Category: North America

Presentation of the Internet Society, Canada Chapter, on Bill C-10, amendments to the Broadcasting Act Greetings, ladies and gentlemen. I am speaking today on behalf of the Internet Society, Canada Chapter. We are the independent Canadian chapter of the worldwide Internet Society. The Internet Society Canada Chapter (ISCC) is a not-for-profit corporation that engages in internet legal and policy issues to advocate for an open, accessible and affordable internet for Canadians. An open internet means one in which ideas and expression can be communicated and received except where limits have been imposed by law. An accessible internet is one where all persons and all interests can freely access websites that span all legal forms of expression. An affordable internet is one by which all Canadians can access internet services at a reasonable price. You can find out more about us at www.Internetsociety.ca, where you will find information about who we are and the public policy positions we have taken in recent years. I draw your attention particularly to our detailed analysis and critique of the Final Report of the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Legislative Review Panel – the so-called Yale Report. Among our membership are those with a long history of engagement with the Broadcasting Act, going back to the period 1987-1991 when the current Act was drafted and adopted. Among our numbers are persons who have been responsible for broadcasting policy, the drafting of the current Broadcasting Act, and the administration of Act as former Commissioners of the CRTC. We have a comprehensive knowledge of the objectives of the current Act, the various policies adopted in its implementation, and the economic and policy context in which the current amendments have been proposed. We want to make two points: Streamers can be taxed, and the money can flow to Canadian video entertainment subsidies. We have no problem with the subsidization of Canadian video entertainment. Every jurisdiction does it, we are not alone. We have to separate the subsidization of Canadian video entertainment as an issue from the expansion of the Broadcasting Act. Bill C-10 conflates the two issues and says, in effect, that only by expanding the role of the CRTC can we arrange for new subsidies to be taxed out of streaming services. This is not true, and in our view the confusion of these two issues is the chief problem with C-10. Bill C-10 will create an unnecessary storm of controversy. You can get the subsidies from the streamers without the massive regulatory over-reach that C-10 seems to want. We make recommendations for how this can be done. Because we detach the subsidy issue from the specific approach promoted by Bill C-10, the ISCC does not believe that C-10 can be cured by minor adjustments. Only a major change in legislative approach will suffice. We want to attain the key objectives of the Bill -more subsidization of video entertainment – while avoiding the damage that C-10 will cause to the internet and to Canadian producers and consumers of internet services. Bill C-10 serves two purposes: Its first purpose is to oblige online streaming services to make a financial contribution […]