Tuesday, January 24, 2012

The Internet is Ruining Canada!

Well, perhaps that's a little strong, but in an interview with The Globe and Mail the outgoing head of the CRTC noted that the Internet has really changed how Canadians receive content and that the CRTC's Canadian content regulations are no longer effective.

For those unfamiliar with Canada's stalwart defenses against the relentless assault on our culture by outside media, the CRTC (Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission) specifies minimum Canadian content requirements for both radio (35% Canadian content) and television (60% Canadian content).


With content increasingly being delivered over the Internet, though, these regulations are becoming increasingly unenforceable. To his credit, Konrad von Finckenstein, as he retires from heading up the CRTC, does not believe that it makes sense to attempt to adapt the heavy-handed legacy regulations to the Internet.

No one is quite certain what the CRTC's next move will be but you can be sure that great minds are at work to find new ways to protect us innocent Canadians from too much foreign entertainment.

For me, this raises two very significant questions:
   1) Is there still a need to protect Canadian culture by restricting foreign content?
   2) Is there any feasible way to do so?

It will be interesting to see what happens as the CRTC transitions into its new leadership and undertakes the task of reinventing its role as our cultural defenders in the 21st century.

Of course, with the number of times I see "This content is not available in your country" I wonder if there's really anything left for the CRTC to do.

1 comment:

  1. I just ran into that message today! Looks like we can't access the BBC channel on YouTube.

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