CMF awards $11.8 million for 24 digital-media projects

The Canadian Media Fund (CMF) said Monday it was providing $11.8 million for 24 interactive digital-media projects across the country.

The funding is the second round of the CMF's "experimental stream" for 2014-15, it said in a press release.

Videology bolsters Canadian staff

Videology Inc., the New York-based provider of video-advertising services, announced three appointments to its staff in Canada on Wednesday.

The company said in a press release that Peter Bates in now the senior commercial media account executive. He was previously business development manager at YuMe, a company that also deals with multi-screen video advertising, Videology said.

Greg Hopper has been made technical sales specialist, the release said, having come over from being media executive at MediaCom Canada.

Instagram begins advertising in Canada

Instagram, the photo-sharing app owned by Facebook Inc., on Monday launched its advertising program in Canada.

The company said in a press release the first ads, or promoted posts, that show up in users’ feeds will be from Hudson’s Bay Co., Sport Chek, Target Canada, Mercedes-Benz, Air Canada and Travel Alberta.

Instagram began showing promoted posts to users in the United States about a year ago.

Facebook reports more government info requests in Canada

Canadian law enforcement and government agencies asked Facebook Inc. for users’ data more times in the first six months of 2014 than in the same period last year, the social networking platform said in the Tuesday release of the latest edition of its biannual report on government requests.

According to the report, Canadian government agencies, including police, made 263 requests for data relating to 388 users and accounts in the first half of this year. Facebook produced data in 142, or 54 per cent, of those requests, it said.

Fee-based privacy features introduced for BBM

BlackBerry Ltd. on Friday announced new privacy measures for its BBM messaging service that will eventually be offered, along with other services, for a fee.

One such feature allows users to set a time when their sent messages will expire, BlackBerry said in a press release. The feature does not prevent a screenshot from being taken of the message but users will be alerted if that happens, BlackBerry said. When this feature is used the recipient has to keep touching the screen in order for the message to be visible, the company said.

French bank creates payment system with Twitter

French bank Groupe BPCE announced Tuesday what it called a "world first in the payment-media field" in allowing payments to be made via Twitter.

It said in a press release it has created, in partnership with its mobile-payments subsidiary S-money and Twitter Inc., a system where any holder of a French bank card can send money through Twitter.

Twitter files suit to disclose government info requests

Twitter Inc. said Tuesday it has filed a lawsuit in U.S. federal court to reveal more about the information requests it receives from the United States' government.

The company said in a press release it is prohibited by law from revealing the number of requests for private information it receives in the form of national security letters or from Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court orders, even if that number is zero.

Facebook closes WhatsApp purchase

Facebook Inc.'s purchase of instant messaging company WhatsApp Inc. closed Monday, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Bell Media invests in Hubub discussion website

BCE Inc.'s Bell Media said Wednesday it has invested $5 million in cash in Hubub Inc., and made commitments for millions of dollars more, to develop and promote the company's website and application that facilitates online discussions.

Bell Media said in a press release the investment has given it an equity stake in Hubub and the exclusive rights to monetize the company's service in Canada.

Twitter experimenting with instant-purchase tweets

Twitter Inc. said Monday it is testing a program that allows users on its social network to make purchases with the push of a new button that will be included in tweets.

Broadcast revenue rises as TV subs drop: CRTC

The latest numbers from the CRTC show Canadians are watching more television on more devices, though fewer people are subscribing to TV services and young adults are tuning out.

The broadcasting portion of the CRTC's annual Communications Monitoring Report was released Thursday.

The report showed that revenues for the overall broadcasting industry in 2013 rose by 1.3 per cent to $17.1 billion. However, the proportion of Canadian households with a television subscription of any kind fell to 84.9 per cent from 85.6 per cent a year earlier.

Netflix announces new Facebook feature

Netflix Inc. on Tuesday announced a new recommendation feature that works through Facebook Inc.'s social network.

The provider of online TV services said in a blog that, after viewing a program, users will be asked it they want to recommend what they have just seen to their friends and family. They choose those who are sent recommendations by accessing their friends list from Facebook.

Kevin Chan representing Facebook in Ottawa

Kevin Chan has been appointed Facebook Inc.'s head of public policy in Canada.

Company spokeswoman Meg Sinclair said in an email to The Hill Times that Chan will be based in Ottawa and have an "ongoing dialogue with policy-makers about Facebook’s products and services," while also "engaging on a broad range of issues that impact the Internet sector."

Web operators must pay SOCAN for music videos

Google Inc., Facebook Inc. and Netflix Inc. must pay Canadian songwriters and publishers for music videos viewed on their services, the Copyright Board of Canada ruled on Friday.

The board certified two tariffs from the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) that cover both official music videos and user-generated content on the Internet viewed online from 2007 to 2013.

Facebook tests direct-purchase feature