[Advisors] From Michael Geist's blog

Gareth Shearman shearman at victoria.tc.ca
Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:18:25 -0700


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=20
Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before: Digital Economy Strategy Coming =
Later This Year
Industry Minister Christian Paradis spoke at the Canada 3.0 conference =
in Stratford yesterday, providing an update on the government's digital =
economy plans. Paradis trumpeted some of the measures in the budget as =
well as the trio of related laws - privacy reform, copyright reform, and =
anti-spam legislation (which he indicated he expects to take effect next =
year). He also noted the urban-rural divide on broadband access, which =
he seems to think can be addressed through rural deployment obligations =
in the forthcoming the spectrum auction (the final consult to be =
released today).=20

Paradis unsurprisingly did not mention that the privacy reform, Bill =
C-12, has stagnated for months in the House and is increasingly viewed =
as inadequate, nor that the anti-spam bill became law in 2010 but has =
been delayed by his own department's failure to finalize the necessary =
regulations. Nor did he mention lawful access (Bill C-30), which will =
lead to increased Internet costs, or the budget cuts to the Community =
Access Program (which will mean a loss of access for low income =
Canadians), or reduced funding to CANARIE, which runs Canada's =
high-speed research network.

Paradis concluded by saying the work is not done and that now the plan =
is to release a digital economy strategy later this year (the IIC annual =
conference would be a good bet). Given that the government launched its =
digital economy strategy consultation in May 2010, Industry Minister =
Clement promised the strategy by the spring of 2011 as part of an =
interim update in November 2010, and Paradis himself spoke about the =
strategy nearly a year ago, the digital economy strategy is still =
seemingly ensconced as thegovernment's Penske File.


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<html><head></head><body style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; =
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8pt; font-weight: bold; "><h3 style=3D"font-size: 16pt; font-family: =
Arial, Verdana, Geneva, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; =
margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: =
0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; =
padding-left: 0px; "><a =
href=3D"http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6446/125/" =
class=3D"contentpagetitle" rel=3D"bookmark" style=3D"color: rgb(0, 0, =
0); text-decoration: none; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; ">Stop Me =
If You've Heard This One Before: Digital Economy Strategy Coming Later =
This Year</a></h3></td></tr></tbody></table><table =
class=3D"contentpaneopen" style=3D"padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; =
padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: =
-55px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; width: 597px; "><tbody =
style=3D"width: 597px; margin-right: -55px; "><tr><td valign=3D"top" =
colspan=3D"2" style=3D"padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; =
padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: =
0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Industry Minister Christian =
Paradis spoke at the Canada 3.0 conference in Stratford yesterday, =
providing an&nbsp;<a =
href=3D"http://news.gc.ca/web/article-eng.do?mthd=3Dtp&amp;crtr.page=3D1&a=
mp;nid=3D670849&amp;crtr.tp1D=3D4" =
mce_href=3D"http://news.gc.ca/web/article-eng.do?mthd=3Dtp&amp;crtr.page=3D=
1&amp;nid=3D670849&amp;crtr.tp1D=3D4" style=3D"color: rgb(153, 0, 0); =
text-decoration: none; ">update</a>&nbsp;on the government's digital =
economy plans. Paradis trumpeted some of the measures in the budget as =
well as the trio of related laws - privacy reform, copyright reform, and =
anti-spam legislation (which he indicated he expects to take effect next =
year). He also noted the urban-rural divide on broadband access, which =
he seems to think can be addressed through rural deployment obligations =
in the forthcoming the spectrum auction (the final consult to be =
released today).&nbsp;<br><br>Paradis unsurprisingly did not mention =
that the privacy reform, Bill C-12, has stagnated for months in the =
House and is increasingly viewed as inadequate, nor that the anti-spam =
bill became law in 2010 but has been delayed by his own department's =
failure to finalize the necessary regulations. Nor did he mention lawful =
access (Bill C-30), which will lead to increased Internet costs, or the =
budget cuts to the Community Access Program (which will mean a loss of =
access for low income Canadians), or reduced funding to CANARIE, which =
runs Canada's high-speed research network.<br><br>Paradis concluded by =
saying the work is not done and that now the plan is to release a =
digital economy strategy later this year (the&nbsp;<a =
href=3D"http://www.iic-canada.ca/english/annualconference/" =
mce_href=3D"http://www.iic-canada.ca/english/annualconference/" =
style=3D"color: rgb(153, 0, 0); text-decoration: none; ">IIC annual =
conference</a>&nbsp;would be a good bet). Given that the government =
launched its&nbsp;<a =
href=3D"http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/5022/125/" =
mce_href=3D"content/view/5022/125/" style=3D"color: rgb(153, 0, 0); =
text-decoration: none; ">digital economy strategy =
consultation</a>&nbsp;in May 2010, Industry Minister Clement promised =
the strategy by the spring of 2011 as part of an&nbsp;<a =
href=3D"http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/ic1.nsf/eng/06098.html" =
mce_href=3D"http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/ic1.nsf/eng/06098.html" =
style=3D"color: rgb(153, 0, 0); text-decoration: none; ">interim =
update&nbsp;</a>in November 2010, and Paradis himself&nbsp;<a =
href=3D"http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/ic1.nsf/eng/06507.html" =
mce_href=3D"http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/ic1.nsf/eng/06507.html" =
style=3D"color: rgb(153, 0, 0); text-decoration: none; =
">spoke</a>&nbsp;about the strategy nearly a year ago, the digital =
economy strategy is still seemingly ensconced as the<a =
href=3D"http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6173/135/" =
mce_href=3D"content/view/6173/135/" style=3D"color: rgb(153, 0, 0); =
text-decoration: none; ">government's Penske =
File</a>.</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></t=
body></table></span><div><br></div></body></html>=

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