Newsletter: April 7, 2021

Weekly News (April 7, 2021)

Compiled by Emmanuel Appiah, Meaghan Wester, and Nick Gertler with Sara Bannerman, Fenwick McKelvey, Guillaume Dandurand, Marek Blottière, and Kevin Morin

McMaster University, Communications Governance Observatory

This week’s newsletter includes additional links to articles made available through Factiva via McMaster and York respectively.

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

(March 30-April 6^th, 2021)

Canadian News

• [TELECOM REGULATION] Academics, smaller telecoms say Rogers shouldn’t be able to buy Freedom Mobile (The Globe and Mail; McMaster; York)
• [TELECOM REGULATION/ANTICOMPETITION] Wireless carrier should be left out of Rogers-Shaw deal, Quebecor CEO says (Globe and Mail)
• [TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY] “Québecor veut pouvoir faire de la radio FM” (La Presse)
• [BROADCASTING POLICY] “L’ADISQ revendique le respect des quotas francophones” (Le Devoir)
• [ACCESS TO INFORMATION] Trudeau Liberals ask public for advice on updating Access to Information law (Toronto Star; McMaster; York)
• [COVID-19/VACCINE PASSPORT] Ontario considered digital COVID-19 vaccine passport plan, documents show (The Globe and Mail; McMaster; York)
• [PERSONAL INFORMATION] Saskatchewan RCMP agrees to participate in Clare’s Law provisions (Toronto Star; McMaster; York)
• [HATE SPEECH/POLITICS] Quebec politicians denounce rise in online hate as Ottawa prepares to act (National Post; McMaster; York)
• [TELECOM REGULATION] OPINION: Robert Ghiz: Canada’s telecom among world’s best in affordability and value (Toronto Star; McMaster; York)
• [PLATFORM REGULATION] OPINION: Heather Scoffield: Facebook is putting on a friendly face. Ottawa isn’t buying the act (St. Catharine Standard; McMaster; York)
• [GIG WORKERS] OPINION: Gary Mason: On gig workers’ rights, Ottawa is sleeping on the job (The Globe and Mail; McMaster; York)
• [TRADEMARK/FREEDOM OF EPRESSION] Quebec university postpones intimate photo lawsuit against student (National Post; McMaster; York)
• [TRADEMARK] “Photos osées: l’UQAM et une étudiante poursuivie cherchent une entente de gré à gré” (Le Devoir)
• [PUBLICATION BAN] An Ontario sex assault victim was just fined $2,000 for breaking a publication ban on her own identity. (Toronto Star; McMaster; York)
• [MEDIA REGULATION] OPINION: Andrew Coyne: Slowly but surely the government is gathering the media into its ghastly embrace (Globe and Mail)
• [NEWS CONTENT/PLATFORM GOVERNANCE] Facebook won’t rule out blocking news sharing (Toronto Star; McMaster; York)
• [PLATFORM REGULATION] Google, Facebook tap medieval idea for today (Vancouver Sun)
• [BROADCAST REGULATION/TV] Are regular network TV shows over? (Toronto Star; McMaster; York)
• [INTERNET POLICY/PRIVACY/] OPINION: ANTOINE AYLWIN Protection des renseignements personnels; Le bout du tunnel est de moins en moins visible” (La Presse)
• [COPYRIGHT/INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE] The long, twisting story of the ‘Ogopogo’ – Canada’s take on the Loch Ness monster – and why it’s returning to Indigenous hands (Toronto Star; McMaster; York)
• [DATA CENTRES] Canadian data centre quickly consolidating (Toronto Star)
• [PUBLIC FUNDING/TECH] ‘Ottawa announces almost $15 million for six Toronto tech firms (Toronto Star; McMaster; York)
• [INTERNET POLICY/MISINFORMATION] OPINION: JOSEPH HEATH; Comment le Québec fait du Canada un pays plus rationnel” (La Presse)

International News

• [COPYRIGHT] Google Wins Multibillion Dollar Copyright Fight With Oracle in Supreme Court (Wall Street Journal; Similar article in the New York Times)
• [TELECOM REGULATION] High court sides with Facebook in dispute over robo-texts (Washington Post; McMaster; York)
• [MEDIA OWNERSHIP] Justices Allow F.C.C. to Ease Media Rules On Ownership (Reuters; McMaster; York)
• [PLATFORM REGULATION/PERSONAL DATA]“Des sénateurs inquiets du partage de données lors des enchères publicitaires en ligne” (La Presse)
• [PLATFORM GOVERNANCE/ONLINE CONTENT] Lawmakers call YouTube Kids a ‘wasteland of vapid’ content (Associated Press via CTV News; McMaster; York)
• [TRADEMARK] Nike wins halt to sales of Lil Nas X ‘Satan Shoes’ (Reuters; McMaster; York)
• [PRIVACY] TikTok Privacy Settlement Standoff Puts Focus on Value of Personal Data (Wall Street Journal; McMaster; York)
• [PRIVACY] Protracted Battle Over Privacy Fine Batters Dutch Soccer-Streaming Company (Wall Street Journal; McMaster; York)
• [AI REGULATION/PRIVACY] Court Rulings Spur Debate on How European Privacy Law Regulates AI Decisions (Wall Street Journal; McMaster; York)
•  [BROADBAND REGULATION] That Spotty Wi-Fi? There’s $100 Billion to Fix It.(New York Times; Similar Article in Wall Street Journal; McMaster; York)
• [DIGITAL ADS] U.S. Senators Ask Digital-Ad Auctioneers to Name Foreign Clients Amid National-Security Concerns;(Wall Street Journal; McMaster; York)
• [DIGITAL ADS/PRIVACY] Google’s Ad Changes Prompt Big Brands to Revamp Data Strategies (Wall Street Journal; McMaster; York)
• [PRIVACY LAW] California Lawmaker Says National Privacy Law Is a Priority (Wall Street Journal; McMaster; York)
• [TELECOM REGULATION] U.S. FCC commissioner urges tougher steps on Chinese network equipment (Reuters; McMaster; York)
• [ANTITRUST] Epic Games files complaint against Apple with UK regulator (The Guardian)
• [NEWS CONTENT/COPYRIGHT] New UK regulator set to curb big tech’s power over news publishers (Reuters; McMaster; York)
• [PERSONAL INFORMATION/DATA FLOWS] EU starts process to allow free flow of data to South Korea (Reuters; McMaster; York)
• [BROADCAST REGULATION] Foxtel can halve Australian drama production under new broadcasting bill (The Guardian; McMaster; York)
• [PRIVACY] Census privacy tool could hurt voting rights goals (Associated Press via ABC News; McMaster; York)
•  [PRIVACYVACCINE PASSPORTS] Vaccine passports are latest flash point in COVID politics (Canadian Press via Coast Reporter; McMaster; York)
• [SURVEILLANCE] How America’s surveillance networks helped the FBI catch the Capitol mob (Washington Post; McMaster; York)
• [PERSONAL INFORMATION/DATA BREACH] 533 million Facebook users’ phone numbers, personal information exposed online, report says (Washington Post; McMaster; York)
• [FACIAL RECOGNITION/ETHNIC TRACKING] China found using surveillance firms to help write ethnic-tracking specs (Reuters; McMaster; York)
• [DEFAMATION/MISINFORMATION] OPINION: Erik Wemple: Dominion lawsuit outs Fox News’ disinformation campaign (Washington Post; McMaster; York)

(March 30-April 6^th, 2021)

Canadian Intellectual Property Office

• CIPO launches electronic patent issuance

Federal Court of Canada

• [COPYRIGHT] Guest Tek Interactive Entertainment Ltd. v. Nomadix, Inc. – 2021 FC 276 – 2021-03-31

 U.S. Supreme Court

• [COPYRIGHT] GOOGLE LLC v. ORACLE AMERICA, INC.
• [FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION] BIDEN v. KNIGHT FIRST AMENDMENT INSTITUTE AT COLUMBIA UNIV.
• [BROADCASTING REGULATION] FCC v. PROMETHEUS RADIO PROJECT
• [TELECOMMUNICATIONS REGULATION] FACEBOOK, INC. v. DUGUID

Google

• Google’s €25 million contribution to media literacy

YouTube

• Building greater transparency and accountability with the Violative View Rate

 Microsoft

• UN makes critical progress on cybersecurity
• Microsoft proposes incentivizing digital solutions to mitigate supply chain risk

CRTC

News Releases:

• Broadcasting decision 2021-122
  [2021-03-31 11:00:00]
  APPROVED – La Coopérative des montagnes limitée – Radio communautaire – Edmundston, New Brunswick – Application to change the authorized contours of the French-language community radio station CFAI-FM Edmundston

Senate of Canada

• Planned & Possible sitting days this week: The Senate is adjourned until Tuesday, April 20, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. (EDT).

 Canadian House of Commons

• Planned & Possible sitting days this week: The House is adjourned until Monday, April 12, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. (EDT).

     Upcoming Committee Meetings

• [INDU] (April 6, 2021) Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology: Proposed Acquisition of Shaw by Rogers
• [INDU] (April 7, 2021) Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology: Proposed Acquisition of Shaw by Rogers
• [ETHI] (April 8, 2021) Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics: Questions of Conflict of Interest and Lobbying in Relation to Pandemic Spending
• [CHPC] (April 12, 2021) Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage: Bill C-10, An Act to Amend the Broadcasting Act

CRTC

Open Proceedings

• CRTC Open Broadcasting Proceedings
• CRTC Open Telecom Proceedings

Anticipated releases for the week of April 6^th-9^th, 2021

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.

        Telecommunications Decisions:

• Large facilities-based Internet service providers – Application to review and vary Telecom Regulatory Policy 2019-269 regarding the application of the Internet Code
  Public record: 8662-B2-201911347

         Regulatory Policies

Broadcasting
2021-3 – Revised list of non-Canadian programming services and stations authorized for distribution – Annual compilation of amendments

 Public Hearings

• To consider the broadcasting application listed in Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2021-36 – View hearing documents (2021-36) (March 30, 2021)

Open Public Consultations:

• Access to Information Review Public Engagement  https://atiareview.ca
• Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission: 2019-217 Co-development of a new Indigenous Broadcasting Policy
• Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission: Video Relay Service Review (March 11- May 9, 2021)