Newsletter: April 7, 2020

Weekly News (April 7, 2020)
Compiled by Leandra Greenfield with Sara Bannerman
McMaster University, Communications Governance Observatory

(March 31- April 7, 2020)

Canadian News

• [MEDIA FUNDING] Federal government giving broadcasters $30 million relief from CRTC fees (Toronto Star)
• [ACCESS TO INFORMATION] Access-to-information systems across Canada slowed by COVID-19 (CBC)
• [PRIVACY] Employers will have to show they prepared workers to avoid breaches, lawyer says (Toronto Star)
• [PRIVACY/ACCESS TO INFORMATION] B.C. temporarily lifts data residency requirement in response to COVID-19 (Toronto Star)
• [PRIVACY] Forgot your keys? Scan your face, says Canadian firm amid privacy concerns (National Post)
• [INTERNET POLICY] Internet data caps have been lifted due to the pandemic — it may be hard for telecoms to put them back (Toronto Star)
• [INTERNET POLICY] Some Canadian internet providers hiking rates despite financial fallout from coronavirus (Globe and Mail)
• [PRIVACY] Google publishes tracking data showing 59 per cent drop in normal movement patterns (Financial Post)
• [CENSORSHIP] OPINION: Sher: Don’t let truth fall victim to the war against virus (Toronto Star)
• [PRIVACY] B.C. licenses Zoom app to arrange video calls for teachers and K-12 students (CBC)

International News

• [FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION] The coronavirus puts press freedom on the endangered list (Washington Post)
• [PRIVACY / SURVEILLANCE] Pandemic Data-Sharing Puts New Pressure on Privacy Protections (BNN Bloomberg)
• [PRIVACY / SURVEILLANCE] Americans Favor Aggressive Coronavirus Measures, Poll Finds; Majorities back cellphone tracking, mandatory screenings and patient registries to curb virus spread (WSJ)
• [PRIVACY/SURVEILLANCE] Surveillance Court Orders Justice Department to Review Flawed Wiretap Applications (WSJ)
• [TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY] FTC, FCC crack down on coronavirus robocall scams (Washington Post)
• [TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY] T-Mobile Absorbs Sprint After Two-Year Battle (WSJ)
• [INTERNET POLICY] FCC Moves to Boost Wi-Fi Speed (WSJ)
• [PLATFORM REGULATION] In Pandemic, Tech Firms See Chances For Lobbying (NYT)
• [PRIVACY / PLATFORM GOVERNANCE] Zoom Sued for Allegedly Illegally Disclosing Personal Data (BNN Bloomberg)
• [PRIVACY / PLATFORM GOVERNANCE] A Feature of Zoom Allowed Snooping at Users’ LinkedIn Profiles (NYT)
• [PRIVACY / PLATFORM GOVERNANCE] Zoom Just Made These Powerful COVID-19 Security And Privacy Moves Following Outcry (Forbes)
• [PRIVACY / PLATFORM GOVERNANCE] School districts, including New York City’s, start banning Zoom because of online security issues (Washington Post)
• [PRIVACY / PLATFORM GOVERNANCE] Houseparty: Is The Hit Coronavirus Lockdown App Safe? (Forbes)
• [COPYRIGHT] Music companies threaten to sue TikTok over copyright (Financial Times)
• [TRADEMARK] Amazon wins European trademark case in battle against luxury brands (Globe and Mail)
• [PRIVACY] OPINION: Sunshine and Gollakota: Alexa, Do I Have Coronavirus? (NYT)
• [PRIVACY] COVID-19: Global tech experts come together to develop contact tracing apps (National Post)
• [PRIVACY] Marriott Reveals Breach That Exposed Data of Up to 5.2 Million Customers (WSJ)

(March 31- April 7, 2020)

Supreme Court of Canada

• Judgements to be Rendered in Leave Applications:
  • [PLATFORM REGULATION] Frédéric Seigneur c. Netflix International B.V., et al. (Dismissed)
  • [TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY] Telus Mobilité, et al. c. Éric Masson, et al.

Canadian Heritage

• COVID-19: The Government of Canada Provides Relief to the Broadcasting Sector

CRTC

• CRTC authorizes two important acquisitions in Quebec

Competition Bureau Canada

• Pre-merger notification transaction-size threshold to remain at $96M in 2020
• 2020 Adjustment to filing fees for Competition Bureau merger reviews comes into effect
• Competition Bureau warns pharmaceutical industry that any further obstruction to the manufacture of generic alternatives will not be tolerated

Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada

• Access to information in extraordinary times

Microsoft

• Protecting democracy, especially in a time of crisis
• Finally, progress on regulating facial recognition

Twitter

• Coronavirus: Staying safe and informed on Twitter

Facebook:

• Keeping People Safe and Informed About the Coronavirus
• March 2020 Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior Report
• Update on How We’re Promoting and Protecting the Census
• Updating Our Data Access Tools

CRTC

News Releases:

• Broadcasting notice of consultation 2020-54-1
  [2020-04-03 14:00:00]
  Notice of hearing – 8 June 2020 (previously 14 April 2020) – Gatineau, Quebec – Change of hearing date
• Broadcasting decision 2020-116
  [2020-04-03 14:00:00]
  APPROVED – Bell Canada, on behalf of V Interactions inc. – Montréal, Québec, Trois-Rivières, Saguenay and Sherbrooke, Quebec – Application for authority to change the ownership and effective control of V Interactions inc. and to integrate, effective 1 September 2020, the V Stations into the French-language Bell Media Group
• Broadcasting decision 2020-115
  [2020-04-03 14:00:00]
  APPROVED – Groupe V Média inc., on behalf of MusiquePlus inc. – Montréal, Quebec – Application for authority to change the ownership of MusiquePlus – APPROVED – Application to amend certain conditions of licence for the discretionary services ELLE Fictions and MAX
• Broadcasting decision 2020-114
  [2020-04-03 14:00:00]
  APPROVED – Leclerc Communication inc. – Montréal, Quebec – Application for authority to acquire from Média ClassiQ inc. the assets of the French-language commercial specialty radio station CJPX-FM Montréal, and for a new broadcasting licence to continue the operation of this station
• Telecom order 2020-113
  [2020-03-30 11:00:00]
  Streamlined order – The Commission approves on a final basis the following tariff application: Northwestel Inc. TN 1069
• Telecom order 2020-112
  [2020-03-30 11:00:00]
  Streamlined order – The Commission approves on a final basis the following tariff application: Northwestel Inc. TN 1068
• Telecom order 2020-111
  [2020-03-30 11:00:00]
  Streamlined order – The Commission approves on a final basis the following tariff application: Northwestel Inc. TN 1067

Senate of Canada

• No sitting days this week
  • Adjourned until April 21, 2020

Canadian House of Commons

• No sitting days this week
  • Adjourned until April 20, 2020

CRTC

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

Anticipated releases for the week of April 6 to 10:

• Broadcasting Decisions
  • Decisions relating to the following applications considered under the Commission’s Part 1 process:
    • My Broadcasting Corporation
      • CJML-FM Milton – Technical changes
      • Public record for this application: 2019-0249-5
    • THEMA Canada Inc.
    • Addition of M6 International to the List of non-Canadian programming services and stations authorized for distribution
    • Public record for this application: 2019-1137-1

• Telecom Decision
  • Bell Canada – Request for clarification of Telecom Decision 2019-419
  • Public Record: 8638-B2-201912642

Open Public Consultations

• Increasing High-Speed Broadband: Stakeholder and Partner Engagement (June 1, 2019 to June 20, 2020)
• Renewal of CBC’s licences (closed; Next step: Public hearing on May 25, 2020)
• 2019-217 Co-development of a new Indigenous Broadcasting Policy (closed; Next step: Preliminary conclusions and determinations)

Open Proceedings

• CRTC Open Broadcasting Proceedings
• CRTC Open Telecom Proceedings