Category Archives: Social

Why You Should Care About Digital OTA Television

There is certainly a lot less confusion going around these days over the upcoming transition to digital television on August 31 than there was a few years ago. Unfortunately, a good portion of the public, namely those who have become perfectly content with their expensive cable and satellite packages, seem to be completely unaware of why this is so important. Anyone who thinks that picking up television signals for free with an antenna is a lowly, vestigial practice from the Cold War could certainly learn a lot from the growing number of Canadians embracing it, as well as the countries using it for innovation in mobile phone technology.

Continue reading

Journalistic Integrity To Be Euthanized In Canada

The credibility of television news is about to take a huge nosedive in the next of what seems like a series of astounding blunders from the CRTC. The Commission will soon allow Canadian news media to intentionally broadcast what is currently considered false or misleading information. And the deadline to oppose is this Wednesday. (UPDATE: Deadline for one of the submissions has been extended. More after the jump.)

Continue reading

Courts Reject Government’s Accomodation For WIND Mobile

Crosspost from OpenMedia.ca:

Federal Court has made uncanny timing with their latest decision relating to the government’s ability to reverse CRTC decisions. The Harper government’s ruling that allowed Globalive to establish WIND Mobile in the Canadian marketplace despite the CRTC’s objection has been struck down on the basis that the government had no justification in overruling the regulator. Given that Industry Minister Tony Clement announced on Wednesday the federal government’s intention to overrule the CRTC’s decision to impose usage-based billing on independent ISPs, concern over this development may be understandable.

Continue reading

Anti-UBB Rally Planned For Toronto This Friday, Parliament Hill Saturday

Word is finally spreading that the usage-based billing being implemented by Canadian internet providers this month is a really, really, really bad thing. In response, a Toronto rally is being organized for Friday 4 February 2011 followed by a Saturday rally outside Parliament Hill to communicate the dissatisfaction of pretty much all Canadian society. (Information is available after the jump for those who don’t use Facebook.) While it is likely to be an impressive demonstration, we must remember that all of this public demand may yield nothing more than a slightly less outrageous, but all-too-similar, compromise.

Continue reading

Two Weeks Left For Canadians To Speak Out On Copyright Bill

The legislative committee for Bill C-32, the not-quite-tyrannical-but-still-potentially-disastrous copyright bill, is giving Canadians until the last day of January to voice their opinions on the matter. And so they should, as despite numerous improvements over its predecessors, the new bill still carries the same fundamental problems as always. More importantly, it doesn’t leave any way for these issues to be re-evaluated, which even American copyright law has allowed.

Continue reading

A Friendly Reminder That Chat-r Is Evil

Speculation has arisen that Public Mobile, the admirable yet sadly ineffectual Canadian mobile phone upstart, may not be far from seeking a partnership or merger in the face of intense treachery from incumbent cell companies. It is now more important than ever to remind cellphone users that the recent Chat-r brand is, in fact, the purest incarnation of evil.

Continue reading

Lest We Forget Pepero Day

While North Americans will spend November 11 reflecting on the atrocities of war and the lives needlessly sacrificed in its wake, residents of South Korea have a much different tradition: exchanging specific brand named candy.

Continue reading

Net Neutrality in Canada May Still Require Some Work

With Internet providers recently being given the regulatory go-ahead to charge customers based on how much bandwidth they use, things are beginning to look slightly grimmer for net neutrality being properly implemented in Canada. However, a glimmer of hope still exists in the form of Industry Minister Tony Clement, who may soon have the power to undo this damage. As always, your simple and non-intensive participation is vital.

Continue reading

Avengers Cartoon Denies Existence Of Nazis

Anticipation for Young Justice, the latest DC Comics action cartoon being helmed by television writer Greg Weisman (best known as the head writer of Gargoyles and The Spectacular Spider-Man), has reached new heights after a preview was screened at this year’s New York Comic Con. Meanwhile, Marvel Animation (best known for ruthlessly killing The Spectacular Spider-Man) has begun dabbling in historical revision in their latest television production.

Continue reading

Sun TV News: “We Won’t Be Hypocrites”

Quebecor has officially withdrawn their request for cable and satellite services to be required to offer their highly publicized proposed service, Sun TV News. It seems likely that the company has finally realized the irony behind a right-wing news network seeking regulatory intervention to ensure its success.

Continue reading