March 17, 2009

Telecom giants opposed to proposed CRTC levy

According to two of Canada’s largest telecom companies, the Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission’s proposed levy on Internet service providers to fund Canadian new media content is an illegal idea.

At last week’s CRTC public hearings on new media regulations, Rogers Communications Inc. and Shaw Communications Inc. called the levy “unlawful” and both companies have filed legal opinions with the CRTC that question the legality of the proposal.

The federal broadcast regulator is considering
the idea of imposing a new tax on Internet
service providers that would be used to fund
the creation of Canadian broadcasting content
for new media platforms like the Internet.

According to a report in the Globe and Mail, Rogers vice-chairman Phil Lind told the hearings that because Internet service providers “do not buy, package or sell programming or any other Internet content,” they should not have to support Canadian programming development.

But according to the Globe, those comments brought a “stern rebuke” from CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein.

“The courts will decide,” he said.

Not everyone is opposing the idea. The Canadian Film & Television Production Association had their own lawyers review the proposal. The legal opinion from McCarthy Tétrault LLP suggests that the CRTC does, in fact, have the authority
to implement such a proposal.

“We respect Rogers’ opinion, but our own legal opinion shows otherwise,” Mario Mota, vice-president of broadcasting policy and regulatory affairs for the CFTPA, told the Globe.