Why the CRTC’s desire to regulate new media is bad news
I’m very busy today, so in an effort to minimize the time I’m spending writing this blog, I’ve decided to just copy and paste the text of an e-mail I have just sent to Jeff Jarvis of Buzzmachine:
Hi Jeff,
It was a pleasure to meet you at VON a few weeks ago. I had been wanting to meet you for quite some time as you have such great inside into the emerging media on the internet.
As an independent content creator, I find it unsettling when people like the FCC try to widen their jurisdiction to the internet. Even if their initial regulation is harmless, it still makes me uneasy because it feels like it’s a foot in the door. I read this article today about how the CRTC in Canada is interested in regulating new media:
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2007/04/13/crtc-review.html
Even though the CRTC says they want to ensure the “diversity of voices” (which I already find ridiculous because I detest CanCon guidelines), I still find it unsettling since I fear that once they have the power to regulate they could regulate other facets of new media… for example, language. It makes me wonder whether someday we’ll have to pay fines for using the F-word on the internet…
(Oh, if only all countries had a watershed like in the UK and parents took more responsibility of what their children watch/don’t watch…)
I would love to hear your opinion on this, perhaps you would be interested in blogging about it?
Looking forward to meeting you again.
Best regards,
Casey–
Casey McKinnon
Executive Producer, Galacticast
http://www.galacticast.com/
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Casey: Great points, and I totally agree. I’m 100% anti-censorship, and I detest any suggestion that regulation of content creation somehow defends freedom of expression. Why people allow these pseudo-Orwellian demagogues to control our lives is beyond me, but I refuse to play along.
Fight the good fight.
I didn’t find much mention of small companies and personal vloggers in that article, so I’m not panicking just yet. But I do feel that what you say is valid none the less. If the commission meets in Winnipeg in September, maybe I’ll citizen journalize it. Hey, that’s an idea. A new media presence at the hearings!
My immediate concen is less about government regulation of our space and more about what happens when the trade unions come riding into Vlogville. The major broadcasters and studios are getting all up in our business and I can see the day where you are required to hire nothing but union workers (and at union rates) for any videoblog project you do with a major film studio or, say, the CBC. Once that fight comes our way, regulation won’t be far behind.
“Viva la revolution”