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Report: Canadian MP3 Player Sales Tripled Over Past Year

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 19, 2005 - 8:17am.
Toronto -- Sales of MP3 players in Canada more than tripled between June 2004 and June 2005, beating out flat-screen televisions and digital cameras as the fastest-growing consumer electronics market category for the period, according to a report from NPD Group. Apple's iPod was the dominant MP3 player in the segment, which saw 47% of Canadians purchasing MP3 players for themselves and 47% buying them as gifts. Among those buying players for themselves, 34% said they researched their purchase online, while only 7% cited television ads. "The MP3 market has grown at an incredible rate over the last year, but with only 40 per cent of Canadian households in possession of a digital music player, this market is still in its early stages of development," said NPD Group senior account manager Pam Buckley. The study also found Apple's iTunes and PureTracks were the most popular digital music services in Canada.
tags: Music | Reports | Canadian | MP3 Player Sales |

Canadian Appeals Court Ruling Stymies File-Swapper Lawsuits

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 20, 2005 - 7:22am.
Toronto -- In a blow to the music industry's anti-piracy efforts in the country, the Canadian Federal Court of Appeal this week upheld a lower court's decision that ISPs in the country cannot be compelled to turn over the identities of suspected music file-swappers to record labels. While the ruling provides a respite for the "John Doe" defendants sued by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA), it also served to clarify that Canada is not a "piracy haven," and laid out the legal grounds by which labels can sue individual song-swappers for copyright infringement. "Although privacy concerns must also be considered... they must yield to public concerns for the protection of intellectual property rights in situations where infringement threatens to erode these rights," the court said in its ruling. The CRIA said it was pleased the court provided clarity, and hinted that new lawsuits will follow. "The court has clearly articulated the evidentiary standards that we need to meet and we are satisfied that we can meet those standards in future applications," the group said, in a statement.
tags: Law | File-Swapper | Canadian | Stymies |

Yahoo Acquires Canadian Online Photo Sharing Service Flickr

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 21, 2005 - 9:50am.
Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Yahoo announced that it has agreed to acquire Ludicorp Research, parent company of the Flickr online photo sharing site. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Vancouver, B.C.-based Flickr lets users upload their digital photos to an online storage site, where they can organize them into digital photo albums and post to photo blogs. Flickr features will be integrated into the Yahoo Photos service, but the services will remain separate for the foreseeable future, according to a note on Flickr's site. http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/050321/yahoo_photo_sharing_50.html 
tags: Deals | Internet | Yahoo | Canadian | Flickr | Online Photo Sharing Service |

Movie Gallery to Acquire Canadian Movie Rental Store Chain VHQ

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 4, 2005 - 7:14am.
Dothan, Ala. -- Movie Gallery, the nation's third-largest movie rental store chain, announced on Friday that it has acquired Canadian rental chain VHQ Entertainment for $16.5 million in cash and stock. VHQ operates 61 stores and reported revenue of $26 million last year. "VHQ will enhance our already strong presence in Canada, where we have more than 200 stores, and complement our existing portfolio of nearly 2,500 stores across North America," said Movie Gallery president and CEO Joe Malugen. "In addition, VHQ's online subscription offering in Canada has been very well received, and we will consider ways to leverage that infrastructure for continued growth in Canada." Alabama-based Movie Gallery has received regulatory approval for its proposed acquisition of Hollywood Entertainment, the second-largest movie rental chain in the U.S. While Blockbuster has also submitted a rival bid for Hollywood, Hollywood's board rejected Blockbuster's offer and instead favors Movie Gallery's proposal.
tags: Deals | Canadian | Movie Gallery | VHQ | Movie Rental Store |

Canadian Appeals Court Upholds Ban on iPod Levy

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 9, 2005 - 2:58am.
Ottawa, Canada -- The Canadian Federal Court of Appeal has upheld a lower court's ruling that outlawed a levy on the sale of hard drive-based digital audio recorders, like Apple's iPod, that would have compensated artists and copyright holders for implied lost sales from piracy enabled by the devices. The court did, however, rule that Canada's existing levies on the sale of blank recordable media -- like cassettes and CD-Rs -- were constitutionally valid. The country's copyright regulators tried to extend this idea by imposing a levy of $15 on MP3 players with up to 10GB of memory, and $25 on players with greater than 10GB capacities, which the courts have tossed out. Canada's courts have also previously ruled that downloading music from peer-to-peer file-sharing services like Kazaa and BitTorrent is legal in the country, while uploading music to such networks is not.
tags: Law | Ban | Canadian | iPod Levy |

Canadian Rights Groups Argue Against ISP IDs for Music File-Swappers

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 17, 2004 - 5:17am.
Toronto -- Several Canadian digital civil liberties groups argued in the Federal Court of Canada yesterday that privacies would be violated should Canadian Internet service providers be compelled to turn over the identities of alleged music file-swappers to the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA), the Globe and Mail reported. "These folks are civilians, not commercial pirates," Howard Knopf, a lawyer representing an Ottawa Internet rights advocacy group, told the Federal Court of Canada. File-swapping is "clearly not illegal," Knopf added, urging the Court to "apply the [copyright] law as it is today." CRIA attorney Ronald Dimock countered by arguing that subscribers sign a service contract with ISPs agreeing to disclose personal information. "There's really no privacy rights ... to be balanced here," said Dimrock. Following similar actions in the U.S., the Canadian record industry has targeted Canadian ISPs including Telus, Rogers, Shaw, BCE and Videotron with orders seeking the identities of file-swappers, with the intent to then file copyright infringement lawsuits against them.
tags: ISP | Musics | Canadian | File-Swappers | Argue | IDs |

Canadian Judge Postpones Ruling on ISPs Revealing Song-Swapper IDs

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 18, 2004 - 8:28am.
Toronto -- A Canadian federal judge yesterday adjourned until March 12 a motion from the Canadian Record Industry Association (CRIA), that asks the court to compel five Internet service providers to reveal the names of 29 subscribers' identities that CRIA believes illegally uploaded songs to file-sharing services. Judge Konrad von Finckenstein ordered the ISPs to keep a record of Internet activity from the time periods in question, but granted them more time to review technical and privacy aspects of the motion. Joel Watson, a lawyer representing ISP Telus Corp., told Canada's Globe and Mail that it has reached two of the three subscribers accused of copyright infringement -- while the third did not hold an account with Telus last fall when the alleged infringement was to have occurred. Another ISP, Shaw Communications, said that it will mount a legal challenge to the motion, asking the court to respect the privacy of its subscribers.
tags: Canadian | Postpones | ISPs | Song-Swapper | IDs |

Canadian Labels Ask Court to Make ISPs Reveal Song-Swappers' Identities

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 17, 2004 - 8:58am.
Toronto -- The Canadian record industry has made good on its promise to target individual file-swappers with copyright infringement claims, asking a federal court to compel a number of Internet service providers to turn over the identities of 29 subscribers it believes are large-scale music pirates. The Canadian Record Industry Association (CRIA), which represents labels including the Canadian units of EMI and Universal, asked the court to compel Internet service providers Bell/Sympatico, Telus, Videotron, Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications to reveal specific subscribers' identities. "We see this as progress in due legal process that will in the end, allow us to file suits against flagrant copyright infringers," said CRIA general counsel Richard Pfohl. At least one Canadian ISP said it will challenge the CRIA's actions. "We intend to ask the court to preserve the privacy of our customers ... (and) we believe this application amounts to a civil search warrant," Shaw Communications CEO Jim Shaw told Reuters.
tags: Law | Canadian | Song-Swappers | Identities |

Despite Ruling, Canadian Record Industry to Begin Suing File-Swappers

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 16, 2003 - 5:02am.
Toronto -- Canada's National Post reported on Tuesday that, despite a recent ruling from the Copyright Board of Canada that said downloading media from the Internet is legal, the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) plans to begin suing peer-to-peer file-swappers in the country early next year. The CRIA's Brian Robertson told The Post that the legal action would target those who upload songs to file-sharing services like Kazaa -- much like the hundreds of suits filed against U.S. citizens by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). "We've gone through a process, and spent $1 million on a value-of-music education campaign," Robertson told The Post. "But the industry continues to be devastated by file sharing. It is regrettable that we'll have to take this action, but we've been forced to." Legal experts predict any copyright infringement lawsuits against Canadians will be more cumbersome for the industry there, as Canada lacks the streamlined subpoena process laid out in the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which the RIAA has used to reveal the identities of file-swappers kept by their Internet service providers.
tags: Canadian | File-Swappers | . Record Industry |

Canadian Songwriters Want ISP Tariff to Cover Music Downloading

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 4, 2003 - 6:37am.
Toronto -- Canadian music publishers argued in that country's Supreme Court on Wednesday that Internet service providers (ISPs) should pay a blanket royalty fee to cover the downloading of music over the Internet, the Associated Press reported. The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) also wants to extend the country's copyright laws to include foreign websites that offer music for download to Canadians. "I believe that those who benefit from selling access to music should compensate the creators," David Basskin, president of the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency, told AP. For several years, Canada has placed tariffs on the sale of recordable CDs and blank cassettes to compensate artists; to date the tariffs have netted a total of $20.5 million. Opposing the ISP tariff are the Canadian Association of Internet Providers and several digital rights groups. "I'm not sure people using the Internet for perfectly legal reasons should have to pay for problems in the music industry," Richard Owens, executive director of the Center for Innovation Law and Policy at the University of Toronto, told AP. The Canadian Supreme Court is expected to rule on the matter within six to twelve months.
tags: Downloads | Music | Canadian | Songwriters | ISP Tariff |

Canadian Convicted in 3D Display Hoax Now a Fugitive In Czech Republic

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 14, 2003 - 6:46am.
Calgary, Alberta -- Wired News on Tuesday reported on the guilty verdict rendered against Sheldon Zelitt, chairman of a Canadian firm called VisuaLabs that bilked investors with a glasses-less 3D display technology. Zelitt was convicted by an Alberta judge of 11 securities violations, including misrepresentations in press releases, prospectuses and annual information forms. Although Zelitt faces a maximum fine of $11 million and nearly five years in jail, he currently resides as a fugitive in the Czech Republic and heads Enhanced Display Corporation, a company making similar claims as the now more or less defunct VisuaLabs.
tags: 3D | Czech Republic | Canadian | Hoax |

Canadian Blank CD Levy Increase Coming Under Fire

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 8, 2003 - 7:16am.
San Francisco -- Wired News on Wednesday reported on a dispute currently before the Copyright Board of Canada regarding levies placed on recordable media -- such as blank CDs -- that Canadian residents pay as a "royalty" for the ability to make copies of music CDs for personal use. The Canadian Private Copying Collective (CPCC), which collects the royalties, charged 5.2 cents CDN per blank CD in 2000, but is proposing to raise the levy to 59 cents per CD in 2003. The CPCC has collected $28 million since 1999 and expects to collect $100 million in 2003, but since it started collecting royalties has yet to distribute any monies to musicians or copyright holders. The Canadian Coalition for Fair Digital Access, a group whose members include H-P, Sony, Wal-Mart Canada, Costco and Staples, has argued against the existence of any levy on recordable media.
tags: CD | Canadian | Under Fire |