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Canadian Media Concentration Research Project
The Canadian Media Concentration Research Project (CMCRP) is a project lead by Dwayne Winseck, who is a professor at the University of Carlton at the School of Journalism and Communication.CMCRP research group consists of six members who are all well versed in communications policy and media ownership. CMCRP is a project that looks into media concentration in Canada. The CMCRP was founded in 2009 by Dwayne Winseck, who at the time was the lead Canadian researcher for the International Media Concentration Research. CMCRP research goal is to figure out the root problem of media concentration ownership in Canada through empirical data.

In the mandate of this research project is to answer the question of telecom, media and internet markets become more concentrated over time, or less. The Canadian Media Concentration Research (CMCR) project addresses this question through its data-driven analysis of media concentration in more than a dozen sectors of the telecom-media-internet (TMI) industries in Canada. The issue that the CMCRP is tackling is one that has plague Canada since the existence of railroads; few owners operating a national infrastructure. The CMCRP sees this as an issue because this leads to high-cost, low-quality services for the citizens of Canada. Another problem that is looked at is how policies in communications in Canada protect the few owners of infrastructure, which is why in their report they call a reform in the policy making process. However, the owners argue that that the question is no longer even relevant in the age of the internet. While opinions are rife, high-quality data on the issue is remarkably scarce, both in Canada and around the world.

State of the Digital Media and Internet Industry in Canada
The state of Digital Media and Internet industry in Canada is a two part yearly report dating back to 2012. This report is split into one report that focuses on media and internet concentration in Canada. The other part focuses on the growth of the Network Economy in Canada.

The media concentration part of the report talks about competition in the market and vertical integration of the "Big Five" corporation. In recent reports It references concerns put out by the Standing Committee of Canadian Heritage; the existing structure of the Canadian market should be revamped into a platform that funds and support local Canadian conten t. However with the current climate of the network economy and higher levels of concentration especially in the local market it is difficult to put forth this change without actively lobbying against the Big Five. The report also mentions that Canada is the only country in the developed world that has all their main TV services owned by telecom companies, excluding their public network CBC.

The growth of Network Economy in Canada focuses on market trends. The report examines the development of the media economy over the past thirty-three years. This gives readers a snapshot of what is happening in the media and internet industry of Canada. This also shows what services are declining and what are on the rise. Understanding the media environment also helps to focus attention on the pressing issues of contemporary society. Communication and media scholars, for example, typically emphasize the importance of content media and accordingly place a central focus on developments in advertising-based media.

Policy Interventions
Policy Interventions is a collection of pressing topics that has to be looked at in the media sector of Canada. These topics range from privacy issues, mobile data problems, affordability, cultural issues, ISP interference, unethical practices in the industry and current policies in place that cripple the growth of a health Network economy.

Privacy issues that are talked about is the problem of internet service providers in Canada would 'boomerang' traffic through the USA letting the NSA snoop into our data. This becomes an issue because it threatens Canada's national sovereignty, by giving foreign power access to information of their citizens. Boomerang traffic is also a violation of section 8 of the Canadian Charter of Freedom and Rights, that protects against unlawful search and seizure and by the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Document Ac t (PIPEDA), which safeguards data privacy in private sectors.

Mobile Data problem stems from the problem of media ownership Concentration. Because there are very little competition in the mobile data industries, the entities in the market has created a cartel like market, where they work together to keep prices high in the market. With high prices comes with a lack of affordability. Solutions to this problem was suggested by the CMCRP; to allow MVNOs into the market. However current policies do not allow these telecom companies to wholesale access to their network. Recent efforts by the CRTC are trying to change this problem. Even with the entry of Freedom Mobile (Formerly Wind Mobile) who was bought by Shaw, data prices are still high. This is because the oligopoly wants to keep this status quo by hiring many lobbyists to defend their actions.

The CMCRP published a report on the unethical practices in the telecommunications industry of Canada. They talk about how some ISP would interfere with traffic on certain sites. An example of this is when Telus cut access to a pro-union website from subscribers of their network. Another unethical practice that is discussed in the publications of Policy intervention is Zero-Rating. This gave preferential treatment to certain services offered to customers. The problem that this created was a two-tiered network. This leads to problems with net neutrality because not everyone would be able to access the same information. However recent publications by the CMCRP has stated that the CRTC stepped in and outright banned the practice of zero-rating.

Posters
These posters released by the CMCRP gives a visual representation of the media industry in Canada.

Media Coverage
The CMCRP has been interviewed and referenced on many new reports. Major Canadian News networks including CBC, CTV, BNN and Global News have invited CMCRP researchers to appear on their broadcasts as expert commentators.The work of the CMCRP has been featured in news reports on issues relating to developments in the Canada media and telecom industries. A comprehensive list of new reports referencing their work can be found here.