TORONTO, March 31,
2022 /CNW/ - Asian Television Network
International Limited (ATN) (TSXV: SAT) is Canada's largest South Asian Broadcaster and
pioneer broadcaster of Cricket.
ATN is very happy to note that the Supreme Court of Canada has declined leave to appeal in the
matter of the 2021 Federal Court of Appeal decision under which a
2019 Federal Court Order to block their subscribers access to
piracy websites was unanimously upheld.
ATN was an active member of FAIRPLAY COALITION, comprised of
industry stake holders, which had sought dissolution of piracy and
had in that process filed an application to the CRTC. The
application was denied in 2018 for lack of jurisdiction. It seems
that the legislation was drafted in the internet's early days of
innocence and Piracy was not yet on the scene and never
up-dated.
Be that as it may, several of the industry leaders persevered
with patience and resources to find a judicial remedy and we are
grateful for their initiative and the success in that process which
shall benefit Canadian cultural industry across the board.
As per a recent release from Smart & Biggar LLP "On
March 24, 2022, the Supreme Court of
Canada denied Teksavvy Solutions
Inc's application for leave to appeal a decision of the Federal
Court of Appeal (2021 FCA 100), affirming the Federal Court's
decision in Bell Media Inc et al v Goldtv.biz et al,
2019 FC 1432, which enjoined Canada's main Internet Service Providers
(ISPs) to block their subscribers' access to certain piracy
websites. This decision confirms once and for all that
site-blocking Orders are available in Canada, and is another major victory for
Canadian copyright holders in the fight against online piracy. The
Plaintiffs/Respondents Bell Media Inc, Groupe TVA Inc and Rogers
Media Inc were successfully represented by Smart & Biggar's
litigation team in Montréal led by François Guay, Guillaume Lavoie
Ste-Marie and Olivier Jean-Lévesque". Full release available
at:
https://www.smartbiggar.ca/insights/publication/supreme-court-of-canada-denies-teksavvy-solutions-inc-leave-to-appeal-canada-rsquo-s-first-site-blocking-order
ATN is committed to eradication of piracy and to follow the
leadership of Industry leaders and of the CRTC and the
Minister of Heritage to stop the revenue bleeding in the range of
Billions rather than Millions of Dollars to the piracy based
underground market.
It is interesting to note while on the subject that Bill C -11
promises to bring commercial online distributors under the
discipline of being on a List and of meeting some obligations
relating to content and contributions. Paradoxically, piracy
distribution fits the definition of 'online undertakings' at a
first glance. The CRTC needs the requisite powers similar to those
exercised by The Canada Border Control Agency to enable it to
detect pirates and weed them out.
"The Supreme Court ruling is a milestone and it could prove
to be a lifesaver for the Canadian Broadcast Industry. Not only
would ATN Benefit but several other specialty services and the
entire Cable, satellite and the production industries will
flourish" said Dr. Shan
Chandrasekar, President and CEO of ATN. "Thanks to the
perseverance, resources and patience of our Industry leaders, they
prevailed at all levels in the judicial system and the recent
denial of leave by the Supreme Court of Canada establishes
that 'for every wrong, there is a remedy' under our ever evolving
system of justice. We are most appreciative of that. We thank the
industry leaders and congratulate them on their success. The
decision will be welcome and benefit the whole industry", he
added.
ATN is one of the largest producers and distributors of
Multi-Cultural content in Canada
and is fully committed to provide quality content to a growing
South Asian population across Canada. However, in order to do that it needs
the Government of Canada also to
do better to block the Illegal piracy set top boxes and sites in
order to strengthen the cultural industries in Canada to grow to its fullest potential.
About ATN-Asian Television Network
International Limited
ATN serves Canada's diverse
cultural communities with over 50 specialty television channels.
The Company offers its flagship ATN-HD general interest service
along with 7 other general interest channels, 3 sports Channels, 7
news Channels, 5 Bollywood movie channels and a variety of channels
that include music, lifestyle, and several regional language
channels that includes Punjabi, Tamil, Bengali, Urdu, Gujarati
& Marathi. ATN has been a pioneer in the Production of
Multicultural Television Programming in Canada. ATN has programming alliances with
leading international broadcasters like Sony Entertainment
Television, Viacom, India Cast, Zee
Network, Doordarshan, Times Television, B4U, NDTV, Republic TV, ABP
News Network, Jaya TV, ARY, FOOD FOOD Network and many more. ATN is
also a pioneer broadcaster of Cricket in Canada and has exclusive broadcast rights for
various International Cricket Boards. ATN has its own State Of The
Art Production facilities. ATN's content is also available on
Amazon Prime in USA & UK, Bell Media's Crave in Canada and also operates a 24X7 South Asian
Radio Service on Sirius XM Radio across The United States and Canada. ATN's high class Studio Facilities
have also been used by Production Companies associated with
Netflix, CBC and others.
We rely on safe harbour provision.
SOURCE Asian Television Network International Limited
