Newsletter: January 12, 2021

Weekly News (January 11, 2021)
Compiled by Emmanuel Appiah with Sara Bannerman
McMaster University, Communications Governance Observatory

The Communications Governance Discussion Group meets every few weeks by Zoom.  Email organizer Derek Hrynyshyn <derekh@yorku.ca> for details.

(December 29-January 11, 2021)

Canadian News

• [COMPETITION] Competition Bureau closes probe; Media (National Post)
• [BROADCASTING POLICY] CRTC chairman questions CBC head over transparency amid broadcaster’s online push (The Canadian Press via Saskatoon Star Phoenix)
• [BROADCASTING/ STREAMING] Canadian film, TV producers urge Ottawa to change streaming regulations (The Globe and Mail)
• [ACCESS TO INFORMATION] Info watchdog raps Privy Council Office for terminating access requests from public (The Canadian Press via  YahooNews)
• [COPYRIGHT/ FANFICTION] The Force is with these fan filmmakers (The Toronto Star)
• [COPYRIGHT] Orwell’s out of copyright – and now the fun begins; Expect a rush of video games, films and more (Calgary Herald)
• [COVID-19 DATA] Toronto to publicly report more data on workplace COVID-19 outbreaks (Canadian Press via Global News)
• [PRIVACY/DATA SECURITY] A secure digital identity product should be an urgent national priority (The Globe and Mail)
• [INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY/INNOVATION] OPINION: Plant: innovation economy requires new thinking on intellectual property (The Toronto Star)
• [SMART CITIES] John Lorinc: Mobility tech offers cities enormous opportunities for helping residents get around  (The Toronto Star; Behind Paywall)
• [SMART CITIES] John Lorinc: Tech can help cities improve services  (The Toronto Star)
• [SMART CITIES/PRIVACY] Lessons on privacy, digital governance (The Toronto Star)
• [COVID-19 APP] Gary Mason: Canada’s overwhelmed contact-tracing efforts have been a gross failure (The Globe and Mail)

International News

• [PLATFORM GOVERNANCE] Twitter, Amazon, Facebook face fallout from taking action against Trump and his supporters (The Washington Post)
• [PLATFORM GOVERNANCE] Trump’s FCC chairman does not object to Facebook, Twitter blocking president (Reuters)
• [PLATFORM GOVERNANCE] Companies backed Trump for years. Now they’re facing a reckoning after the attack on the Capitol. (The Washington Post)
• [PLATFORM GOVERNANCE] Save the Constitution From Big Tech (Wall Street Journal)
• [ANTITRUST] Parler Accuses Amazon of Breaking Antitrust Law in Suspending Hosting Services (The New York Times)
• [ANTITRUST/PLATFORM REGULATION] How one woman shaped the case against Big Tech (Montreal Gazette)
• [CYBERSECURITY] As Understanding of Russian Hacking Grows, So Does Alarm (The New York Times)
• [PRIVACY] U.K. watchdog to probe Google browser changes; Regulatory (National Post)
• [PRIVACY/PLATFORM REGULATION/LOCATION DATA] Dutch Lawsuit Seeks Quicker Resolution in Google Case (Wall Street Journal)
• [PLATFORM REGULATION] Big Tech’s big spending a worry in Europe (The Toronto Star)
• [US-CHINA RELATIONS/PERSONAL INFORMATION] Trump bars U.S. transactions with eight Chinese apps including Alipay (Reuters)
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] Defense Bill Boosts Federal AI Research and Development (Wall Street Journal)
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] Local Police Force Uses Facial Recognition to Identify Capitol Riot Suspects (Wall Street Journal)
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] Can the Government Regulate Deepfakes? (The Wall Street Journal)
• [PRIVACY/PLATFORM GOVERNANCE] Turkish watchdog probes Facebook, WhatsApp over data sharing (The Toronto Star)
• [BIOMETRIC/DATA COLLECTION] S. Africa’s plan to record all babies’ biometrics raises privacy fears (Reuters)
• [PLATFORM GOVERNANCE/LABOUR] Paul Koul and Chewy Shaw: We Built Google. This Is Not the Company We Want to Work For. (The New York Times; Similar article also available)
• [DEFAMATION] She Said #MeToo. Now She’s Being Punished Under Defamation Law. (The New York Times)
• [DEFAMATION] Dominion sues Trump lawyer Sidney Powell for defamation (The Associated Press via CBC News)
• [PRESS FREEDOM] China jails citizen-journalist for four years over Wuhan virus reporting (Reuters)
• [PRESS FREEDOM] Vietnam jails journalists for ‘propaganda’ critical of state (Reuters)
• [WHISTLEBLOWING] Julian Assange cannot be extradited to US, British judge rules (The Guardian)
• [ACCESS TO INFORMATION] Mexican president mulls ending independent watchdog agencies (Associated Press via Star Herald)
• [PERSONAL DATA/CENSORSHIP] Hong Kong Site Listing Police Data Is Blocked (The New York Times)
• [ANTITRUST] China Eyes Shrinking Jack Ma’s Business Empire (The Wall Street Journal)
• [PRIVACY/INTERNET REGULATION] He Created the Web. Now He’s Out to Remake the Digital World (The New York Times)
• [CENSORSHIP] Chinese censorship invades the U.S. via WeChat (The Washington Post)

(December 29 – January 11, 2021)

Canadian Intellectual Property Office

• CIPO and the European Patent Office to formalize their Patent Prosecution Highway program

Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission

• Opening remarks for CBC/SRC public hearing

Competition Bureau Canada

• Competition Bureau closes investigation of Postmedia and Torstar

Supreme Court of the United States

• [FREEDOM OF SPEECH] NIKKI BRUNI, et al. v. CITY OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, et al. No. 19-1184 (January 11, 2021)

Federal Court of Canada

• [PATENT] Janssen Inc. v. Pharmascience Inc. – 2021 FC 6 – 2021-01-06
• [PATENT] Teva Canada Innovation v. Pharmascience Inc. – 2020 FC 1158 – 2021-01-06

Microsoft

• Thanks to Congress, the FCC can now update America’s broadband maps
• Continued progress and support in fighting secrecy orders

Twitter

• Permanent suspension of @realDonaldTrump
• Insights from the 17th Twitter Transparency Report

Instagram

• Instagram Tools for Transparent Partnerships

Facebook

• Our Preparations Ahead of Inauguration Day
• Roy Austin Joins Facebook as VP of Civil Rights
• Our Response to the Violence in Washington

CRTC

News Releases:

Supreme Court of Canada

• The Supreme Court of Canada announced today that judgment in the following leave applications will be delivered at 9:45 a.m. EST on Thursday, January 14, 2021. This list is subject to change.
  • [DEFAMATION] Roch Guimont, et al. c. La Presse Canadienne, et al. (Qc) (Civile) (Autorisation) (39306)

Senate of Canada

• Planned & Possible sitting days this week: Next sitting day is February 2^nd, 2021

Canadian House of Commons

• Planned & Possible sitting days this week: No sitting days this week. The House is adjourned until Monday, January 25, 2021 at 11:00 am (EST)

CRTC

Open Proceedings

• CRTC Open Broadcasting Proceedings
• CRTC Open Telecom Proceedings

Anticipated releases for the week of January 11-15, 2020

The CRTC plans to issue the following decisions and/or regulatory policies in the coming week. This list may be incomplete and is subject to change without notice.

Broadcasting Decision:

• Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
  CBUF-FM Vancouver – Technical changes
  Public record: 2020-0732-7
• Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
  CBU-FM Vancouver – Technical changes
  Public record: 2020-0731-9

Broadcasting Regulatory Policy:

• Revised list of non-Canadian programming services and stations authorized for distribution – Annual compilation of amendments

Telecom Decisions:

• Telecommunications service providers that have failed to become participants in the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services Inc. – Public record: 1011-NOC2019-0363
• Telecommunications service providers that have failed to become participants in the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services Inc. – Public record: 1011-NOC2020-0089
• Bragg Communications Incorporated, carrying on business as Eastlink – Application to review and vary Telecom Order 2020‑60 regarding terms and conditions of access to the cable carriers’ aggregated wholesale high-speed access services – Public record: 8662-E17-202002731

Public Hearings

• January 11-27, 2021: Applications by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/Société Radio-Canada (the Corporation) to renew the broadcasting licences for its various English and French language audio and audio-visual programming services: To consider the broadcasting applications listed in Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC  2019-379, 2019-379-1, 2019-379-2, 2019-379-3, 2019-379-4 and 2019-379-5 – View hearing documents (2019-379) (January 11, 2021):

Open Public Consultations:

• Justice: Modernizing Canada’s Privacy Act – Public Consultation (January 17, 2021)
• ISED: Consultation on the Technical and Policy Framework for Licence-Exempt Use in the 6 GHz Band(January 19, 2021)
• CRTC: Share your views and ideas on telecommunications services in Northern Canada: Nov 2, 2020 to Jan 20, 2021
• CRTC: Commercial radio policy framework review: New deadline for the submission of comments: 29 March 2021