Oh Canada! 

Canadians according to Canadian law might be one of the largest groups of pirates that history has ever seen if we exclude online music piracy.  Snagging free MP3 files garnishes a great deal of attention, but were you aware that almost a million Canadians or better are stealing Satellite signals not sanctioned by the Canadian government?

That’s right Canadians are picking up signals that include everything from Dish Network to XM Satellite radio wherever they can get it.  Funny thing is these Pirates are not stealing from the satellite company, they are paying for the content!  They set up illegal ‘offshore’ accounts in the US to pay their cable bills. 

Technically its on the same shore but from a legal jurisdiction perspective a Sovereign nation can be viewed as offshore, in fact some states within the US even offer Offshore banking to citizens of other states in the US.  Caribbean climates don’t often come to mind when we think about offshore banking in Montana or Nevada but that is the way it is.

The services do not necessarily mind and the equipment dealers and distributors make a fortune from the practice as US satellite receivers of both cable TV and radio can command double the price seen in the US as its smuggled into Canada and sold on the black market.

Up until recently the service considered the Canadian consumers as more of a smuggler than a pirate and turned a blind eye mostly to the activity.  But recent crack downs of forces from both the government and the cable companies are making some Canadians see red or more precisely static as their cable connection is removed.

Now many Canadians are beginning to demand their satellite rights to American shows.  Canada despite the North American Free Trade Agreement has a very long history of protectionism within its broadcast industry.  Protected markets however cannot always survive market forces and taking away someone’s cable, well those are fighting words where I come from.  Let’s hope Canada does not break down into the quagmire of civil war over this very important and difficult issue.

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Foonz is a new internet service that allows users to establish a free account.  From this Account you can setup a contact list with contacts, then whenever you like, you can call Foonz to start a group conference call. 

Foonz then sends out a message to everyone in you invite group.  They send messages via text messages or by email or even by instant messaging services.

The members of your group can then call in to the number provided in the Foonz message notification.  When they call in they are joined to the group call.

Sign up for free at the foonz web site

Foonz has separate agreements with existing phone companies that covers the expense of the call, which is how they receive funding and keep their service free to the end user.  Foonz has a policy of not sharing or using your personal information nor that of your contacts, other than the occasional promotion for a new Foonz service or upgrade.

Foonz does push for users to utilize their cell phones, which seems to work best with their system allowing for users to automatically log in as soon as they phone into the system to establish a new call.  This does not stop the service from being available from any phone you may wish to utilize. 

Foonz is available for service in the US and abroad as well, however text message notifications to people in the intended conference group will only be delivered to US based cell phones.  That won’t stop notifications through IM or email.

There are many services that will charge $50 a month or more for similar functionality plus the foonz service can rapidly allow users to establish a conference call rapidly at anytime with out having to schedule the conference online or through outlook.  The convenience is fast, friendly and definitely geared towards spontaneous conversations of groups, associates or even friends just catching up with each other or hoping on the phone after an online conversation.

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