February 28, 2006
Website to share Canadian design with the world
TORONTO—When you finally get around to doing your spring-cleaning this year, don't throw out that old box of Windsor Salt. Although its 1960s design by Chris Yaneff remained unchanged for decades, its packaging has recently been redesigned. So hang onto that box, it's an iconic piece of Canadian design history. The salt, along with many items commonly found in Canadian homes, was on display as part of the Canadian Design Resource's first exhibition at Toronto's Gladstone Hotel last weekend. Presented by design collective Motherbrand, the exhibit officially launched the Canadian Design Resource website www.canadiandesignresource.ca, an online gallery that aims to promote Canadian design worldwide. Visit the site and discover what other gems of Canadian design you have stowed away.
February 22, 2006
Marketing and design firm settles software compliance problem
TORONTO—Communications company Pi Media, a St. Joseph Corporation subsidiary that also owns Toronto-based companies DW+Partners and Gottschalk+Ash International, has recently agreed to pay $85,000 after a self-audit uncovered unlicensed copies of Adobe software installed on some of its computers. Pi Media is one of five companies paying a combined total of over $210,000 to settle claims they had more copies of certain software than licenses to support. According to David Ballantyne, Pi Media vice president of IT and advanced technology, it was working with Adobe to clear up compliance issues, mainly unowned fonts, when software piracy watchdog Canadian Alliance Against Software Theft (CAAST) contacted them. “We started off as different small companies and we’ve been acquired bit by bit by St. Joseph Corporation so we’ve become a very large company quickly and we knew we had to manage this stuff better to make sure we were compliant in all areas,” says David Ballantyne. Pi Media is taking steps to improve its software management program with policies and technologies to monitor its computers, some 1500 Mac desktops, and to prevent the infiltration of applications not owned by the company. According to a 2004 global software piracy study by International Data Corporation, 36% of software installed on computers in Canada was illegally copied, resulting in a loss of $1.1 billion. Companies can download free audit tools at CAAST to determine whether their businesses are using unlicensed software. Contact: www.caast.org
