Key Messages

There were three messages intertwined throughout Blais' presentation. He first discussed the CRTC having the courage to both step up and step back in regulating. He elaborated that it was the role of the Commission to intervene when market forces were insufficient to accomplish objectives in the public interest. With respect to telecommunications, he highlighted the recent release of the  as a need to interject in what he sees as a largely unregulated wireless market. He also discussed the need to impose conditions on the CBC's broadcasting  to ensure it meets the needs of Canadians, and why Bell's proposed acquisition of Astral Media's assets was in the public interest. Blais then spoke of recent times when the CRTC relaxed regulation, presenting only one example - when minor specialty channels were  from regulation until reaching 200,000 subscribers. He did acknowledge, however, that regulation can sometimes become an end unto itself, and an ineffective instrument only creating needless complexity.

Along with his message of stepping up and stepping back, Blais next discussed the role of public consultation. He cited robust public consultation as an important contributing factor to the successes of both the Wireless Code and CBC's license renewal, while continually being able to balance the opinion of the majority with the needs of the minority. Blais ended his presentation outlining the next public consultation, which will begin this fall, concerning the future of television. He described this as an unprecedented opportunity for the Canadian industry and public, particularly to question the assumptions underlying the CRTC's regulatory policies. This led to his third key message - a recognition that broadcasting has changed and will never be the same. He stated further that the actions of the Commission need to evolve as technology has, in order to ensure the objectives of the Broadcasting Act remain fulfilled.

Positive Steps

It is refreshing to see Blais commenting on the new world the CRTC lives in, and that the one in which the Ìý²¹²Ô»åÌý were born in no longer exists. As YouTube channels proliferate and broadband  is as ubiquitous as  TV, Blais also understands the focus must shift from protection to promotion. Quotas for Canadian content and cable channel bundling are ineffective policies in an on-demand internet access world. This is underlined by Blais' suggestion of a shift from rules to outcomes, and an overall sentiment that protecting Canadian interests requires a new perspective. It is good to see the chief regulator understand the need to change tactics in the new world to ensure the objectives of these two acts remain relevant. This also highlights Blais' understanding that the new issues challenging the mandate of the CRTC cannot be addressed by an outdated paradigm of thinking.

Future Opportunities

Blais' presentation leaves two major areas of concern. While stating the need to sometimes step back, he was hard pressed to find substantial examples of reducing regulation. Also, he focused heavily on the role of the CBC, particularly in creating creative content to serve the needs of Canadians. Given that the presentation was made to content creators, it was natural for him to focus on the role of regulating the CBC.

There was little discussion, however, that the needs of Canadians could be better served through other mechanisms. While publicly funded content through the Ìý²¹²Ô»åÌý may have been needed in the old world of media production and distribution, there are a myriad of alternatives now available, which seemed to be noticeably lacking in Blais' speech. Barriers to entry have fallen with the rise of the internet and high-quality, low-cost recording hardware and editing software. Producers can now create content at a vastly lower cost, and easily distribute them through avenues such as YouTube and Twitter, which feature built-in monetization systems. While Blais did stress the role of public consultation, he failed to explain why the free market is failing in creating the content Canadians need. He also referred to a statistic of higher conventional television consumption than internet television, but overlooked many other forms of .

Looking Forward

While it was refreshing to see Blais express sentiments about the evolving world of media, it seemed there are still further opportunities for the CRTC to embrace the new world of media. More encouraging was his commitment to public consultation and an input from ordinary Canadians, whom Blais describes as often having extraordinary insights into the industry. We can only hope that this extraordinary insight will come through, and the CRTC can pave a path for Canadian media well beyond the model that has pervaded until now.

Alex Buonassisi is an IPilogue Editor and a JD Candidate at Thompson Rivers University.

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Thank you for your kind invitation to talk with you about the creative sector.

Today I want to talk about why, in a changing digital age, copyright reform is the right way to support that sector. The debate on copyright often involves extreme positions, rigid views, and emotive arguments.

But for me, this isn’t a simple question: we need to recognise its complexity. Not to be dogmatic, but pragmatic. Not to consider the question as an abstract, philosophical issue: but in its context and time.

Let’s remind ourselves of that context. The world we live in is changing fast. Technology is changing. Business models are changing. The way we consume and enjoy creative works – music, movies, games – is changing.

And, if we want to keep the right balance, the legal framework has to respond.

The last major EU copyright instrument, the Copyright Directive, was adopted in 2001. The Commission proposals it was based on date back to 1998.

Let’s remind ourselves what’s happened since then.

In 1998, Mark Zuckerberg was 14. Today, almost one billion people around the world actively use Facebook, to share photos, videos, and ideas.

In 1998, YouTube didn’t exist. Today, one hour of video is uploaded every second.

In 1998, most people listened to music on the radio, CD or tape. Now digital downloads often overtake conventional sales. New technologies allow downloading or streaming; easily, instantly, wherever you are. Not just to passively listen, but to interact and give feedback, to creators and friends.

But changes are not limited to the content business, they affect all sectors. Huge changes have taken place in the research area. Today, new scientific discoveries don’t just come from new experiments, new drugs, new clinical trials: in fact, now, we can get new results by manipulating existing data. Data and text-mining techniques now lie behind a huge field of research, like human genome projects, potentially life-saving. They could hold the key to the next medical breakthrough, if only we freed them from their current legal tangle. Research activities are not clearly exempted from the copyright rules and there are many different rules in the 27 member states.

And here’s the most important change since 1998. Back then, creation and distribution were in the hands of the few. Now they are in the hands of everyone: democratising innovation, empowering people to generate and exchange ideas, supporting and stimulating huge creativity.

And now let’s remind ourselves what our objectives as policymakers should be for the creative sector.

We should help artists live from their art. Stimulate creativity and innovation. Improve consumer choice. Promote our cultural heritage. And help the sector drive economic growth.

We can’ t look at copyright in isolation: you have to look at how it fits into the real world. So let’s ask ourselves: how well is the current system achieving those objectives, in the world we live in today?

Well for one thing, you often find that online licensing restrictions make it impossible to buy music legally. Sometimes, for example, you can’t buy an MP3 across an EU border.

We have already made a proposal on orphan works and recently one on collective rights management, to make multi-territorial licensing easier. The licensing proposal is a good step forward to make it easier to legally access the music you love, especially across borders. I hope legislators are able to agree it quickly. But this tackles only one aspect of the problem.

Neelie Kroes is the Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for the Digital Agenda. This speech is cross posted from our friends over at . Click to read the full speech.

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