Earlier this year, I wrote the following about reforming the CBC: "the CBC can chart its own path by rethinking what it means to be a public broadcaster in the Internet era. Notwithstanding the importance of providing greater access to its content on all media platforms…the CBC would do well […]
Post Tagged with: "CBC"
BBC News Launches User Generated News Show
BBC News has announced plans to launch a news program based solely on user generated content. Your News will feature user-submitted stories and respond to user questions. I discussed similar possibilities for the CBC in a column last summer.
Canadian Heritage Committee to Conduct CBC Hearings
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 […]
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.
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