“Amid fears that Canada’s culture is being drowned in a sea of online video from around the world, federal regulators are looking at setting up a $100-million fund to support homegrown programming on the Internet. The controversial proposal, which is aimed at staking out a more distinct national identity online, has pitted the television production community against Canada’s Internet service providers, who may ultimately have to foot the bill, or pass those costs onto customers.”
I can hardly believe what I read in this article. For the non-Canadians out there, the CRTC is the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission. They’re the regulatory body that’s made some very unpopular and rather questionable decisions over the past few decades. Canadian radio stations, for instance, have to play a certain percentage of Canadian content – which means we tend to hear a lot of the same songs over and over. There’s a lot of good Canadian music out there today, but forcing it to be heard is ridiculous in my opinion. Though I understand the concept of having the Canadian voice be heard, I believe that good music floats to the top of the refuse regardless of where it’s from – and that it’s not the job of government or my tax dollars to enforce that. It’s no different for Internet video – I’m a Canadian who makes videos and posts them online, but I don’t need or want my government to somehow “encourage” my fellow Canadians to watch my content. My tax dollars should be going toward health care, defense of this nation, and other government-run areas. Keep your hands off the Internet CRTC – this is one Canadian who doesn’t want your help!