CRTC Next Consultation on Bill C-11/Online Streaming Act Open

Freezenet has learned that the next CRTC consultation of Bill C-11/Online Streaming Act is currently open.

Back in May, the CRTC opened its consultation on the Online Streaming Act (formerly Bill C-11). The consultation timeline was comically tight, leading to negative impacts on submissions. While the first consultation is soon going to have public hearings, Freezenet has learned that the next consultation has been opened.

The main link to an overview of the CRTC’s plan shows that the consultation on fees now shows an open status. It reads as follows:

Public consultations

Consultation on fees regulations: This consultation reviews fees paid by broadcasters and how they should be extended to online streaming services.
Status : Open for comments until September 22, 2023.

The link it points to leads to this page which says the following:

Key topics for discussion

The CRTC recovers the costs of regulating the broadcasting industry through fees paid by broadcasters. This consultation will examine those fees and how they should be extended to broadcasters that are online streaming services.

We invite you to provide your comments on:

• the application, objectives, and definitions of the new Fees Regulations;
• the threshold exemption level and upper limit for broadcasting fees;
• the rule against duplicate imposition of the same revenue; and
• the definition of fee revenue, transition, and the annual adjustment amount provision.

This is a reminder of just how backwards the whole concept of the Online Streaming Act is. It considers the Internet as just another television broadcast channel. As a result, the government is trying to impose outdated “Cancon” requirements on the internet where government approved “Canadian content” is forcefully shoved down the throats of Canadian internet users. Everything about that kind of thinking is backwards and wrong, failing to understand how the internet works.

At any rate, if you are Canadian and can add your thoughts to the overall fee structure of this process, the submission deadline is September 22nd which is next Friday.

Drew Wilson on Twitter: @icecube85 and Facebook.