A increasing number of small mobile content providers are using a new, much more direct method of getting their products into the hands of customers.
These companies have discovered the benefits of selling their wares directly to customers through brick-and-mortar stores, and offline promotions. San Jose-based PlayPhone Inc., for example, is selling $5 to $20 prepaid gift cards towards mobile games, ringtones, wallpapers, and music videos, via retail channels, rather than relying on distribution deals with carriers.
This growing "off-portal" approach allows for a much higher profit margin for the content providers, and currently accounts for about one third of all digital content sales. The business model as a whole reportedly generated a total of almost $1.4 billion globally in 2005.
(Originally published by TeleClick.ca on April 13, 2006)
Civil Forfeiture and the Standard of Proof
Unlike criminal proceedings, where an accused person must be presumed innocent until proven guilty and only punished once their guilt has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt, civil forfeiture proceedings operate on the balance of probabilities, meaning that the state must merely demonstrate that an individual has probably done something illegal in order to obtain forfeiture of their property.
The Right to Counsel in Canada
Section 10(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms preserves the right of a detained individual to contact counsel immediately upon arrest or detention, and simultaneously imposes a duty upon police to immediately inform individuals that they have this right.
The Right to a Speedy Trial in Canada
Section 11(b) of the Charter protects Canadians’ right to a speedy trial, stating that “any person charged with an offence has the right… to be tried within a reasonable time.”
