Most net firms back web-blocking in Canada, though there are some detractors
The web-blocking debate is moving forward in Canada following the recent passing of a deadline to respond to proposals that a web-block agency be established there. Several internet firms are backing the proposals, though there are some critics too.

Web-blocking, of course, has become a preferred anti-piracy tactic of music and movie companies in many countries and especially the UK. Copyright owners secure injunctions that order internet service providers to block their customers from accessing websites deemed to exist primarily to facilitate and encourage online piracy.

Web-blocks sometimes come about because of the introduction of new regulations or courts may decide that they have the power to issue such injunctions under existing copyright law. Usually it is entertainment companies that push for web-blocks to be introduced. Net firms tend to be resistant at first but - with a few exceptions - then subsequently fall in line once the web-blocking orders start rolling in.

In Canada, however, it is actually internet companies which have been leading the push for some kind of web-blocking system to be introduced. The SVP of Regulatory Affairs at tel co Bell - Rob Malcolmson - first proposed such a system during a session debating the North American Free Trade Agreement last September.

Subsequently Bell and other ISPs have joined with copyright owners to form the Fairplay Coalition which has made more formal proposals. It is proposed that an Independent Piracy Review Agency be set up to manage a list of piracy websites that should be blocked, with Canada's Federal Court of Appeal ultimately overseeing its operations.

The country's media and telecommunications regulator CRTC gave interested parties until the end of last month to respond to said proposals, and 'reply comments' will still be accepted until 23 Apr. While Canada's web-blocking plans are unusual in being so readily backed by so many of the country's internet service providers, there are some net firms among critics of the proposed Independent Piracy Review Agency.

Torrentfreak has honed in on the submission by a company called TekSavvy, which provides net access to over 250,000 homes and businesses in Canada. Hitting out at the Fairplay Coalition's proposals, it writes: "If implemented, the applicants' proposal for site blocking would fundamentally reshape how internet services would work in Canada, including the manner in which TekSavvy provides internet services".

Like many other ISPs who have objected to web-blocking elsewhere in the world, TekSavvy questions the effectiveness of this anti-piracy approach. It goes on: "It is well-documented that blocking individual websites is difficult and expensive and - even so - [blockades are] relatively trivial to circumvent. As a result, site-blocking is neither efficient, nor effective".

Those ISPs backing the proposals might point out that concerns expressed by net firms in other countries about web-blocking being a major task and/or amounting to censorship haven't really come to pass.

While it is true that web-blocks are usually pretty easy to circumvent with a simple Google search, copyright owners argue that web-blocking nevertheless serves an educational role by alerting consumers to the fact that a piracy website is in fact a piracy website.

It remains to be seen how the CRTC now responds.

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John Prine signs to Downtown
John Prine has signed a worldwide publishing deal with Downtown. The deal covers most of his solo output, as well as songs performed by artists including Johnny Cash and Carly Simon. It comes ahead of his first new album for thirteen years, 'The Tree Of Forgiveness'.

"I've known John and his family for quite some time and am so excited for myself and Downtown to officially be apart of the team", says Downtown's VP A&R, Nashville Steve Markland. "Working with John Prine and his vast catalogue of timeless, immaculate compositions is truly a career milestone for me. I am simply honoured and humbled to be a part of John's great work".

Prine adds: "I'm very pleased to have Downtown represent my catalogue of songs. Steve Markland in Nashville has been hugely supportive of our family owned independent label Oh Boy Records. We are looking forward to working with him and whole Downtown team".

'The Tree Of Forgiveness' is due out this Friday.

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Law firm looking into anti-competitive conduct claims against Live Nation
New York legal firm Bragar Eagel & Squire last week announced plans to investigate the allegations of anti-competitive behaviour that have been made against Live Nation, on behalf of shareholders in the live entertainment giant.

It follows the recent New York Times piece which ran through claims that Live Nation uses its power as a concert promoter to pressure venues to hire its Ticketmaster division for ticketing. This conduct, some allege, is in violation of a consent decree agreement the company reached with the US Department Of Justice when Live Nation and Ticketmaster merged back in 2010. The Times added that the DoJ itself is investigating these claims.

Ticketmaster President Jared Smith quickly issued a lengthy response to the article disputing all of the allegations in it and insisting that his company followed the commitments made in the 2010 consent decree. He also argued that the ticketing sector was more competitive than ever and that Ticketmaster's success in the market was down to innovation, not the exploitation of its parent company's market dominance.

He concluded: "It is absolutely against Live Nation and Ticketmaster policy to threaten venues that they won't get any Live Nation shows if they don't use Ticketmaster. Live Nation is the most artist-focused company in the world, and misusing our relationship with artists to 'settle scores' with venues would be both bad business and counter to our core beliefs".

The Times article nevertheless caused Live Nation's share price to wobble. A fact Bragar Eagel & Squire noted when announcing it was planning to look into the allegations against the live firm and any possible DoJ investigation.

In their statement, the lawyers said that "if you purchased or otherwise acquired Live Nation shares and suffered a loss, continue to hold shares, have information, would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters" you should get in touch.

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Disney developing High Fidelity TV series
A new TV series based on Nick Hornby's novel 'High Fidelity' and the subsequent film of the same name is reportedly in the works.

According to Deadline, 'Ugly Betty' writers Veronica West and Sarah Kucserka have written the series, which is being developed for Disney's new streaming service. The film's co-writer Scott Rosenberg is also involved. For the show, the lead role will be taken on by a woman who, as in the book and film, will be a record shop owner who chronicles her former relationships.

The tone of the show is likely to be somewhat different from the film, as the Disney streaming service, which is set for launch early next year, will reportedly carry family-friendly material. In the US, the movie was rated 'R' (in the UK it had a 15 certificate) - the highest age restriction.

Other TV shows reportedly in the works for the streaming platform reportedly include titles based on 'Star Wars', 'High School Musical', 'Monsters Inc' and something from the Marvel canon.

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Empire Records to be adapted into a stage musical
If the 'High Fidelity' TV series turns out not to be up to much, there's still hope for your record store-based movie nostalgia. How does an 'Empire Records' stage musical sound?

The cult film's original screenwriter Carol Heikkinen will adapt the story for the stage, alongside composer Zoe Sarnak. Currently they're aiming to premiere the show on Broadway in New York in 2020.

The 1995 movie followed a group of teenagers working in a large record store (based on Heikkinen's own experiences of working at Tower Records), as they prepare for an in-store appearance by waning pop star Rex Manning. Meanwhile, they learn that the independent shop is on the verge of being taken over by a big national chain. For anyone under the age of 25, yes, this is genuinely a thing that could have happened in the 90s.

Although the world of music a record shops is now very different, Heikkinen reckons there's still plenty for today's teenagers to enjoy in the story. Speaking to Rolling Stone, she says: "I think the way that teenagers feel about music hasn't changed - they define themselves by it".

She continues: "The film has developed a cult audience over the years, and addresses issues that people of all ages can identify with. It also evokes an interesting period in time, the 90s, where the music business was changing - and a lot of people remember that as part of their youth. I knew we had something when I would tell people about the show and consistently see faces light up - everyone has a story, whether it's that they saw the movie ten times, stole the video cassette from an older sibling or the soundtrack was the first CD they ever purchased".

Sarnak adds that the film's original soundtrack will also heavily influence the new songs in the musical, saying: "[The 90s] was a really special time when [alt-rock] intersected with punk, grunge and even pop. These styles can inform a score that is melodic while still feeling organic, visceral and explosive. Needless to say, this won't be a 'traditional' Broadway score".

A rising star as a stage composer, Sarnak was recently awarded the 2018 Jonathan Larson Grant for her latest show, 'Afterwords'.

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Actress and the London Contemporary Orchestra to release album
Electronic music maker Actress - aka Darren Cunningham - and the London Contemporary Orchestra are set to release an album together titled 'Lageos'.

The record is based on their 2016 collaboration at the Barbican in London, commissioned by Boiler Room. Both the original performance and the album feature manipulated electronic and acoustic instruments. As well as creating new pieces, new versions of existing Actress tracks have been developed.

"In many ways the collaboration is about exploring an ambiguity of sound that sits between electronic and acoustic spaces; something that we're aiming to push further as part of the live shows", says the LCO's Hugh Brunt of the collaboration.

"For much of the set we look to realise as close as possible the timbres and colours of Actress's electronics through acoustic means - which he in turn responds to - something of a physicalisation of those synthesised or sampled sounds", he adds. "That has involved utilising various accessories: plastic bags - for white noise or to emulate an EQ'd hi-hat; keys; Blu-Tack - to dampen the piano's upper strings; milk frothers on harp strings, and so on".

Actress and the LCO will return to the Barbican for a new live performance on 26 May, the day after the album is released. Watch the original 2016 performance in full here.

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John Legend, Plan B, Halsey, more

Other notable announcements and developments today...

• You can now get a daily CMU news summary via our Messenger bot. Click here to get started.

• John Legend has released new single 'A Good Night', featuring Blood Pop.

• Plan B has released new track 'Grateful'. New album 'Heaven Before All Hell Breaks Loose' is out on 4 May.

• Halsey has released the video for recent single 'Alone'. She's also announced a second show at the Hammersmith Apollo on 23 Sep to go with the one she's already sold out the night before.

• Johnny Marr will release a new solo album, 'Call The Comet', on 15 Jun. First single 'The Tracers' is out now.

• After what seems like about 27 years, Friendly Fires are back with a new single, 'Love Like Waves'.

• Underworld have released new track 'Brilliant Yes That Would Be'.

• Warmduscher have released new single 'Standing On The Corner'.

• Frøkedal will release new album 'How We Made It' on 31 Aug. From it, this is first single 'I Don't Care'.

• Syrra have released a new single, 'Wasp'.

• Leon Bridges will be in the UK in November for tour dates that will culminate in a show at Brixton Academy on 17 Nov.

• Check out our weekly Spotify playlist of new music featured in the CMU Daily - updated every Friday.

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Canadian Police seek woman who stole Yoko Ono pebble
Police in Toronto are searching for a woman who stole a pebble bearing Yoko Ono's handwriting from an art exhibition.

The stone was part of Ono's installation 'The Riverbed', currently on display at the Gardiner Museum in Toronto. It was one of a number of rocks in the interactive exhibition, all of which have been shaped by water and some of which Ono has written words or phrases on. While visitors are invited to pick up the stones, walking out of the building with them is frowned upon. Particularly as the stone in question, upon which is written "love yourself", is valued at $17,500.

The theft actually took place last month, but with the thief still at large police have now appealed to the public for information. They say that the woman, aged between 55 and 60, walked off with the stone at about 5.30pm on 12 Mar.

"It's a totally interactive [exhibit]", a police spokesperson told the Toronto Star. "There's a bunch of rocks on the ground and people can walk up to them and pick them up. She just picked it up and walked away with it".

You can see the other pieces of rock with writing on at the Gardiner Museum until 2 Jun, by which time the missing one may or may not have been returned. Security has presumably now been increased in order to prevent another heist of this magnitude.

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