88 Comments (Thus Far)
Ivan Nano
Regardless of the result, companies like Bell have already lost.
They've been gouging customers for years as we've had no choice.
Now, they refuse to move beyond their luddite technology and seek to stop any company who has a better/cheaper way to deliver the same product.
Bell will only have itself to blame as their market share dwindles to nothing.
They've been gouging customers for years as we've had no choice.
Now, they refuse to move beyond their luddite technology and seek to stop any company who has a better/cheaper way to deliver the same product.
Bell will only have itself to blame as their market share dwindles to nothing.
Neil Gregory
@L Leland Weisser
I would have much less trouble with the idea of a corporation can be be a person under the law if that corporation paid the same level of taxes as any person who is a warm, breathing human being.
I would have much less trouble with the idea of a corporation can be be a person under the law if that corporation paid the same level of taxes as any person who is a warm, breathing human being.
David Raymond Amos
@L Leland Weisser Methinks VMedianeeds a consultant (namely mean old me) ASAP
---------- Original message ----------
From: Rocco DiPucchio
Date: Sat, 19 Nov 2016 00:11:52 +0000
Subject: Automatic reply: Attn George Burger and Alexei Tchernobrivets RE Bell Canada Perhaps we should talk sometime soon?. I tried to calling you fellas but nobody would introduce us. I doubt CBC or your lawyer will
To: David Amos
I will be out of the office on November 18, 2016. As a result, I will likely not be able to access and/or respond to your message as promptly as usual.
---------- Original message ----------
From: David Amos
Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2016 20:11:50 -0400
Subject: Attn George Burger and Alexei Tchernobrivets RE Bell Canada Perhaps we should talk sometime soon?. I tried to calling you fellas but nobody would introduce us. I doubt CBC or your lawyer will
To: alexei.tchernobrivets@vianettv.com, george.burger@vianettv.com, rdipucchio@counsel-toronto.com
Cc: David Amos
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/bell-vmedia-skinny-basic-tv-1.3788789
Bell Media has sent a cease and desist letter threatening legal action
if VMedia, a small Canadian internet and IPTV provider, does not
remove Bell's signals from a VMedia service that streams live TV over
the internet.
"This is the real deal," VMedia's George Burger says. "They've
threatened an injunction against us."
http://www.vmedia.ca/blog/vmedia-launches-fund-raising-defend-bell/
"We have decided to resist Bell – for us and for consumers who want
access to live streaming TV. Though we are still a start-up and
fighting this legal challenge is very costly for us, we will be
petitioning the courts to decide on this issue.
We have also launched a fund raising effort to help us with our legal
fees to #SaveStreamingTV in Canada. We hope that you will donate and
share with others."
VMedia Appears Before the CRTC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33ly0oHfSqU
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/bell-vmedia-iptv-internet-roku-rogers-shaw-cable-cordcutters-telus-cogeco-ott-set-top-box-appletv-chromecast-1.3856882
Bell vs. VMedia: The David and Goliath battle over the future of TV
Should TV channels available for free over the air also be accessible
over the internet?
By Aaron Saltzman, CBC News Posted: Nov 18, 2016 2:57 PM ET
"If one wanted a sense of the importance of this case, one need only
look at the number of lawyers Bell Media brought for this single day
of arguments.
Bell showed up with a team of eight.
Besides Mason, a partner at the well connected firm of McCarthy
Tetrault and his two associates, in the gallery were five others,
including Bell senior vice president Robert Malcolmson — a former
partner at Goodmans, another top law firm — and Kevin Goldstein, late
of Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP.
It may have been a show of force or that Bell simply wasn't taking any
chances. Or perhaps both."
79 Comments
Ivan Nano
Regardless of the result, companies like Bell have already lost.
They've been gouging customers for years as we've had no choice.
Now, they refuse to move beyond their luddite technology and seek to
stop any company who has a better/cheaper way to deliver the same
product.
Bell will only have itself to blame as their market share dwindles to nothing.
3 hours ago
L Leland Weisser
" . . . Bell showed up with a team of eight. . . "
..... Corporations are considered persons before the Courts, which
makes Bell a person
..... a person hiring an entire law firm
.... . making Corporation rosewood-tabled boardrooms equal to an
individual before the Courts is a travesty to what a democracy stands
for
3 hours ago
Neil Gregory
@L Leland Weisser
I would have much less trouble with the idea of a corporation can be
be a person under the law if that corporation paid the same level of
taxes as any person who is a warm, breathing human being.
2 hours ago
David Raymond Amos
@L Leland Weisser Methinks VMedianeeds a consultant (namely mean old me) ASAP
1 hour ago
Rocco has developed a reputation as an assertive and effective litigator.
Tel: 416 598 2268
Email: rdipucchio@counsel-toronto.com
So has Madame Turcotte, Huber lacriox and myself as well
https://www.scribd.com/document/317811875/Melanie-Joly-vs-Hubby-Lacroix
http://thedavidamosrant.blogspot.ca/2013/11/fw-methinks-harper-his-lawyer-hamilton.html
----- Original Message -----
From: martine.turcotte@bell.ca
To: motomaniac_02186@hotmail.com
Cc: bcecomms@bce.ca ; W-Five@ctv.ca
Sent: Thursday, August 19, 2004 9:28 AM
Subject: RE: I am curious
Mr. Amos, I confirm that I have received your documentation. There is no
need to send us a hard copy. As you have said yourself, the documentation
is very voluminous and after 3 days, we are still in the process of printing
it. I have asked one of my lawyers to review it in my absence and report
back to me upon my return in the office. We will then provide you with a
reply.
Martine Turcotte
Chief Legal Officer / Chef principal du service juridique
BCE Inc. / Bell Canada
1000 de La Gauchetière ouest, bureau 3700
Montréal (Qc) H3B 4Y7
Tel: (514) 870-4637
Fax: (514) 870-4877
email: martine.turcotte@bell.ca
Executive Assistant / Assistante à la haute direction: Diane Valade
Tel: (514) 870-4638
email: diane.valade@bell.ca
Terrence J. O'Sullivan
Lax O'Sullivan Lisus Gottlieb LLP
145 King St. W., Suite 2750
Toronto, Ontario M5H 1J8
Phone: (416) 598-3556
Fax: (416) 598-3730
E: tosullivan@counsel-toronto.com
www.counsel-toronto.comPractice areas
Bar information
Practice areas
Banking/Finance
SecuritiesCivil LitigationCommercial LawBar information
Called to the bar: 1973 (ON)
https://lobbycanada.gc.ca/app/secure/ocl/lrs/do/vwRg?cno=333206®Id=815635
Communication Techniques
•Oral communication
Government Institutions
•Canadian Heritage (PCH)
•Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)
•Industry Canada
https://www.reddit.com/r/canada/comments/4elw4i/i_am_george_burger_advisor_to_vmedia_inc_ama/
I am George Burger, Advisor to VMedia Inc.. I am also a founder of
VMedia Inc. VMedia offers TV, internet and home phone services to
Canadians, competing with the large players in the major markets, like
Bell, Rogers, Videotron and Shaw. VMedia currently serves Ontario but
will soon be launching its triple play services in BC, Alberta and
Quebec. Lots to do!
I am here to take as many questions as I can from you about our
current fight to keep Bell from getting a monopoly over internet
services in eastern Canada, as well as any questions you may have
about VMedia.
Bell is before the Canadian federal government, asking Cabinet to give
it a monopoly over fibre internet services.
The CRTC has already rejected that request. Bell now wants Cabinet to
reverse that decision. That would be very harmful for Canadians,
severely limiting their choice in internet services. This will result
in higher prices, and the creation of an all-powerful gatekeeper which
will be able to control the flow of internet content into your homes.
http://www.ic.gc.ca/app/ccc/srch/nvgt.do?prtl=1&estblmntNo=234567133548&profile=cmpltPrfl&profileId=501&app=sold&lang=eng
Alexei Tchernobrivets
Title: Chief Executive Officer
Area of Responsibility: Management Executive
Telephone: (800) 939-2808
Facsimile: (800) 939-2808
Email: alexei.tchernobrivets@vianettv.com
Analysis
Bell vs. VMedia: The David and Goliath battle over the future of TV
Should TV channels available for free over the air also be accessible over the internet?
In September, VMedia started offering a skinny basic cable
package through a Roku app for $17.95 a month.
Bell Media's fight with a small IPTV startup moved to the courtroom this week in a case that raises interesting questions about the future of technology and how Canadians watch TV.
"We are here because we were threatened with millions of dollars in damages under the copyright act," VMedia lawyer Rocco DiPucchio told Judge Fred Myers of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
At issue is VMedia's new service, which offers a so-called "skinny basic" cable package through a Roku app.
- Amazon may be about to launch its streaming video service in Canada
- Netflix prompting many Canadians to cut the cable TV cord
Roku, like AppleTV or Google's Chromecast, is a digital media player that allows users to stream content from the internet on their television.
In September, VMedia started offering a skinny basic cable package through Roku for $17.95 a month. The offer does not require a specific VMedia internet subscription.
With VMedia's package, anyone with a Roku player and their own internet subscription could have access to about 20 live television channels, including CTV, CBC, Global, as well as U.S. networks ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and PBS.
A copyright question?
Shortly after it launched, Bell Media sent a cease and desist letter threatening legal action if VMedia did not remove Bell's signals from the new service.
VMedia agreed to pull Bell's channels from its new service while the argument played out in court.
- Cutting the TV cord? Call the anti-cable guy
- Using VPNs to skirt cable rules is 'stealing' Bell's new CEO says
Among the questions the court must decide is whether an Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) provider's CRTC license allows it to retransmit over-the-air TV signals over the internet. Or does doing so without paying a fee violate Canadian copyright laws?
As an IPTV provider, VMedia is a licensed Broadcasting Distribution Undertaking (BDU). BDUs, which include cable and satellite services, are generally allowed to retransmit over-the-air and other signals at no cost.
In court, VMedia's lawyer argued there is nothing in its license that specifies the manner of that transmission.
"Once you grant the licence, the BDU should be allowed to retransmit using any technology available," said DiPucchio.
But Bell contends that because VMedia's skinny basic service on its Roku app is offered over the internet, not a private managed network, it falls outside of the scope of VMedia's license.
Internet boundaries
"A private managed network is not the internet," said Bell lawyer Steve Mason.
In effect, Bell is arguing VMedia's IPTV transmission moves over a VMedia network from its server to its customers.
Whereas VMedia's Roku app transmits signals over the public internet.
And yet VMedia's IPTV requires an internet connection.
"You can't tell me whether if it's on a private managed network it doesn't touch any wire on the public internet," said Myers.
It's a crucial question.
Bell contends that because VMedia's skinny
basic service on its Roku app is offered over the internet not a private
managed network it falls outside of the scope of VMedia's license.
(iStock)
Internet television companies that are not licensed BDUs do not have the right to retransmit over-over-the-air TV signals without an agreement with rights holders.
VMedia argues that regulation was aimed at websites such as JumpTV and iCraveTV, which posted links allowing anyone on the internet to stream TV signals, and was enacted long before the advent of digital media players like Roku.
If one wanted a sense of the importance of this case, one need only look at the number of lawyers Bell Media brought for this single day of arguments.
Bell showed up with a team of eight.
Besides Mason, a partner at the well connected firm of McCarthy Tetrault and his two associates, in the gallery were five others, including Bell senior vice president Robert Malcolmson — a former partner at Goodmans, another top law firm — and Kevin Goldstein, late of Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP.
It may have been a show of force or that Bell simply wasn't taking any chances. Or perhaps both.
'This is about data'
"My guess is that this is about data," said Alan Wolk, author of Over The Top: How the internet is (slowly but surely) changing the television industry.
"[Companies like Bell] collect a lot of data off their set top boxes. A lot of them have addressable advertising units that sell advertising based on data they've collected off a set top box."
- ANALYSIS: Why Shomi failed
"[Bell is] not exactly sure how this open internet thing is going to work, both in terms of ratings and just in terms of [Bell] knowing what is going on."
"Their fear is losing control."
Bell, along with other cable and satellite companies, once argued hard — and successfully — at the Supreme court against a system that could have seen cable companies required to pay TV stations for their signals.
That case reaffirmed that cable companies are allowed to pick up private channels' broadcast signals and retransmit them on their networks without having to pay for them.
Now Bell is contending that VMedia doesn't have the right to rebroadcast signals from its own stations over the internet.
Judge Myers said he would likely have a decision in this case by the end of next week.
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