Post Tagged with: "crtc"

The CRTC’s Future of Television Consultation: The Missing Provocative Questions

Last month, I blogged about the CRTC’s Talk TV consultation and concerns that the questions were framed in a lopsided manner.  CRTC Chair Jean Pierre Blais was asked about those concerns in Twitter chat and he responded that the questions and answers “were intended to be provocative.” I address that response in my weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) highlighting both the concerns with the survey and offering some additional provocative questions that the Commission excluded.

The column begins by noting that regulation of Internet video services and the prospect of pick-and-pay television channels headline the second phase of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s future of television consultation which launched late last month. The “TalkTV” initiative is designed to make it easy for Canadians to participate, featuring six short scenarios followed by a limited number of choices for respondents.

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March 5, 2014 5 comments Columns

The Future of Television Consultation Omits the Big Question: Do We Still Need the CRTC?

Appeared in the Toronto Star on March 1, 2014 as Do We Still Need the CRTC? The regulation of Internet video services and the prospect of pick-and-pay television channels headline the second phase of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s future of television consultation which launched late last month. The […]

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March 5, 2014 Comments are Disabled Columns Archive

CRTC Launches Lopsided Talk TV Consult: Raises Prospect of Net Regulation & Net Neutrality Violation

The CRTC launched the second phase of its Talk TV consultation with a series of questions that place the big regulatory issues squarely on the table. After asking some basic data questions, the consultation addresses a series of issues with scenarios that are framed in a lopsided manner. The consultation addresses hot button issues such as online video, pick-and-pay channels, and simultaneous substitution, but the options presented to respondents are limited and skewed toward Internet regulation for online video or supporting the status quo for conventional broadcast. For example, access to more U.S. programming is presented as a choice between increased fees, lost Canadian jobs, or larger television packages with Canadian channels. The online video discussion is premised on new CRTC regulations that with a series of increased fee options presented.

If this consultation is a signal of where the CRTC is headed, not only is the notion of true pick-and-pay channels dead and simultaneous substitution alive, but the Commission may be willing to toss out net neutrality in a race to regulate online video services. The issues raised in the consultation:

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February 19, 2014 21 comments News

CBC’s All In the Day: Should Netflix be Regulated?

I appeared on All in a Day to discuss whether Netflix with its growing relevance to the broadcasting sector should be regulated by the CRTC.

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February 18, 2014 Comments are Disabled News Interviews, Tv / Radio
052:365 - 06/21/2012 - Netflix by Shardayy (CC BY 2.0) https://flic.kr/p/cisnRo

Canadian Media Production and Music Groups Calls for New Rules for Netflix, Google, ISPs

Canadians love Internet success stories such as Netflix and Google as recent data indicates that millions now subscribe to the online video service and Google is the undisputed leader in search and online advertising. The changing marketplace may be a boon to consumers, but my weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) notes that it also breeds calls for increased Internet regulation. That is particularly true in the content industry, with the film and music sectors recently calling for rules that would target online video services, Internet providers, and search engines.

The Canadian Media Production Association, which represents independent producers of English films and television shows, recently told a Senate committee that new rules are needed to address the threat posed by popular Internet video services such as Netflix. The CMPA argued that a “level playing field” is needed to ensure that there is “choice, diversity and growth in a more open market place.”

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February 13, 2014 19 comments Columns