Last month I posted on the responses to the CRTC’s consultation on the future of Canadian programming, which yielded over 200 submissions that envision extensive Internet regulation and taxation. The CRTC has published a reference document for the second stage of its consultation that runs until January 31, 2018. My full submission for the first stage of the consultation can be found here.
I argue that the existing Canadian system is working well with significant new foreign investment in Canadian programming replacing declining investment from traditional sources such as broadcasters. Moreover, the audio market is experiencing remarkable growth with Internet streaming revenues in Canada far outpacing that found in many other countries.
With the market enjoying great success, I argue that the appropriate regulatory response should emphasize the ongoing shift to a digital market for audio and video programming by supporting regulations that foster increased global competitiveness of Canadian services and creators. These includes prioritizing affordable Internet access, a strong affirmation of net neutrality, the removal of outdated regulations that foster a “walled garden” style approach in Canada, and a rejection of new taxes, fees or content blocking schemes. The full submission is available here.
Very interesting article by Don Pitts on the CBC website today. http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/batteries-canada-technology-1.4455998
With decreasing battery costs, big electrical users can themselves lower their peak demands with local battery storage, charging their batteries during low demand, lost cost times. They can circumvent central electrical authority time-of-use pricing.
This puts the management of the power network in the hands of the end users as opposed to the owners of the network.
There is a parallel in the internet. Net neutrality puts the control in the hands of end users, rather than the network owners. All the innovation we have seen on the Internet has come from the edges, none from the network owners. That is why net neutrality is important.
We have net neutrality in Canada – with a strong commitment from all parties. We currently appear to have electrical network neutrality as well.
Perhaps it is time to put electrical network neutrality into the law.