Is Free Television Being Phased Out ?
Do you guys remember when we were first told that off air television broadcasts would go digital and that more people would be getting free television using antennas ?
Do you remember when we could watch television programs for free online legally through the Canadian network web sites ?
Well, if you want proof that the cable and satellite companies don’t want people to “cut the cord” you just have to look at the current status of television in Canada.
It started with Global Television in my area.
I had decided to stop paying $7 plus tax per month for extra outlets and although I was able to receive Global Television clearly for months, it has suddenly disappeared one summer.
Apparently the owner of the network decided to reduce the strength of the transmission so now an external antennae is required. But this was of course no problem because I was able to access television programs online via the network’s web site.
Then a few months back I noticed I was no longer receiving CTV, which had a strong signal until then.
I am located within 15 kilometers from the broadcasting tower for both stations so there was no reason for my loss of CTV as well. But like Global Television, CTV is also owned by a cable or satellite provider so I had assumed that they also reduced their off air broadcasting strength. And again I decided to stick to on demand and online broadcasts until I get an external antenna.
By then I had switched from Rogers Cable to Bell Fibe TV so I was mostly just watching television programs on demand for free, just like I has done with Rogers. But since Rogers had purchased the rights to the hockey broadcasts there appeared to be issues relating to what could be viewed by what subscribers online.
Now Canadians are being asked to login their cable or satellite provider accounts to view television programs on the major network sites. And the selection of programing is currently limited to the networks owned by their provider.
Bravo.
Personally I think we should be able to get our local channels off air and online based on our IP address.
There should be enough advertisement revenue there for networks to profit on and cable and satellite providers could always give people access to specialty networks and on demand programming.
We should be progressing off the problematic off air VHF frequencies and move stations to UHF like most American networks have.
Phase 3 of the “Let’s Talk TV” consultations at the CRTC will begin in April with the publication of details on the public hearing scheduled in September. And from the government’s response last Budget Day, it appears that our cable/satellite channels may get unbundled.
Hopefully this will not be more expensive for consumers, a concern we should all share because these companies have been hiking their rates excessively over the past few years.
The Friends of Canadian Broadcasting estimated in Oct 2013 that many of Canada’s cable companies had hiked their rates from 81% to 96% since 2002 ; Almost five times inflation. And Forbes believes the model is unsustainable so we’ve got to wonder what exactly we’re going to be subjected to as consumers.
Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty had mentioned that “cable-TV companies have become like utilities because there are only so many providers that offer the service in a certain region” in an interview with the Wall Street Journal last October so perhaps the current government is considering regulating them. But I guess we’ll only know for sure after the public hearings in September.
By the way, you can access information in regards to the previous phases of “Let’s Talk TV” on the official CRTC web site, which includes comments from the public.
Pono Music – A Week Later
It’s been a week and the response to Neil Young’s Pono Kickstarter project has been incredible.
They have now surpassed US$4 Million when their original goal was US$800,000. And many of their first Pono players have already sold out.
The official Pono Music site has been updated with a special video from Neil Young along with additional information on the player and music service.
By the way, a second VIP Dinner and Listening Party with Neil Young has been added to the project. This event will again happen in New York.
Pono Music Player Update
Neil Young is planning on starting a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign for his new high fidelity music device on March 15th, according to his March 10th, 2014 press release.
The PonoPlayer, which was developed by engineers at Ayre Acoustics (of Boulder, Colorado), will feature a 128 gigabyte hard drive and will convert digital music files to analog.
It will retail for $399 and will be coupled with software and a music service that will sell 192 kHz, 24-bit recordings.
Neil Young is scheduled to speak about Pono at the SXSW 2014 Music Conference in Austin, Texas today from 5 pm to 6 pm, Central Time.
Update – The Kickstarter campaign was moved forward is is currently active. The device is currently available to people who donate $300 or more. Click here for details.
Important Message For PC Users
Microsoft will be ending their support for XP on April 8th, 2014.
This means that you have a month to upgrade to retain support for your PC.
Their will be no new security updates, non-security hotfixes, free or paid assisted support options or online technical content updates for this operating system so upgrading to Windows 7 or Windows 8
is recommended.
Please note that an upgrade to Windows 8.1 is provided free to those upgrading from XP or Vista to Windows 8
and that file backups are recommended prior to upgrading.
Suspended Membership Phishing/Hacking Scam
There appears to be a new Netflix scareware scam going around and I thought I’d inform you as to how it works.
Basically victims are sent a fake email directing victims to a fake Netflix site where members are asked to enter their email address and password.
Once entered this information is captured by the criminals and victims are then forwarded to another fake page claiming their account had been suspended.
This fake page then urges victims to call an 800 number to reinstate their membership which actually directs individuals to a call center in India, where fake Netflix technicians are waiting to continue their con.
When victims call this 800 number they are told that their computers have been taken over by hackers and are asked to download software to remove the hackers and/or clear their computers of viruses.
This software enables the fake Netflix technicians to access your computer and all the sensitive information found on this computer’s hard drive. But access to Netflix and your sensitive information is not the only objectives of this scam.
Victims who have gone through this process are also asked to pay for the privilege of being violated.
They are asked to pay for the clean-up, a five year membership for an anti-virus program and a five year membership for a firewall.
In exchange for payment by credit card the fake technicians offer a coupon code for a discount on Netflix membership. But not only do they request credit card information for payment but also ask their victims to send photo identification to them.
This information of course enables them to steal identities, as well as to defraud their victims through their credit card. And Netflix members will not likely be the only target because it can be adapted to target any online membership.
The best defense against this scam is to ignore the links and phone numbers provided in these emails and contact a company directly via their web site.
If there are real issues with your account at a particular company their customer service department should be able to help you.
I bookmark the sites I access the most in my internet browser and use those links instead. And using spam filters on your email also helps because some filters will keep these phishing attempts out of your inbox if enough people label it as spam.
Most webmail sites have spam filters and you can install free spam filters for your PC by clicking on the following logo :
Budget Day Goodies ?
Today is Budget Day in Ottawa. And the current government has been promising to address some issues related to the higher prices Canadians pay for certain products.
Canadians pay significantly more for certain products than the Americans and although some of the price differences can be attributed to tariffs, labour and transportation costs, much of the purchase price is pre-determined by the manufacturer.
“Country Pricing” has become the standard and unfortunately Canada’s prices have not been adjusted to match our dollar’s strength.
Some online retailers have done their best to match prices but Canadians were still forced to either import products from the states or pay higher prices at their local retailers.
I suspect that tariffs will be reduced or eliminated on certain products in this budget, perhaps on books, clothing, electronics and home appliances.
Those are the most imported products, especially on Black Friday. But I’m also hoping they will follow the recommendations in the February 2013 Senate Committee report of the US/Canada Price Gap and raise the de minimis threshold for postal shipments from $20.
When you import most products by mail you are exempt from duties, fees and taxes if the product or products shipped are valued at less than $20 Canadian.
I’ve managed to save some money using they exemption. But many countries like the United States, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore had raised this minimum to US$100 in November 2011, enabling their citizens to avoid paying the hefty brokerage fees some couriers charge on parcels.
Brokerage fees have recently gone up in Canada so I’m hoping they will at least consider a CAN$50 threshold.
The other probabilities in the budget are reductions in credit card/banking fees, funding for an expansion of high speed internet into rural areas, and the unbundling of cable channels so I guess lots of Canadians will be watching this afternoon.
The budget broadcast will air on television and online on CPAC at 4PM Eastern. Details on the budget will also be made available on the Government’s Official Site after 4 PM Eastern.