CRTC DECISION MEANS NO RETRANSMISSION OF TV SIGNALS

UNCLAS OTTAWA 000214 SIPDIS SENSITIVE STATE FOR WHA/CAN-NORMAN AND EB/TPP/MTA/IPC JFELT AND SWILSON STATE PASS USTR FOR KSHIGETOMI AND CBURCKY STATE PASS FCC FOR JONATHAN LEVY AND MARK URETSKY USDOC FOR GERI WORD AND CARLOS BUSQUETS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KIPR ETRD CA SUBJECT: CRTC DECISION MEANS NO RETRANSMISSION OF TV SIGNALS VIA THE INTERNET IN CANADA REFS: (A) OTTAWA 3602 and Previous SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. PLEASE TREAT ACCORDINGLY. ¶1. (SBU) The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) concluded in a January 17, 2003 report that there is no need to amend its current New Media Exemption Order. This decision upholds the intent of Bill C-11, passed in December 2002 (Reftel),making it illegal to put broadcast TV signals onto the Internet without permission. The decision is a victory for U.S. and Canadian broadcasters who have worked for more than three years to outlaw non-consensual Internet retransmission in Canada. The complete text of the CRTC decision is available on the web at: www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Notices/2003/pb200 3-2.htm. ¶2. Bill C-11, which amended Canada's compulsory licensing regime specifically to disallow the retransmission of television signals over the Internet, was tied to the CRTC's New Media Exemption Order. During the debate on Bill C-11, the CRTC was ordered to review the Exemption Order. Internet retransmissions would have been eligible for the benefits of the compulsory license in the Copyright Act if the CRTC had decided either to license them as broadcasters or to create a new exemption order specifically for them. The CRTC chose to do neither. ¶3. Canadian legal experts told Econoff that the CRTC decision, combined with the contents of C-11, provides an absolute exclusion of Internet retransmitters from the Canadian compulsory license for the foreseeable future. Bill C-11, which was proclaimed into law in December but is not yet in force, is expected to enter into force as law next month. ¶4. In a separate but related development, Aliant, a Maritime phone consortium, filed an application with the CRTC for an experimental license to continue its Internet retransmission service. Aliant's filing was made before the CRTC handed down its recent decision so it is expected that the CRTC will deny the application and Aliant's subscriber service, "TV-On-My-PC", will have to cease operations. However, we will continue to follow the issue and report any findings that would be of concern to U.S. interests. CELLUCCI