VMedia pulls Bell channels amidst legal action

• An upstart telecommunications company has pulled Bell Media’s over-the-air channels from its new service that streams television over the Internet in response to legal action from the telecom giant that threatened millions of dollars in damages.

Toronto- based VMedia pulled CTV and CTV2 from its skinny TV package that allows users to stream about 15 live TV stations over any Internet connection using a Netflix- like app, a service that landed it in legal trouble with Bell days after it launched in September.

Bell contends that VMedia has no right to stream the signals over the Internet, arguing the service violates the Copyright Act and VMedia’s broadcast licence.

VMedia insists its actions are in line with law, but it stopped broadcasting Bell’s signals “as a sign of its good faith in dealing with this dispute,” according to an affidavit submitted to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice this week.

In exchange, Bell agreed to limit its damages, which VMedia called significant enough to present a material risk to its business.

But the show of good faith in the affidavit from director George Burger was shored with allegations of Bell’s “history of aggressive actions towards VMedia.”

Burger called this case the third time Bell has “sought to impede or extinguish” VMedia’s business.

In 2012, he stated Bell refused to deal with VMedia until it applied to the CRTC to compel it to do so.

In 2015, Burger said it took Bell weeks to inform VMedia of a temporary lapse in content delivery protocols, and that it only backed down from its threat to cut off service when VMedia obtained an appointment for an injunction from the Superior Court.

He argues t hat Bell, as an owner of both the content and the means to transport it to consumers, is averse to providers such as VMedia since Bell makes more money as a service provider than as a programmer.

“Shutting down VMedia will allow Bell’s competing broadcast distribution undertaking business to capture VMedia’s subscribers, and at the same time remove a competitor whose very existence introduces pricing discipline to a market dominated by duopolies in each geographic region,” Burger stated.

Bell has not filed any additional documents. It argues it is simply trying to protect copyrighted content from illegal distribution, pointing to a law that specifically excludes Internet streaming from the copyright rules that allow anyone with an antenna to play overthe-air signals.

Rogers has also asked VMedia to stop distributing its over-the-air channels over the Internet.