I want my internet

Thursday, 22 May 2008

“I want my MTV.” This was the falsetto introduction and backing chorus to Dire Straits’ hit song from 1985 called “Money for Nothing.” Now that the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has signalled its intention to regulate broadcasting over the Internet, “I want my Internet” ought to be the new rallying call for Canadians who want their Internet unencumbered by government regulation.

Currently, CRTC rules exist that govern content on television and radio broadcasts. These rules dictate how much made-in-Canada content must appear on television and radio stations. They also created a fund that collects money from major Canadian broadcasters and uses it to support Canadian television and music productions.

Despite deciding against regulating broadcasting over the Internet in 1999 and exempting cellphones from broadcasting regulations in 2007, the CRTC is now concerned that more and more Canadians are accessing broadcast content from these alternative sources as opposed to more the more traditional forms of broadcasting such as television and radio. As a consequence, according to the regulatory body, Canadian participation in the new media is falling behind.

In response the CRTC recently released a Report entitled Perspectives on Canadian Broadcasting in New Media, and is soliciting public feedback in order to determine the scope of next years meetings on the question of what is broadcasting in new media? According to Konrad von Finckenstein, chairman of the CRTC, “Our intention is not to regulate new media, but rather to gain a better understanding of this environment and, if necessary, to propose measures that would support the continued achievement of the Broadcasting Act’s objectives.” Likewise, paragraph 210 of the above noted CRTC report states that, “No stakeholders have recommended that the Commission require ex ante approvals such as pre-registration or licensing as a condition of operation. No stakeholders have suggested blocking access to foreign services.”

Be that as it may, it is hard to imagine that the CRTC would devote such time and money to conduct public consultations unless it believed that there was a regulatory role for it to play with respect to the Internet. It is likely that the CRTC is considering some form of oversight and regulation with respect to Canadian broadcasting content over the Internet in the same manner it oversees and regulates such content vis-à-vis television and radio.

As such, the outcome of the above noted hearings, expected by late 2009, could conceivably limit the access Canadians now enjoy to online broadcasters and Internet-based radio stations. Another outcome may be a levy charged to Internet service providers (ISPs) to pay for the creation of more “Canadian” content online. Such a levy would effectively be another tax on Canadians as ISPs would likely pass the cost of the levy onto individual subscribers in the form of higher Internet subscription bills.
The reality is that any effort by the CRTC to control the Internet is likely to be thwarted by the practical difficulties of regulating the Internet. Head of Regulatory Affairs at Rogers Communications Inc., Ken Engelhart, has been quoted in a newspaper interview as saying, “What are you [the CRTC] going to do? Send a letter to YouTube and ask them where their Canadian broadcasting licence is? You have to exempt it because there’s no way to regulate it. It’s a borderless world.”

Nevertheless, if the current controls that exist on the television viewing and radio listening habits of Canadians are any indication, the freedom Canadians enjoy to surf the Internet from home and on mobile devices without the constraints of Canadian broadcasting regulation may well be in imminent danger of disappearing. It’s a freedom worth fighting to preserve though, given the state’s ever-increasing regulatory control over the lives of citizens in Canada.

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