ARCHIVED - Broadcasting Public Notice CRTC 2002-38

Broadcasting Public Notice CRTC 2002-38

See also:  2002-38-1

Ottawa, 19 July 2002

Call for comments concerning Internet Retransmission (Order in Council P.C. 2002-1043)

The Commission seeks public input for a report to the Governor in Council on the broadcasting regulatory framework for Internet retransmission of over-the-air television and radio signals.

The Order in Council

1.

On 12 June 2002, the Governor in Council issued Order in Council P.C. 2002-1043, a copy of which is appended to this notice. The Order in Council (OIC) was issued pursuant to section 15 of the Broadcasting Act (the Act) which provides that the Governor in Council may request that the Commission hold hearings or make reports on any matter within its jurisdiction under the Act.

2.

The OIC requests that the Commission seek comment from the public and report no later than 17 January 2003, on:

a) the broadcasting regulatory framework for persons who retransmit, by the Internet, the signals of over-the-air television or radio programming undertakings,

b) the appropriateness of amending the Exemption Order for New Media Broadcasting Undertakings published in Appendix A to Public Notice CRTC 1999-197, 17 December 1999, regarding persons who retransmit by the Internet, the signals of over-the-air television or radio programming undertakings, and

c) any other measures the Commission considers appropriate in this regard

in order to meet the objectives of the broadcasting policy set out in the Broadcasting Act.

Scope of the call for comments

3.

For the purposes of this notice, the term "Internet retransmission" is defined as the act of retransmitting, via the Internet, the signals of over-the-air television or radio programming undertakings. The Commission is seeking comments on the Internet retransmission of broadcasting services that are originally transmitted over the air, which excludes the Internet retransmission of specialty services, for example.

4.

In addition, the Commission notes that certain programming undertakings may already be transmitting their own services via the Internet. Given that these programming undertakings originate a portion of their own programming and/or purchase specific rights for the balance of their programming, these activities constitute transmission, rather than retransmission. The Commission requests that parties focus their comments on Internet retransmission by third parties of the signals of over-the-air programming undertakings.

Questions

5.

The Commission seeks comments on the matters raised in the OIC. In order to assist interested parties in developing their submissions, but without limiting the scope of the comments, except as set out above, the Commission raises a number of questions for parties to address. In preparing their submissions, the Commission requests that interested parties highlight any significant differences that should be addressed between the retransmission of radio signals and of television signals on the Internet.

a) What activities constitute Internet retransmission? What are the defining characteristics of these activities?

b) Should Internet retransmission be seen as a substitute for, or a complement to, the activities of existing licensed over-the-air broadcasting and distribution undertakings?

c) To the extent that Internet retransmission is now, or may reasonably be, expected to become complementary or substitutable for existing over-the-air broadcasting undertakings and/or distribution undertakings, what is its potential impact on the existing regulatory framework?

d) What could be the potential impact of Internet retransmission on the broadcasting system, including, among others, viewers, subscribers, advertisers, producers and broadcasters?

e) What are the current and potential business and economic models for Internet retransmission? What impact would the use of typical Internet advertising methods, such as banner ads and pop-up advertisements, have on advertisers and over-the-air broadcasters? What impact would a subscription model have on advertisers and over-the-air broadcasters?

f) Given the significant bandwidth demands that the large-scale distribution of Internet retransmission could impose, in particular for video retransmission, is capacity generally available to support the Internet retransmission model? Are there any capacity bottlenecks? What are the mechanisms currently or potentially available that would address any concerns raised with respect to capacity?

g) What impact could Internet retransmission have on the creation of Canadian content and the protection of program rights? Is it necessary to impose conditions on Internet retransmission to address any such impacts? If so, what conditions?

h) What are the mechanisms currently or potentially available that would ensure the protection of program rights? In particular, how could the territorial reach of Internet retransmission of programming be restricted to a particular region or to particular customers? Similarly, how could such programming not be repropagated by customers to other Internet users?

i) What are the mechanisms currently or potentially available that would ensure that the programming rights holders receive appropriate compensation and protection for the Internet retransmission of their programming?

j) Are there mechanisms currently or potentially available that would ensure that the integrity of the signals was maintained (i.e. no alteration or deletion)?

k) Should an Internet retransmitter assume any additional obligations when delivering over-the-air broadcast signals containing interactive elements?

l) Would regulation of undertakings providing Internet retransmission of the signals of over-the-air programming undertakings contribute materially to, or detract from, the attainment of the objectives set out in the Act?

m) If the Commission were to decide that licensing of Internet retransmission undertakings is appropriate under the Act, what conditions, if any should be imposed on these undertakings? Should these conditions mirror those generally imposed on broadcasting distribution undertakings, pursuant to the Broadcasting Distribution Regulations, and individual licences? Are there practical impediments to the imposition of such conditions, in light of the technological differences between traditional distribution methods and Internet retransmission?

n) Would the issuance of an exemption order, under the Act, specific to Internet retransmission of the signals of over-the-air programming undertakings facilitate or hinder the achievement of the Act's policy objectives?

o) If an exemption order would facilitate the achievement of these policy objectives, what would be the appropriate scope of such an exemption order? Are there specific conditions that should be applied for exemption?

p) How has the issue of Internet retransmission been approached in other countries? Which of these approaches would or would not be appropriate in the Canadian context, and why?

Call for comments

6.

The Commission invites written comments from the public on the matters raised in this public notice. The Commission will hold a two-phase process for the submission of written comments. In the first phase, the Commission will accept comments that it receives no later than 6 September 2002.

7.

Interested parties, whether they have made submissions or not during the first phase, may then file reply comments no later than 4 October 2002. The reply comments must address matters raised by any of the comments submitted during the first phase.

8.

The comments received in response to Fact finding inquiry on interactivity, Public Notice CRTC 2001-113, 2 November 2001, form part of the record of this proceeding.

9.

The Commission will not formally acknowledge comments. It will, however, fully consider all comments and they will form part of the public record of the proceeding, provided that the procedures for filing set out below have been followed.

Procedures for filing comments

10.

Interested parties can file their comments on paper, on diskette or by email. Submissions longer than five pages should include a summary.

11.

Parties wishing to file their comments on paper or on diskette should send them to the Secretary General, CRTC, Ottawa, K1A 0N2.

12.

Parties wishing to file their comments by email can do so by sending them to procedure@crtc.gc.ca

13.

Electronic submissions should be in the HTML format. As an alternative, those making submissions may use "Microsoft Word" for text and "Microsoft Excel" for spreadsheets.

14.

Please number each paragraph of your submission. In addition, please enter the line ***End of document*** following the last paragraph. This will help the Commission verify that the document has not been damaged during transmission.

15.

The Commission will make comments filed in electronic form available on its web site at www.crtc.gc.ca in the official language and format in which they are submitted. All comments, whether filed on paper or in electronic form, will be available in the public examination file.

16.

The Commission encourages interested parties to monitor the public examination file (and/or the Commission's web site) for additional information that they may find useful when preparing their comments.

Examination of public comments and related documents at the following Commission offices during normal business hours

Central Building
Les Terrasses de la Chaudière
1 Promenade du Portage, Room G-5
Hull, Quebec K1A 0N2
Tel: (819) 997-2429 - TDD: 994-0423
Fax: (819) 994-0218

Bank of Commerce Building
1809 Barrington Street
Suite 1007
Halifax, Nova Scotia B3J 3K8
Tel: (902) 426-7997 - TDD: 426-6997
Fax: (902) 426-2721

405 de Maisonneuve Blvd. East
2^nd Floor, Suite B2300
Montréal, Quebec H2L 4J5
Tel: (514) 283-6607 - TDD: 283-8316
Fax: (514) 283-3689

55 St. Clair Avenue East
Suite 624
Toronto, Ontario M4T 1M2
Tel: (416) 952-9096
Fax: (416) 954-6343

Kensington Building
275 Portage Avenue
Suite 1810
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 2B3
Tel: (204) 983-6306 - TDD: 983-8274
Fax: (204) 983-6317

Cornwall Professional Building
2125 - 11^th Avenue
Room 103
Regina, Saskatchewan S4P 3X3
Tel: (306) 780-3422
Fax: (306) 780-3319

10405 Jasper Avenue
Suite 520
Edmonton, Alberta T5J 3N4
Tel: (780) 495-3224
Fax: (780) 495-3214

530-580 Hornby Street
Vancouver, British Columbia V6C 3B6
Tel: (604) 666-2111 - TDD: 666-0778
Fax: (604) 666-8322

Secretary General

P.C. 2002-1043
June 12, 2002

Whereas subsection 3(1) of the Broadcasting Act sets out the broadcasting policy for Canada;

Whereas section 5 of the Broadcasting Act provides that the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission is responsible for regulating and supervising all aspects of the Canadian broadcasting system with a view to implementing the broadcasting policy set out in subsection 3(1) of the Broadcasting Act;

Whereas the Exemption Order for New Media Broadcasting Undertakings, published in Appendix A to Public Notice CRTC 1999-197, December 17, 1999, exempts persons who engage in the retransmission of broadcasting signals over the Internet from all of the requirements of Part II of the Broadcasting Act and of any regulations made under that Part;

Whereas the exemption Order imposes no terms or conditions upon persons operating under it;

Whereas, since the exemption Order came into force, new media broadcasting undertakings have emerged who may wish to avail themselves of the existing provisions of the Copyright Act to retransmit the signals of over-the-air radio or television programming undertakings;

Whereas other broadcasting distribution undertakings are subject to obligations related to the retransmission of the signals of television or radio programming undertakings, including measures limiting the alteration or deletion of programming service and the protection of program rights;

Whereas subsection 15(1) of the Broadcasting Act provides that the Commission shall, on the request of the Governor in Council, hold hearings or make reports on any matter within the jurisdiction of the Commission;

Whereas, in accordance with subsection 15(2) of the Broadcating Act, the Minister of Canadian Heritage has consulted with the Commission with regard to the proposed request;

Therefore, Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Canadian Heritage, pursuant to subsection 15(1) of the Broadcasting Act, hereby requests the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to seek comments from the public and to report at the earliest time practicable, and in any event not later than January 17, 2003, on

(a) the broadcasting regulatory framework for persons who retransmit, by the Internet, the signals of over-the-air television or radio programming undertakings,

(b) the appropriateness of amending the Exemption Order for New Media Broadcasting Undertakings published in Appendix A to Public Notice CRTC 1999-197, December 17, 1999, regarding persons who retransmit by the Internet, the signals of over-the-air television or radio programming undertakings, and

(c) any other measures the Commission considers appropriate in this regard

in order to meet the objectives of the broadcasting policy set out in the Broadcasting Act.