Konrad von Finckenstein
Encyclopedia
Konrad W. von Finckenstein, QC
(b. April 4, 1945 in Germany
) is the current Chairman of the Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). He has held the post since January 25, 2007 and his term is scheduled to end on January 24, 2012. von Finckenstein previously served as Justice of the Federal Court
from 2003 until his appointment to the CRTC. As a judge, von Finckenstein held that uploading music tracks over the Internet
is not in itself a violation of Canadian copyright law
. Before that, he had been the head of the Competition Bureau since 1997.
(with Honours) from Carleton University
in 1967, and a Bachelor of Laws
from Queen’s University.
and Rogers Cable
would have protectionist measures in order to compete in the internet service provider marketplace. Many believe this is because, as of 2011, a large amount of customers of any ISP transfer a lot of data
through their internet connection due to the explosion of HD video streaming options (e.g. YouTube
, Netflix
, shows on demand via any TV network website that has obtained such licensing for online broadcasting, etc.) and ISPs claim that such large amounts of data transfer places a strain on their networks. Experts have argued that this is not a valid reason to implement a pay-as-you-go style system to cover costs as each ISP has enough network infrastructure to handle each customer maximzing their bandwidth rate per second simultaneously, and each gigabyte of bandwidth used per customer has a cost as low as $0.03 CAD according to Teksavvy, a third party ISP. This regulatory change was very negatively received by the public, as over 460,000 signatures were gathered by OpenMedia.ca, which protested the decision. All three major political parties in Canada have spoken out against the ruling, and implementation has been delayed for 60 days, pending further review. Pending the outcome of this 60 day delay to review the decision once more, the proposed usage-based billing system could still be forced upon all independent ISPs that use another company's existing infrastructure. The ruling on hold would have resulted in customers of those independent ISPs (also known as 3rd party providers) facing monthly bandwidth caps of 25GB, and additional charges for each gigabyte of data transfer used as set by the larger ISP renting out their infrastructure and passed onto the customer at the same rate by their independent ISP as required by the regulatory change.
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
(b. April 4, 1945 in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
) is the current Chairman of the Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). He has held the post since January 25, 2007 and his term is scheduled to end on January 24, 2012. von Finckenstein previously served as Justice of the Federal Court
Federal Court (Canada)
The Federal Court is a Canadian trial court that hears cases arising under certain areas of federal law. The Federal Court is a superior court with nationwide jurisdiction...
from 2003 until his appointment to the CRTC. As a judge, von Finckenstein held that uploading music tracks over the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
is not in itself a violation of Canadian copyright law
Canadian copyright law
The copyright law of Canada governs the legally enforceable rights to creative and artistic works under the laws of Canada. Canada passed its first colonial copyright statute in 1832 but was subject to imperial copyright law established by Britain until 1921...
. Before that, he had been the head of the Competition Bureau since 1997.
Education
He received a Bachelor of ArtsBachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
(with Honours) from Carleton University
Carleton University
Carleton University is a comprehensive university located in the capital of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. The enabling legislation is The Carleton University Act, 1952, S.O. 1952. Founded as a small college in 1942, Carleton now offers over 65 programs in a diverse range of disciplines. Carleton has...
in 1967, and a Bachelor of Laws
Bachelor of Laws
The Bachelor of Laws is an undergraduate, or bachelor, degree in law originating in England and offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree...
from Queen’s University.
Usage-based billing controversy
The CRTC's ruling on a proposed usage-based billing system regulatory update resulted in an outcome that is believed to ensure that large telecommunications companies such as Bell CanadaBell Canada
Bell Canada is a major Canadian telecommunications company. Including its subsidiaries such as Bell Aliant, Northwestel, Télébec, and NorthernTel, it is the incumbent local exchange carrier for telephone and DSL Internet services in most of Canada east of Manitoba and in the northern territories,...
and Rogers Cable
Rogers Cable
Rogers Cable Inc., a subsidiary of Rogers Communications Inc., is Canada's largest cable television service provider with about 2.25 million television customers, and over 930,000 Internet subscribers, in Manitoba, Southern & Eastern Ontario, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador.The...
would have protectionist measures in order to compete in the internet service provider marketplace. Many believe this is because, as of 2011, a large amount of customers of any ISP transfer a lot of data
Data
The term data refers to qualitative or quantitative attributes of a variable or set of variables. Data are typically the results of measurements and can be the basis of graphs, images, or observations of a set of variables. Data are often viewed as the lowest level of abstraction from which...
through their internet connection due to the explosion of HD video streaming options (e.g. YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
, Netflix
Netflix
Netflix, Inc., is an American provider of on-demand internet streaming media in the United States, Canada, and Latin America and flat rate DVD-by-mail in the United States. The company was established in 1997 and is headquartered in Los Gatos, California...
, shows on demand via any TV network website that has obtained such licensing for online broadcasting, etc.) and ISPs claim that such large amounts of data transfer places a strain on their networks. Experts have argued that this is not a valid reason to implement a pay-as-you-go style system to cover costs as each ISP has enough network infrastructure to handle each customer maximzing their bandwidth rate per second simultaneously, and each gigabyte of bandwidth used per customer has a cost as low as $0.03 CAD according to Teksavvy, a third party ISP. This regulatory change was very negatively received by the public, as over 460,000 signatures were gathered by OpenMedia.ca, which protested the decision. All three major political parties in Canada have spoken out against the ruling, and implementation has been delayed for 60 days, pending further review. Pending the outcome of this 60 day delay to review the decision once more, the proposed usage-based billing system could still be forced upon all independent ISPs that use another company's existing infrastructure. The ruling on hold would have resulted in customers of those independent ISPs (also known as 3rd party providers) facing monthly bandwidth caps of 25GB, and additional charges for each gigabyte of data transfer used as set by the larger ISP renting out their infrastructure and passed onto the customer at the same rate by their independent ISP as required by the regulatory change.