The Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage has voted unanimously to conduct hearings on the future of the CBC starting in the new year. The move comes after the Conservative government shelved a potential review earlier this year. Interestingly, the hearings could have an impact on copyright reform since tying up […]
Post Tagged with: "CBC"
CBC Q&A on Copyright
The CBC has posted a brief (and somewhat incoherent) interview I did on copyright in the wake of the SCC's Robertson decision.
Net Neutrality and the CBC
The CBC recently released its submission to the CRTC as part of the examination of the future of broadcast in Canada. The submission interestingly raises network neutrality concerns, though it does not use that specific term. Rather, as part of a discussion on Internet video at page 19, the CBC says:
The business case analysis for Internet video is complicated by the fact that suppliers of broadband connections may also have incentives to control the bandwidth available for Internet video. Canadian cable companies engage in "bandwidth shaping" which allocates different levels of transmission capacity to different services according to the operational preferences of the cable company. This type of bandwidth shaping can ensure efficient use of transmission capacity. It can also ensure that Internet video by third parties does not become a threat to the business of the cable company, whether it be the delivery of traditional television programming to cable subscribers, VOD or the distribution of cable company-owned Internet video services. In light of this complex mix of issues, it remains unclear whether Internet video will become a primary means of distributing video content on a commercial basis.
This is network neutrality in action.
CBC’s Contrarians on Copyright
The Contrarians ran a good program on copyright today (I was among the guests interviewed). You can catch it again on Wednesday at 7:30 pm. Update: An MP3 version of the program is now online.
The CBC and DRM
Inside the CBC, a new blog on the CBC, contains a discouraging post on the CBC Radio's Internet streaming activities. The posting includes background information on why the CBC streams with Windows media, explaining that it met the CBC's four requirements, including the availability of digital rights management technologies. The posting has led to a robust discussion with several critics sounding off on the pro-DRM approach and raises questions about why the CBC has not instead used OGG or MP3 as a more open format. Tod Maffin, who runs the blog, defends the CBC's use of DRM, arguing that DRM is required under its commercial music broadcast licenses and that the CBC invites lawsuits if it fails to adequately protect its streams.
While I'm a big fan of CBC's streaming services, the suggestion that CBC must use DRM is plainly wrong.
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