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CRTC to Consider Regulation of Internet Broadcasting

6:10 am on October 16, 2008 | Category: Editorials, Regulation, Television, Web Services

Canada’s media regulator, the CRTC, is considering regulation of video content on the internet and on mobile phones.

Although such regulations wouldn’t be as strict as those imposed on radio and television broadcasters, they would be a major departure from the CRTC’s hands-off policy to internet broadcasting, which has been in place since 1999. Regulators say that it is the growing importance of the internet as an entertainment vehicle that has caused them to review policy towards the “new media environment.”

“Today, high-speed Internet access has been adopted by most Canadians, new technologies and applications are offering high-quality (television) broadcasting content, and Canadians are spending more time accessing this type of content over the Internet and mobile devices,” the CRTC said yesterday in a statement.

A major goal of the review will likely be the preservation of Canada’s cultural and entertainment industries, according to Two Solitudes Consulting analyst, Alan Sawyer, who recently conducted a study for the CRTC on the consumption of TV content in Canada.

“If left unchecked, the Internet does have the potential to do severe damage to our cultural industries as they are today,” Sawyer said.

But as Canadians consider the CRTC’s objectives, we must be wary of cultural protectionism. The internet, after all, should be a free and open window to the world, which transcends borders and exemplifies the importance of consumer choice in media consumption. “Canadian culture” should not be something that is forced down our throats by government.

Canadian bureaucrats already have a shameful record of suppressing freedom of speech on the internet. Do we really want to give them additional control over online broadcasting?

The CRTC plans to hold public hearings on the matter beginning on February 17, 2009.

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