Montreal Tech Watch

ADISQ’s initial announcement on Internet regulation was vastly picked up last week by bloggers and the media. A facebook group, Against CRTC regulating the Internet, was created by Pierre Coté, with now 192 members. Sylvain Carle wrote an open letter to ADISQ, where he shows that the business model has changed for the music industry and that producers should focus instead on their core skills, which is finding, supporting and promoting talents. Michel Leblanc wrote that the market has changed, and that the industry should instead find new ways instead to sell music on the Internet.Michel Dumais gathered the posts, quotes and invited other bloggers to write about the situation.

Bruno Guglielminetti, journalist at Radio-Canada, reports that he tried to have an interview with Michel Arpin, VP of CRTC, but it seems he doesn’t speak to the press anymore. Instead, he found out a recent speech by CRTC’s head, Konrad Von Finckenstein. Here are some quotes:

With respect to content, we have chosen to focus on the streaming of commercial television over the Internet and wireless devices. We are concerned with professional programming only, not with the material generated by users.

With respect to issues of access, we will focus on such items as:

• Internet traffic prioritization, and
• the definition of what telecommunications basic service shall be.

…

In short, we have to learn what New Media entails, we need to assess the impact of New Media on broadcasting and telecommunications, and most importantly from our point of view, we need to assess their impact on the regulatory system. Will New Media undermine or bypass it, or be merely complementary?

These are all very big questions. We have to address them soon. I don’t know what the answers are.

But there is one thing I do know. For us at the CRTC, the guiding principle in our approach to New Media will be exactly the same one that we have followed in our approach to the traditional media: To regulate as effectively as we can to further the two primary goals of the Broadcasting Act –Canadian content and full access to the system for all Canadians.

I am especially shocked with the mention of “Internet traffic prioritization”, as I thought Net Neutrality was just a pure U.S. matter, but it seems the CRTC has their eye on favouring internet traffic from sources they think is appropriate.

Second, he apparently likes to think that CRTC’s regulatory system is automatically applied on new media. M.Konrad Von Finckenstein, all I have to say is that if one day you think of enforcing internet regulation, Iwe will undermine and bypass it.

The fact that he uses the word “broadcasting” when speaking about the Internet is revealing for me. Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and TV to a passive audience, by a few officially approved channels. Internet is not broadcasting. Compared to radio or TV, the Internet is a revolution on how we handle, manage and produce information. It’s an opportunity for anyone to freely create, write, podcast, produce their own videos … or become an entrepreneur.

I really hate when legacy institutions try anything to get back the power and control they used to have.