Village Gamer

I find this to be somewhat ironic, coming from a telecom that is just as guilty for high prices on telephone, mobile and internet fees as the other big companies, but Telus has submitted a proposal to the CRTC for safeguards to protect Canadian TV viewers from anti-competitive practices of the large broadcasting companies which now control Canada’s television industry.

In the past year there has been an unparalleled concentration of content ownership resulting from large corporate acquisitions highlighted by BCE’s $3 billion purchase of Bell Globemedia and Shaw’s $2 billion purchase of CanWest. As a result, Canadian broadcasting content has become largely owned and controlled by Canada’s largest cable and satellite providers.

“The unprecedented concentration of market power in the broadcasting sector created by the common ownership of programming services and distribution platforms requires regulatory safeguards to protect consumers,” said Michael Hennessy, senior vice-president Regulatory and Government Affairs at Telus. “The potential for abuse of market power is real and the risk to consumers is significant. Without proper regulatory safeguards consumers could soon be facing increased costs and reduced choice in their TV viewing options.”

The proposed safeguards include:

• Distributors should not withhold content from competitors. This will prevent anti-competitive programming blackouts.
• Preferential or exclusive programming rights should not be permitted in Canada. Consumers should not have to switch suppliers to watch their favorite shows.
• To ensure fair competition, vertically integrated broadcasters should not benefit from a head-start in launching new programming services.
• Fees charged for a programming service should be in line with fees charged for other services of equal value to consumers to ensure consumer costs do not skyrocket.

A recent survey by Harrisdecima found that an overwhelming 88 per cent of Canadians support federal government rules that require all content to be made equally available to all distributors. Such rules are required to ensure consumers can watch any program they choose, no matter which company they buy their TV, internet or wireless service from.

Toronto-based Hobby Star Marketing Inc., organizers of the largest combined gaming, horror, comic, science fiction and anime event in Canada, Fan Expo Canada, today launched a lawsuit against American sports promotion company, Zuffa LLC and event organizers Reed Exhibitions Limited of the U.K. for trademark infringement.

The company’s statement of claim seeks to establish that Zuffa LLC’s use of “UFC Fan Expo” is a confusingly similar use to Hobby Star Marketing’s registered trade-mark, Fan Expo Canada, and that such use infringes on Hobby Star Marketing’s exclusive rights in Canada in its trademark, causes confusion and depreciates the value of the Fan Expo Canada brand.

In documents filed in Federal Court, Hobby Star Marketing is requesting an immediate injunction to block organizers from using the name “UFC Fan Expo” and the accompanying slogan, “Ultimate Fan Experience” in Canada. This claim follows the December 2010 announcement of the first-ever UFC Fan Expo in Canada to be held in Toronto later this month.

“For the past 17 years, Fan Expo Canada has been the only event offering unique experiences and opportunities to interact with icons, industry leaders, and other enthusiastic fans across a variety of genres and modes and we intend to grow dynamically in coming years,” said Aman Gupta, President of Hobby Star Marketing. “We will do everything possible to protect our intellectual property and maintain the integrity of our event and our brand.”

Owned and operated by Hobby Star Marketing, Fan Expo Canada offers fans the chance to meet their favourite celebrities and pop culture heroes at autograph and photo sessions. Attendees can also participate in informational workshops with industry experts offering advice, tips and portfolio reviews, and shop for exclusive Fan Expo Canada offers, collectibles and memorabilia from more than 600 vendors.

Hobby Star Marketing Inc. was founded in 1992 and has quickly become one of Canada’s premiere sports and entertainment marketing companies. Since its inception, Hobby Star Marketing has secured a niche in the industry by specializing in professional sport and entertainment celebrity placement at a variety of venues and events.

Predictive analytics software and solutions provider Angoss Software Corporation a global leader in delivering powerful , today announced the issuance to it by the US Patent Office of a patent for a method and system for interactive decision tree modification and visualization.

The invention with patent number 7,873,651 describes a method and system of modelling decision trees within a client-server environment. Decision trees are used as a visual and analytical decision support tool. They provide intuitive capabilities that allow users to segment populations and understand the key drivers of outcomes based on their business data. Angoss Software Corporation’s extensive experience with decision trees and its unique approach to their construction and visualization has now been recognized by the US Patent Office.

This latest patent covers technology in connection with the company’s KnowledgeSTUDIO® product and all of its interactions between the user, the client and the server when building and modifying a decision tree model. For example, to execute a “Find Split” operation, after receiving a user request, the client sends a command to the server which then finds the optimal variable to split on and how the data should be grouped to get the most predictive distribution. Once the server finds the answer, it is returned to the client to be displayed to the user for further interaction and modification.

“Today’s marketplace is growing increasingly competitive with the introduction of new data mining and predictive analytics technologies, and the most successful businesses will be those who leverage their intellectual property to give customers the assurances they are looking for when buying technology based products and solutions,” said Martin Galligan, President and CEO. “Our ability to bring the power of advanced predictive analytics to business users cannot be challenged.” Advanced analytics is no longer the exclusive domain of statisticians and quantitative analysts. This innovation progresses the ability of sales and marketing organizations to apply predictive analytics to their business to improve sales and marketing performance.”

Angoss Software Corporation also holds a patent for a method and system for the visual presentation of data mining models. Data visualization helps businesses discover valuable insight and intelligence from their data and makes predictive analytics accessible and easy to use for technical and business users. The company’s leadership in delivering data visualization through interactive decision tree and strategy tree technology puts the power of interactive modelling in the hands of business users.

New York-based CA Technologies has announced David Ridout as country manager and vice president, area sales for Canada. In his new role, Ridout leads the company’s Canadian operations, including strategic planning, business development, sales and marketing, customer relations and channel partnerships.

“David has the vision and experience to drive our business growth and customer satisfaction to new heights,” said Jon Hunter, general manager, North America Sales, CA Technologies. “His strong sales background will benefit the Canadian team and his expertise will help build our strong position in the Canadian market.”

Ridout is responsible for CA Technologies business performance, corporate presence and operational management across Canada. His team works with private and public sector customers to deliver the company’s comprehensive portfolio of IT management software and solutions.

“I’m excited to have the opportunity to direct the CA Technologies Canadian team,” Ridout said. “Together, we expect to produce exceptional results for our company, our partners, and most importantly, our customers. From the mainframe to the cloud, we’re focused on delivering solutions that will help our customers grow and thrive.”

Ridout has more than 17 years of business and sales management experience. He joined CA Technologies in 2008 as a sales director in Western Canada, responsible for revenue across enterprise and public sector accounts.

Previously, Ridout held a number of senior leadership positions, including vice president of worldwide sales for WatchGuard Technologies, and vice president of business development and marketing for Primus Knowledge Solutions. He also held positions in business and channel development, as well as sales and marketing, for a variety of software vendors in eCRM, business intelligence and network infrastructure.