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Canadian Industry Group Seeks Canadian Content Regulation of the Internet
The Alliance of Canadian Cinema Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) and a number of other Canadian artist associations have come out in support of a policy that would see the Internet functioning under Canadian content rules similar to those that currently apply to television and radio. Until now, the Internet has not been subject to government regulation, but fear of an increasing reach of the Internet and the potential volume of U.S. content has lead to this action.
Concerns have been raised by services like Joost, which provides full screen video streams as an alternative to television. Other concerns include supplemental content, such as short episodes of television shows which are only available online. However, there is no particularized proposal about how this proposed regulation is all meant to happen.
Indeed the practical barriers to such regulation are significant, and likely very costly to overcome. Internet service providers are not in a position to monitor this perceived influx of foreign content. Until the aggrieved artists can address these practical issues with a clear regulatory proposal, it is unlikely that the Canadian government will be regulating the Internet.
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