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Welcome to the PUBLIC INTEREST ADVOCACY CENTRE / LE CENTRE POUR LA DÉFENSE DE L’INTÉRÊT PUBLIC
PIAC is a non-profit organization that provides legal and research services on behalf of consumer interests, and, in particular, vulnerable consumer interests, concerning the provision of important public services.
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PIAC Submission to the Government Consultation on A Digital Economy Strategy for Canada
Telecom → Thursday, July 29, 2010Download File: piac_submission_on_digital_economy_2010.pdf [size: 0.24 mb] PIAC Submission to the Government Consultation on A Digital Economy Strategy for Canada INTRODUCTION PIAC is grateful for the opportunity to comment on the important issues raised in the Consultation Document issued by the Government on Canada on the digital economy. Our comments are based on our work in ...
Saskatchewan Payday Loan Rate Among Nation’s Highest; Will Hurt Most Vulnerable Consumers in Economic Downturn
Financial → Friday, June 18, 2010The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) today condemned the Province of Saskatchewan’s proposed payday lending rate as amongst Canada’s highest. “The payday loan rate set by the Government of Saskatchewan is ludicrously high and will be taken 100% from vulnerable consumers,” said John Lawford, Counsel at PIAC. Saskatchewan’s $23 per hundred borrowed rate is only surpassed in Nova Scotia ...
Consumers' Gains in Copyright Bill Can be Taken Away by Media Companies : La Loi sur le droit d’auteur
Consumers → Friday, June 04, 2010(Ottawa) The Canadian Consumer Initiative today cautioned consumers that the Government’s proposed Copyright Modernization Act, Bill C-32, permits existing and new consumer use rights such as backing up content, time- and format-shifting to be taken away by digital locks and license agreements. Bill C-32 creates a prohibition on removing or circumventing “technical protection measures” (TPMs) ...
Bell Canada Touch-Tone Overcharge Reversed
Telecom → Friday, May 21, 2010The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) today welcomed the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s (CRTC) decision on May 19 to reverse “Touch-Tone” charges imposed unilaterally by Bell Canada (Bell) on certain of its local telephone customers. The CRTC’s decision requires Bell to refund to all customers who have had rotary dial phone service since 1993 or earlier the ...
PIAC Calls for Attention to TV Switch to Digital Over the Air
Consumers → Thursday, May 06, 2010PIAC Calls for Attention to TV Switch to Digital Over the Air (OTTAWA)—The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) today called for an approach to the ending of over-the-air (OTA) analogue television next year in line with the way the United States prepared for the same event in 2009. In August 2011, Canadians who currently get their TV OTA for free will not be able to do so unless their ...
Articling Position at PIAC, 2011-2012
About PIAC → Thursday, May 06, 2010PIAC has an articling position for the 2011-2012 year that has been made available through The Law Foundation of Ontario Public Interest Articling Fellowships program. Details are here: Download File: articling_posting_2011_2012_piac.pdf [size: 0.02 mb] PIAC Articling Position 2011-2012
Public Interest News: Google privacy / Behavioural-targeted marketing / Cloud computers / Les frais de transactions / 900,000 TVs
Other → Wednesday, April 28, 2010Privacy watchdogs slam Google: A pattern of neglect (PIAC 28/April/2010) Canada’s Privacy Commissioner organized 10 countries to send an open letter to Google CEO Eric Schmidt and issue a stern warning to the search giant and other firms to comply with international privacy laws or face enforcement measures. ... The group signed an open letter and held a press conference slamming ...
PIAC Comments to Privacy Commissioner of Canada on Cloud Computing
Privacy → Thursday, April 15, 2010PIAC today submitted comments to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner on the privacy implications of cloud computing. This is the second topic in a series of issues that pose a serious challenge to the privacy of consumers. The cloud computing consultation event is scheduled to take place on June 21, 2010 in Calgary. A link to the Privacy Commissioner’s 2010 Consumer Privacy Consultations ...
PIAC Comments to Privacy Commissioner of Canada on Behavioural Targeting
Privacy → Thursday, April 08, 2010On March 15, 2010, PIAC submitted comments to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner on issues that pose a serious challenge to the privacy of consumers. First topic: consumer tracking, profiling and targeting of consumers by businesses. PIAC will be attending the two consultation events discussing consumer tracking, which take place on April 29, 2010 in Toronto and May 19, 2010 in ...
Public Interest News: Spam, fees, privacy, basic tv / Airline bankruptcies / Price ceilings / Règles hypothécaires / Fair dealing / Leaking personal data / Touch-tone fee / Boissons gazeuses
Other → Tuesday, April 06, 2010PIAC projects: Spam, fees, privacy, basic tv (PIAC 6/April/2010) The Public Interest Advocacy Centre is working on major reports about spam and broadband policy. The advocacy centre is in consultations with the federal privacy commissioner on ways to better protect young people using social media. The group was part of a parliamentary lobby by the Canadian Consumer Initiative conducted the ...
PIAC comments on the telecommunications foreign ownership provisions in the budget
Telecom → Thursday, March 04, 2010PIAC has been asked about the effect of the loosening of foreign ownership rules on Canadian subsidiaries in the telecommunications market. PIAC is not in a position to comment from the standpoint of matters such as employment, taxation, research and development, or cultural sovereignty. PIAC’s comments are directed to the possible effect on the position of the consumer in the telecommunications ...
Consumer groups call for better telecommunications services for all Canadians
Telecom → Friday, February 26, 2010Led by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre in Ottawa, a coalition of consumer groups will make submissions on behalf of consumers to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) during a consultation to review access to basic telecommunications services in Canada. This is an opportunity to ask the CRTC to make changes to protect consumers, as the telecommunications ...