The CBC has reported that HMV Canada may be sold by Maidstone, England based HMV Group PLC to pay for a $200 Million dollar debt.
The company claims that they have not discussed the sale to a potential buyer yet.
Government Fails. Bill C-32 is Dead
The Copyright Modernization Act has died because of today’s non-confidence vote.
Bill C-32 had been proposed by Tony Clement, the Minister of Industry, and had referred to a Legislative Committee headed by Gordon Brown, MP for Leeds—Grenville (Ontario).
Hopefully it will be re-introduced minus some of the more questionable Digital Lock restrictions.
An Interesting Video On UBB
Click here to view an interesting Youtube video explaining usage based billing and the related issues.
Canadians – Beware of Prepaid Credit Cards
Unlike gift cards issued by retailers in Canada, prepaid credit cards can expire. And there are a multitude of fees that eat away at your balance, including activation fees and transaction fees.
Some even have fees from $1.50 to $2.50 a month on cards that carry a balance more than six or seven months.
So be careful. If you absolutely must get a pre-paid credit card or credit card branded gift card, tell the recipient that he or she needs to use it as soon as possible, well before six months after activation.
CRTC Refuses To Expand Internet Review
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has denied a request from The Public Interest Advocacy Centre and Consumers’ Association of Canada to expand their review of internet billing in Canada.
On February 12th, 2011, these associations had requested that the CRTC investigate the pricing of internet access and accept comments on this subject during their public consultation on usage based billing. But the CRTC denied this request, claiming that “There is no evidence that market forces are not working properly in this unregulated market” in an email published today.
Minister of Industry Tony Clements had stated in a tweet that a “door must still be open to Canadians’ broader concerns re pricing & competition” and in another tweet hinted that he would expand debate on the issue.
Warner Film Rentals On Facebook
It appears that the Warner film rentals on Facebook are not yet available to Canadians.
I’ve checked the The Dark Knight
I suspect that Canadian will not be able to rent from Facebook for some time, which is a shame really because the $3 fee is pretty decent, though I already own The Dark Knight