Post Tagged with: "crtc"

Internet Video, Internet Regulation, and Canadian Content

My weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) focuses on the growing push from the Canadian broadcasting community to revisit the CRTC's 1999 New Media decision, in which Canada's broadcasting regulator took a hands-off approach to the Internet.  The support for greater regulation is often couched in Canadian content terms, but I argue that the current changes have the potential to dramatically alter Canadian content production from one mandated by government regulation to one mandated by market survival.

The issue began to percolate last June, when Canadian Heritage Minister Bev Oda asked the CRTC to conduct a six-month consultation on the effects of changing technology on the radio and television industries.  The CRTC report, which was quietly released in mid-December, went almost unnoticed, yet submissions from broadcasters, copyright collectives, and labour unions all point to an increased regulatory role for the CRTC.

The underlying theme of many stakeholder submissions is that unregulated new media represents a threat to the current regulated Canadian content model. 

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April 2, 2007 7 comments Columns

Broadcasting Community Surprisingly Calls For Internet Regulation

Appeared in the Toronto Star on April 2, 2007 as More Web Regulation Doesn't Make Any Sense The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has faced seemingly continuous criticism for years, however in May 1999 it released a decision that generated near-universal praise.  The New Media decision, which adopted a hands-off […]

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April 2, 2007 1 comment Columns Archive

Industry Committee Recommends Withdrawal of Telecom Reform Plan

The Standing Committee on Industry, Science, and Technology today tabled its report on telecom deregulation.  The report is very short (one paragraph) and to the point.  The Committee: recommends that the Minister of Industry withdraw the order varying Telecom Decision CRTC 2006-15 and table in Parliament a comprehensive package of […]

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March 30, 2007 2 comments News

Telecom Reform and Consumer Prices

The Globe and Mail on why telecom deregulation may actually result in higher, not lower pricing.  As Ivey School of Business professor Guy Holburn notes "It's a fairly concentrated industry.  It's just not obvious rates are going to go down."

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March 28, 2007 1 comment News

Wireless Number Portability Just a First Step

My weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) focuses on wireless number portability, which makes its much-anticipated debut on Wednesday, allowing Canadian consumers to change their cellphone provider without surrendering their current phone number.  I note that while wireless number portability removes one lock that the providers have […]

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March 12, 2007 4 comments Columns