With the increased availability of videoprogramming on the Internet, it wasonly a matter of time before the CanadianRadio-television and TelecommunicationsCommission (
www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/welcome.htm) took an interest.
Back in 1999, the CRTC exempted from
regulation services that distribute
broadcasting content
over the Internet [Public
Notice 1999-197 (New Media
Exemption Order)]. In
2007, it extended the exemption
to broadcasting services
that are received through cell
phones and other mobile devices [Broadcasting
Public Notice 2007-13 (Mobile Broadcasting
Exemption Order)].
However, now that high-speed Internet
access has been adopted by most Canadians,
new technologies and applications are available
which offer high-quality broadcasting
content. With Canadians spending more
time accessing this type of content over the
Internet and mobile devices, the CRTC recently
launched a proceeding to gain a better
understanding of broadcasting in the
new media environment. Specifically, the
commission wishes to use the proceeding to
examine broadcasting in new media to determine
whether the New Media Exemption Order
and the Mobile Broadcasting Exemption
Order continue to be appropriate or to what
extent those orders need to be revised.
The proceeding follows the issuance by the
commission on May 15 of Broadcasting Public
Notice 2008-44 (including the release of
Perspectives on Canadian Broadcasting in New
Media, which provided a compilation of research
and stakeholder views on broadcasting
in new media) to narrow the range of issues
that should be considered. Public comments
collected during May and June were compiled
into an e-consultation report (
www.crtc.gc.ca/
eng/media/nmbcr.htm) that was published in
September along with another report [
TV or
Not TV: Three Screens, One Regulation? (
www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/media/noam2008.htm)] commissioned
by the CRTC to provide background to
the current proceeding.
The commission is now looking for public
comment on a number of issues. The first has
to do with the definition of broadcasting in new
media. The commission has expressed a view
that it is not concerned with user-generated
content (eg, YouTube videos) but is trying to
ascertain what type of broadcasting content it
should pay attention to. For example, should it
draw a distinction between professional versus
non-professional content, or content aimed at
commercial versus non-commercial
use?
The commission is also
expecting to review the significance
of broadcasting in
new media and its impact on
the traditional broadcasting
system, including whether
incentives or regulatory measures should be
considered for the creation and promotion of
Canadian broadcasting content in new media.
For example, Canadian broadcasters may ask
for bans on Internet videos coming from outside
Canada by saying they own the distribution
rights in Canada. I suspect the commission
will not likely consider means to block foreign
broadcasts being sent across the Internet for a
number of reasons: (i) regulation of the Internet
is difficult from a technical perspective, (ii) such
concerns are more of a copyright issue, and (iii)
a number of U.S. web sites which stream television
programs already block access from users
not located in the U.S. However, I suspect the
commission may consider the imposition of a
tax or fee on Internet connectivity (one of the
suggestions contained in the TV or Not TV report),
which would then be used to help fund
the creation and promotion of Canadian content.
Hopefully Canada’s Internet service providers
and cell phone companies will quickly
mobilize to oppose this approach.
Over the past couple of years, there has been
growing public concern regarding network neutrality,
meaning that the Internet service providers
should not filter or give priority to certain
content or Internet services over other types of
services. While the commission does not wish to
tackle the broader issue as part of this proceeding,
it will examine access issues relevant to the achievement
of the broadcasting policy objectives of the
Broadcasting Act. Hopefully, this opening will be
exploited to push the commission into examining
the network neutrality issue generally.
