i haven’t had much time to write a blog post concerning the crtc’s decision to look at canadian content on the web until now. as you may or may not know the crtc is the regulatory body that oversees telecommunications in canada. they also establish rules for canadian content on radio and television in canada. in some cases this can be useful, but this old fashioned thinking does not apply to the internet. like no other medium before it, the internet is a world wide distributed system over which no one entity has complete control. arguably it is the largest democracy in the world and has become the most important communication channel for many folks.
recently the crtc started a panel looking into the potential of “promoting” canadian content online. i personally feel this is the wrong move. it goes against everything i believe makes a person successful. if canadian content is to truly be great we shouldn’t need to shove down canadians throats. but what’s more troubling than that is the whole cinema of possibilities this opens up. this is just the start of a potentially crippling plan to try and censor what canadians do online. we screwed up in tv and radio let’s not do it again and waste a great oppurntunity. time and time again the government has come under scrutiny for the productions (movies, shows, music) that is has sponsored as a part of the canadian content agenda. if the government stays out of regulating internet content then we will no longer have to deal with any issues that arise out of these funding announcements. governments have more important things to do than defend certain productions and qualify their funding.
what i am frightened by the most is the proposal put forward by canadian comedian Colin Mochrie. he proposes the crtc imposes a fee on internet service providers to support the production of canadian content. this is totally in the wrong direction of where we should be going! many people will agree when i say that money doesn’t equal great content.
Canadian content should succeed as a result of quality and not regulation. Imposing rules to Canadian online publishers is simply going to impair further their ability to compete with foreign sites. Let it be us, Canadians, who choose what content to watch; rather than rules imposed by regulators in response to pressure from unions. This is a battle about consumer choices, not actors revenues.
this comment by jay sums it all up nicely. not amount of regulation will improve the quality of canadian content. aside from that, the cost of broadcasting on the internet is virtually free with sites like youtube et al offering their services au gratis. unlike large television sets and expensive studios great content can be produced with a $300 camera in your own bedroom. many great web shows have taken this approach and have very little capital cost.
the other disturbing thing about the crtc’s new review is the age of most of the commisioners. most of the commisioners grew up in a world much different than ours and did not have the luxury of computers & the internet as children. they clearly don’t understand the dynamics of the internet and seem intent on repeating the mistakes made with television and radio. instead i propose the crtc create a single time commision made up of 18-35 year olds would should decide on this problem. they are going to be the ones affected by the decision in the long run not the current commisioners.
i urge all canadian content creators to speak out tell the crtc that you are doing just fine without their help and don’t want them regulating your internet experience. i urge any and every resident of canada to write the crtc telling them that regulation doesn’t make good content. tell them to look at the long term effects and put citizens before the salaries of actors and mainstream media.
