Michaela Pontellini's blog

Here are the new members of the OpenMedia.ca family:
BC Association for Media Education
Briarpatch
Megaphone
Sasquatch
Vancouver Observer

You can also click here to see all of OpenMedia.ca's Network Members!

The Chairman of the CRTC, Konrad von Fickenstein, is calling for changes regarding foreign ownership of Canadian telecommunications carriers. He notes that the majority of ownership should be in Canadian hands, and purposes a cut off which would stop potential foreign ownership at 49% (it is now at 20%). Von Fickenstein is also in favour of making ownership rules the same for broadcasters and carriers (they are currently different), and believes that having properly regulated foreign ownership could benefit Canada. Read more »

CACTUS has recently reviewed several CRTC audits of community television stations from 2002-2005. The findings show a shocking lack of concern for local programming. During each auditing period, several systems could not be audited due to shoddy record keeping or missing tapes. Furthermore, community stations throughout the country listed several programs as "access programming", which did not in fact meet the requirements to be considered as such.

For a more detailed look at the CRTC's findings click here.

The DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) may be infringing on the rights of free speech for users who wish to use media as a means to critique and criticize. Although the Act is designed to prevent people from posting copyrighted movies or songs online, the DMCA can potentially have negative effects. Under the DMCA, rightsholders are able to demand the removal of content from websites even before it is legally determined to be infringing. Read more »

The Conservative government is set to address business concerns regarding the digital economy. Such issues can expand past the business world and impact social and political lives. Read more »

Check out this video for an amusing take on traditional media!