral presentations.

The challenge for the Government is that the nature of “broadcasting” is changing rapidly. Over the past few years, entirely new platforms have emerged for the delivery of content online.
…
extending conventional broadcast regulations to the Internet would be highly detrimental.

There are a number of other highlights that should be considered by policy makers. The paper has concerns about Canadian intellectual property and privacy laws as well as rules from some provincial governments requiring certain public sector data to be stored locally.

In addition, the report echos concerns raised in my blog that some government policies are having unintended consequences of being harmful to the adoption of e-commerce in Canada, saying “Canada has unnecessary complexity in its rules governing the digital economy.”

Similarly, when considering consumer protection measures, government must be extremely careful not to unintentionally introduce new barriers to digital commerce.
…
industry remains very concerned that broad application of CASL to all forms of electronic messaging and software, the inflexible requirements and the potential for significant liability will have a negative impact on the growth of electronic commerce in Canada that outweighs the benefits.

The whitepaper concludes that the current competitiveness gap between Canada’s digital economy and those of other G20 nations can be closed with smart public policy, listing 7 specific recommendations, including: “Ensure a strong commercial logic in the development and application of electronic commerce laws, including privacy laws.” It says the standard for evaluating new rules should be to foster world-leading adoption and development of technology and do not impede investment.

After the Google / Netflix dust-up with the CRTC, it is fascinating that the whitepaper acknowledges, as a positive attribute, that Canada has “a Government that generally leans toward evidence-based policy making.” There are 5 pages of references supplementing the 21-page whitepaper.

It is worth a read. The Association’s members should also give consideration to the section discussing evidence-based policy making, to help with participation in future proceedings.