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Free Television Online ? Tou.tv Update.

Francophone service Tou.tv has decided to offer extra content to their subscriber. But again it appears that some people will get this content free and some people will need to pay $6.99 per month for the service.

Now rebranded as ici.tou.tv, the Radio-Canada affiliate will offer their extra content free to Telus and Rogers subscribers but this commercial free content will only be available as a subscription to everyone else.

Personally I used the service to catch up on Radio-Canada Television programs La Facture, L’épicerie, Découverte and La Semaine Verte whenever I missed an episode of these series. But now I don’t know if the service will remain accessible on my Smart TV, as is, or if it will only be able to access a few episodes because I am not on Telus or Rogers.

The site is currently in beta so details are light. But it appears that users might already be limited to one or two seasons worth of episodes online.

I have checked the recordings for the aforementioned series and they appear to be limited to the most recent season, which is acceptable. But hopefully they are not considering further cuts to the free content.

I have noticed that they have added quite a few Pierre Richard films so I’m a bit tempted to take advantage of their $3.49 offer, which is valid for three months. And I’m sure if they were to offer more films from TV5, TFO and Telé Québec I would possibly consider subscribing. But I’m guessing they will take some time to get the site up and running at full speed.

March 26th, 2014 Comments Off on Free Television Online ? Tou.tv Update. Consumer Information, Music Industry, Music Technology Rob McIntyre

Privacy Threats Not Limited To The United States ?

Everyone has heard about the Verizon data mining performed by the United States government in the name of national security. But are you aware that it might be happening in Canada as well ?

Communications Security Establishment Canada is a security agency that collects various information to protect national interests and according to Ronald Diebert there is a possibility that they are collecting data right now.

Like in the United States this data is likely just cross referenced because it would take an enormous effort to listen to every call or read every email, for example. But we should ask ourselves if this information is stored securely enough so that it cannot be accessed by someone else and how long this data remain accessible, waiting to be abused.

A June 13th, 2013 press release from Commissioner Robert Décary of the Communications Security Establishment Canada addresses some of the issues and he states that the “CSEC does not direct its foreign signals intelligence collection and IT security activities at Canadians — wherever they might be in the world — or at any person in Canada.” But he also confirmed that the CSEC may “unintentionally intercept a communication that originates or terminates in Canada” and that metadata is being collected by the CSEC “for purposes of providing intelligence on foreign entities located outside Canada and to protect information infrastructures of importance to the government”.

We’ve already had serious security breaches with data stored on hard drives and USB sticks within the past six month courtesy of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, who managed to loose a hard drive containing data on over half a million Canadians in January and a USB key containing private information on an additional 5000 Canadians in December. And in 1999 we had sensitive top secret documents stolen from a CSIS agent’s car while he was at a Toronto Maple Leafs game so Canadians should know what is being stored and by whom.

If you are concerned about this issue contact your local Member of Parliament and/or sign this petition.

Thank you.

June 16th, 2013 Comments Off on Privacy Threats Not Limited To The United States ? Consumer Information, Music Technology Rob McIntyre

Check Your Local Flyers

Walmart is offering $25 iTunesicon for $20 and Best Buy/Future Shop are offering pack of three $20 iTunesicon cards for $55 this week.

These offers are ending on September 6th, 2012 and may not be valid across Canada. Consult your local flyers.

iTunes Canada

August 31st, 2012 Comments Off on Check Your Local Flyers Consumer Information, Music Technology Rob McIntyre

The Gift Card Savings Continue

Starting today and ending August 16th, a four pack of $15 iTunesicon gift cards will be available at some Future Shop locations for $48.

Though listed with a webID, these cards don’t appear to be available though their online store. But you can buy gift cards online by clicking on the following banner.

iTunes Canada

August 10th, 2012 Comments Off on The Gift Card Savings Continue Consumer Information, Music Technology Rob McIntyre

Cisco Predicts Online Video Explosion

Cisco has released their Visual Networking Index Mobile Forecast for 2011-2016 and it predicts that mobile data traffic will explode because of online video.

The report predicts that in Canada “mobile data traffic will reach 219,897 Terabytes (0.22 Exabytes) per month in 2016” because more Canadians are using their mobile devices to watch movies, television programs, music videos and other content from sites like Youtube.

In 2011, Canada’s mobile data traffic was clocked by Cisco at 10,773 Terabytes (11 Petabytes) per month, “the equivalent of 3 million DVDs each month or 30 million text messages each second.” And their 2016 prediction would equal “55 million DVDs each month or 606 million text messages each second”.

Cisco reported that in 2011 only 57% of that year’s mobile data traffic was video. But predicts that 75% of this traffic will be video by 2016, at 162,179 Terabytes per month.

June 1st, 2012 Comments Off on Cisco Predicts Online Video Explosion Consumer Information, Music Technology Rob McIntyre

Lawful Access = Higher Internet Fees

There’s no way around it. Lawful access will be costly to consumers in Canada.

The internet providers do not have the necessary technology and manpower to give law enforcement in Canada real time access to internet communications, especially the smaller internet providers. And these extra expenditures will be passed on to Canadians.

We are talking about technology used to distinguish criminal activity from normal internet traffic and according to Statistic Canada‘s Canadian Internet Use Survey, 79% of Canadian households accessed the internet in 2010.

The task is not only overwhelming but could possibly be open to abuse and security breaches.

After all, we are talking about individual internet providers here, some of which use different technologies to secure their networks. And I’m sure there are plenty of identity thieves that would love to access the weaker of these networks, some of which are probably tied to the criminal organizations our law enforcement is trying to expose with this legislation.

The 2011 Canadians and Privacy Survey conducted by Harris/Decima for The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada found that 8 out of 10 Canadians opposed this legislation because of numerous concerns about privacy and security. And in 2009, Statistics Canada found that 48% of Canadian consumers were concerned about credit card purchases online.

Is this really the time to make consumers nervous about security and privacy online ?

October 14th, 2011 Comments Off on Lawful Access = Higher Internet Fees Canadian Law, Consumer Information Rob McIntyre