Newsletter: December 29, 2020

Weekly News (December 29, 2020)
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 22-28, 2020)

Canadian News

• [PRIVACY] Watchdog calls federal screening measures intrusive (The Hamilton Spectator)
• [DEFAMATION] Sikh Group Sues the MacDonald-Laurier Institute and former CBC Journalist Terry Milewski over Khalistan Report (Financial Post)
• [FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION/PROTEST] Judge who visited protest teepee at Regina legislature faces judicial review (National Post)
• [TELECOM REGULATION] Canadian film, TV producers urge Ottawa to change streaming regulations (The Globe and Mail)
•  [SIDEWALK LABS] Sidewalk Labs is in the rearview mirror (The Toronto Star)
• [DIGITAL IDENTITY] A secure digital identity product should be an urgent national priority (The Globe and Mail)
• [FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION/ACTIVISM] When government tries to criminalize activism (The Hamilton Spectator)
• [INNOVATION/INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY] All hands on tech sector (National Post)
• [PLATFORM GOVERNANCE] The secretive world of MindGeek (Financial Post)
• [PLATFORM REGULATION] From sunny ways to icy reception: How the Liberals are handling issues involving Big Tech firms (The Globe and Mail)

International News

• [COPYRIGHT] Apple loses copyright battle against security start-up Corellium (The Washington Post)
• [PATENT] University of Missouri system settles patent lawsuit (The Associated Press via ABC News)
• [FACIAL RECOGNITION] Another Arrest, and Jail Time, Due to a Bad Facial Recognition Match (The New York Times)
• [FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION] Turkish lawmakers pass bill monitoring civil society groups (The Associated Press via ABC News)
• [LIBEL] Russian lawmakers vote for jail penalties for online slander (Reuters)
• [TRADEMARK] Girl Scouts rebuke Boy Scouts in escalating recruitment war (The Toronto Star)
• [DEFAMATION] Dominion Voting Systems employee sues Trump campaign for defamation (The Guardian)
• [ANTI-MONOPOLY] China steps up pressure on Alibaba with anti-monopoly probe (The Toronto Star)
• [CENSORSHIP] She Chronicled China’s Crisis. Now She Is Accused of Spreading Lies (The New York Times)
• [PLATFORM REGULATION] Oracle’s hidden hand guides Google antitrust lawsuits (Los Angeles Times)
• [PRIVACY/CYBERSECURITY] More cybersecurity won’t secure our elections, but privacy protections might (The Washington Post)
• [BROADBAND REGULATION/FCC] 5G Auction Shatters Record as Bidding Tops $69 Billion (The Wall Street Journal)
• [PRIVACY] Companies Face Privacy, Data-Flow Risks in Post-Brexit U.K. (The Wall Street Journal)
• [CENSORSHIP] Apple’s China App Store Sheds Videogames as Beijing Tightens Internet Control (The Wall Street Journal)
• [JOURNALISM] Number of Journalists Killed For Reporting Doubled in ’20 (The New York Times)
• [PLATFORM GOVERNANCE/CENSORSHIP] Opinion: Michael Segal: Facebook’s Censors and the Ingredients List (The Wall Street Journal)
• [PRIVACY] China issues rules on social credit system amid public concerns (Reuters)
• [PLATFORM GOVERNANCE/AI] Google told its scientists to ‘strike a positive tone’ in AI research – documents (Reuters)
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] Unreliable algorithms may decide who gets first vaccines (The Washington Post)
• [SURVEILLANCE] WeChat Becomes a Powerful Surveillance Tool Everywhere in China (The Wall Street Journal)

(December 22-28, 2020)

Supreme Court of Canada

• The Supreme Court of Canada has today deposited with the Registrar judgments in the following leave applications:
  • [PATENT] Kennedy Trust for Rheumatology Research, Janssen Biotech Inc., Janssen Inc., CILAG GmbH International and CILAG AG v. Pfizer Canada ULC (formerly Hospira Healthcare Corporation and Pfizer Canada Inc.), Celltrion Healthcare Co. Ltd. and Celltrion Inc. – and between – Pfizer Canada ULC (formerly Hospira Healthcare Corporation and Pfizer Canada Inc.), Celltrion Healthcare Co. Ltd. and Celltrion Inc. v. Kennedy Trust for Rheumatology Research, Janssen Biotech Inc., Janssen Inc., CILAG GmbH International and CILAG AG (F.C.) (Civil) (By Leave) (39099) (Dismissed)

 Federal Court of Canada

• [PATENT] Angelcare Development Inc. v. Munchkin, Inc. – 2020 FC 1185 – 2020-12-23

Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada

• Appearance before the National Assembly of Quebec by the Privacy Commissioner of Canada – Questions and answers – Bill 64
• Update to the joint statement on global privacy expectations of video teleconferencing companies

Microsoft

•    Thanks to Congress, the FCC can now update America’s broadband maps
• A moment of reckoning: the need for a strong and global cybersecurity response 

CRTC

News Releases:

• Broadcasting decision 2020-410
  [2020-12-22 11:00:00]
  APPROVED – Jim Pattison Broadcast Group Ltd. (the general partner) and Jim Pattison Industries Ltd. (the limited partner), carrying on business as Jim Pattison Broadcast Group Limited Partnership, on behalf of Merritt Broadcasting Ltd. (MBL) – Merritt, British Columbia – Application for authority to change the ownership and effective control of MBL through the transfer of all the issued and outstanding shares to Jim Pattison Industries Ltd.
• Broadcasting decision 2020-409
  [2020-12-22 11:00:00]
  APPROVED – Rogers Media Inc. – Richmond, British Columbia; Toronto and Tillsonburg, Ontario – Applications to renew the broadcasting licences for the English-language commercial radio stations listed in the decision
• Telecom decision 2020-408
  [2020-12-22 11:00:00]
  Implementation of a new competitor quality of service regime – Public record: 8621-C12-01/08
• Broadcasting decision 2020-407
  [2020-12-22 11:00:00]
  APPROVED – Bell Media Inc. – Various locations across Canada – Applications renew the broadcasting licences for the commercial radio stations listed in the decision

Senate of Canada

• Planned & Possible sitting days this week: No sitting days this week

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

There will be no releases from December 23, 2020 to January 8, 2021

  Open Public Consultations:

• Justice: Modernizing Canada’s Privacy Act – Public Consultation (January 17, 2021)
• 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