NAB, DIRECTORS SQUARE OFF AGAINST USERS ON WEB RETRANSMISSION
NAB and Directors Guild of Canada weighed in with pleas to Canadian regulators against Internet retransmission of broadcast TV and radio, while some users urged hands off. Deadline for latest round of comments to Canadian Radio-TV & Telecom Commission was Fri., though mailed submissions continued drifting in this week. Anyone can reply by Oct. 4 to comments made in initial round. Commission is charged with issuing policy report by Jan.
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“Excluding Internet retransmitters from copyright compulsory licenses for the retransmission of television signals is essential to the continued viability of free over- the-air broadcasting in the United States and would be consistent with the laws of the United States and other countries,” NAB said. “Any modification of the regulatory treatment of Internet retransmitters in this proceeding that would qualify them for eligibility for the compulsory license would be unjustifiable and would raise serious questions regarding compliance with Canada’s obligations under international agreements… [T]he U.S. and Canadian broadcasting industries and their program suppliers should not be permitted to serve as experimental fodder for Canadian entities wishing to retransmit their signals and programming over the Internet pursuant to a compulsory license. The stakes and risks for broadcasters are simply too high, the potential geographical blocking mechanisms too ineffectual and the purported benefits of such retransmissions by 3rd parties too unspecified.”
JumpTV, Canadian Internet retransmitter, resubmitted papers from 2001 copyright proceeding. However, Internet user Rob McIntyre wrote: “Internet retransmission is a complementary service to over-the-air broadcasting. It should not be legislated as an independent medium but as a service that simply results in individuals’ utilizing a different device to obtain the same broadcasts… Internet- only broadcasters should pay royalties relative to their advertisement revenue but they should only be subject to Canadian content regulations if 75% of their listeners are Canadian. This can be determined by IP records.” Matthew Skala, U. of Waterloo computer science PhD candidate, wrote: “Transmission capacity on the Internet is not scarce, so the CRTC is not on solid ground to make extensive rules. Transmission capacity, although readily available, is expensive, so any regulation of retransmission must permit retransmitters the widest possible scope for recovering their costs through banner advertising and any other means they can devise, lest ‘regulation’ become prohibition in disguise… It is inappropriate, and impossible, to require any geographic limitations. At the very most, we might demand that the ‘first hop’ be limited to viewers in Canada according to IP address. It is impossible to prevent recording, copying, or sharing of retransmitted content and inappropriate to try.”
Directors Guild of Canada wrote: “Retransmission over the Internet should be excluded from the scope of the compulsory retransmission licence under the Copyright Act… The public interest in the promotion of innovation in the marketplace is better served by refraining from extending the compulsory licence to emerging markets for new technological uses of audiovisual works… Rights holders and users should be given a chance to find creative solutions to the problems and possibilities of the Internet.”