Reader Mail: CRTC launches consultation on broadcasting,in new media for future hearing
June 11, 2008
Luanne writes in with some potentially concerning news, and a question.
http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/NEWS/RELEASES/2008/r080515.htm
Should conservative bloggers be concerned about the CRTC regulations review in Canada?
I think it’s possible that there is a concern in the proposed regulations changes at the CRTC, yes.
The news release notes that the intent of the review is thus:
“The Commission has a responsibility to ensure that the broadcasting system is in a position to achieve the objectives of the Broadcasting Act, today as well as in the future,” said Konrad von Finckenstein, Q.C., Chairman of the CRTC. “New digital technologies and platforms are creating opportunities for the broadcast of professionally-produced Canadian content that simply didn’t exist a few years ago. 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.”
I’m less than inclined to trust any statement made by a bureaucrat, but I am especially leery of trusting one which begins “our intention is not to regulate…” Not that the CRTC would really need to take a hand in regulating or censoring Internet content in Canada, if the CHRC and its provincial equivalents are allowed to remain in operation and if they, say, convict Maclean’s either as an outcome of the British Columbia hearing or at a national level.
That said, were the CRTC of a mind to conform Canadian-generated Internet content to the stipulations of the Broadcast Act, the implications could be…severe, and then quite restrictive of freedom of expression. But all of that is still within the realm of possibility, and it’s equally possible that such a review as this will amount to nothing. Methinks it might do well to review the Broadcast Act itself and see what its various stipulations are, and then perhaps to do a little mental exercise to see if one can imagine how the Act might be applied to e.g. blogs.
Update: Welcome, Steynians!
