Donald Trump once again is targeting top Democrat and House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, with another (obviously?) edited video. However, this time, the video is not a sophisticated “deepfake” like the one used previously to imply Pelosi was slurring her speech. Instead, this video includes footage of events that actually took place with the exception of its chronology being altered. Both Facebook and Twitter have been quick to indicate the video does not violate their rules or current policies – a decision I believe casts doubt as to how effective (if at all) the companies’ new “Deepfake Policies” will actually be. In fact, a Spokesperson for Facebook rebutted claims to take down the video by asking: “Are you suggesting the President didn’t make those remarks and the Speaker didn’t rip the speech?” Statements such as these clearly point to the fact that Facebook intends on taking a very narrow view on manipulated media, focusing on sophistication, rather than on intent or the likeliness to mislead. Since being posted, the video has garnered millions of views, including being broadcasted to the President’s 72 million Twitter followers. Should simply an intention to mislead the public be enough to violate “deepfake” rules or does the need for a “deep” fake impose a higher bar?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/02/07/trump-shared-an-edited-pelosi-video-social-media-highlighting-gray-area-debate-over-disinformation/

In a world where telecommunication companies are battling for market share, the proposed solution appears to be heavy investment in AI.

“Through its ability to parse large data sets in a contextual manner, provide requested information or analysis, and trigger actions, AI can help telecoms cut costs and streamline by digitizing their operations.”

This prompts the question of whether we need more unified regulation to account for these changing times?

Read the full article here: https://www.businessinsider.com/the-ai-in-telecommunications-report-2019-7

Despite the notoriously high user cost, the Canadian telecom system has renowned download speeds ranking 6th in the world. This feat is achieved through continued annual investment in infrastructure and R&D. In fact, Canadian company’s investments averaged $78 per connection between 2010 and 2016, which is close to two times the European average of $40 per connection.

Unfortunately, these world-class speeds may be a thing of the past due to the CRTC’s new regulation. A recent CRTC decision which attempts to reduce user costs, if upheld, will force companies that build telecom infrastructure to rent it out to their competitors at below cost. Not surprisingly there has been significant resistance on behalf of the companies, as many have sought orders from the Federal Court of Appeal to suspend the decision. Although this decision would help reduce user’s costs by enabling more players to enter into the Canadian telecommunications sector, it nonetheless would risk stagnating download speed improvements. If companies are required to rent out their infrastructure to companies at below cost, they would lose all incentive to innovate, eventually leading to the telecom system being archaic, outdated and slow.

This ultimately leads to an interesting question: what would users prefer: economic prices with slower speeds, or higher prices and a faster network?

View full article here: https://business.financialpost.com/opinion/the-crtc-needs-to-get-out-of-the-way-its-attacks-risk-gutting-our-world-class-telecom-system

Looking for something unique to do this reading break? Why not challenge yourself to find as many of the 350-odd payphones remaining in Metro Vancouver! Much like the dodos, the payphone used to be a common sight but are becoming increasingly rare.

User-Run Payphone Map of Metro Vancouver:
https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1AO00qfKM-Bb4gI_ZLOfsEFjzZvFzxQ-O&ll=49.25050126061677%2C-123.06818579212995&z=13

Background Article:
https://thetyee.ca/Culture/2019/07/16/Vancouver-Last-Payphones-Phone-Booths/

Before we continue however, a bit of background is required. Payphone operation is regulated by the CRTC as part of Canada’s telecommunications network. In Telecom Decision 98-8, released in 1998, the CRTC ordered that the major players, Telus and Bell, pay tariffs on the service and essentially allow smaller competitors to make footholds in the market. In a 2016 study, the CRTC found that payphone use and availability was declining, but was still an important service for Canadians, especially those in vulnerable economic situations.

The CRTC changed their tune in 2018 however in Telecom Decision 2018-133. Bell and Telus challenged the “essentiality” of their payphone services as it was costing them money without providing much revenue, and could not increase the rates paid by users. The “essentiality test” requires the satisfying of three components: input, competition, and duplicability. After applying the test, the CRTC then considered several policy factors to inform their final decision as to the mandating the provision of a wholesale service; these factors include the public good, interconnection, and innovation and investment.

Payphones failed to meet the essentiality test on two of the three grounds: they were not required for more downstream services (input) and were not affecting competition between providers (competition), but were not easily duplicated by competitors (duplicability). The public good would not be affected as no communities had their last payphone removed and usage was very low. This view was in contradiction to the view they took in their 2015 in their report on payphone usage. In conclusion, the CRTC gave Bell and Telus a 1-year period to phase out their current business model, which is likely to result in further removals.

The Decision:
https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2018/2018-133.htm

The 2015 Report:
https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/publications/reports/rp150226a.htm

While this was certainly good news for the telecom companies, it was certainly less so for many of Vancouver’s economically disadvantaged. Low income individuals were the population group most likely to use payphones as mobile phones are expensive to operate and are easily stolen or lost; without some way to be contact their service workers, however, they run a very real risk of “falling through the cracks” in their development programs. Without payphones, many will have to turn to other programs such as the community voicemail service run by the Lu’ma Native Housing Society.

The Community Voicemail Service:
http://lnhs.ca/community-voice-mail/

Does removing payphones make fiscal sense? Or are we also removing a lifeline for our community’s most needy? Let’s discuss below!

The NHL All-Star Game, aside from being an event for hockey’s most talented players to showcase their skills (and a chance for Ovechkin to take a little vacation), it is also an opportunity for the league to test new and innovative technology to bring more people closer to hockey.

Last year, the league introduced puck and player tracking (see https://www.nhl.com/news/nhl-puck-player-tracking-system-trial-run-at-all-star-game/c-304264280). This year, the league tested new technology with huge advertisement and digital media implications.

A Canadian company, Athletica Sport Systems, has manufactured new technology for hockey rinks and broadcasters: “Digitally Enhanced Dasherboards” that allow for market-specific advertising and graphics to appear along the boards, while still allowing live spectators to see ads in-person. The technology uses infrared strips that is picked up by the camera lenses and allows Supponor (a sports media and tech company) to insert graphics over the dashboards. This year, the All-Star Game was able to run nine different feeds.

In my opinion, the communications impacts are two-fold.

First, this form of advertising will likely make overseas broadcasting more attractive, given the ability to insert market-specific ads. It is no secret that the NHL has been broadening its market to many European countries and China over the past few years. Recently, they’ve hosted pre-season exhibition games and tours in Sweden, Russia, Finland, as well as in Beijing and Shanghai. The league also has strategically timed weekend matinee games to allow for viewers in time zones across the world to tune in. This technology is arguably a great step towards bringing NHL hockey all over the world by allowing businesses to advertise “using native tongue on the boards in the broadcast”.

But as the article points out, the bigger potential lies in the US and Canadian markets. While American partners will be able to “take advantage of very valuable camera-visible signage with [the] dasherboards”, Canadian-only partners such as Scotiabank and Tim Hortons will now be able to capitalize as well.

Out of the league’s 31 teams, only 7 are Canadian. This means many ‘away’ games are played in the US, resulting in loss of valuable marketing opportunities for Canadian companies. These new boards not only mean more ad revenue, but also greater advertising potential. (What could this mean for American advertisers? Could we have another SuperBowl commercial situation on our hands?)

Unfortunately, in order for this technology to be operational, the company still has to cut costs of operation before these boards get installed into all 31 rinks in the league. Additionally, there are discussions to be had about how the ad revenue gets split.

Read the original article here: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2020/01/24/live-from-nhl-all-star-digitally-enhanced-dasherboard-takes-next-step-with-nine-feeds/