SOCAN wants bloggers regulated
p2pnet news view Freedom | P2P:- The CRTC (Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission) is reviewing its current approach to new media content, with actors and arts groups doing their best to persuade it that the Net is in dire need of regulation.
“lol I read this and thought how they would love to have you regulated.”
That’s frequent p2pnet poster Marc, and he’s referring to a statement in the hearings in which CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein (right), “emphasized a fundamental principle in his conversation with SOCAN, reminding the witnesses that in the new media world, the consumer is in control, not the content provider,” as Mark Goldberg blogs in A Canadian perspective.
Marc’s observation was inspired by the fact SOCAN has indeed tried to regulate p2pnet Canadian content.
SOCAN ‘investigators’ spend much of their time lurking around school cafeterias, dentist surgeries and hair-dressing salons looking for trouble.
SOCAN is short for Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada and it figures any time anyone, anywhere, plays a tune owned by one of its members, a fee is due.
p2pnet has reported on this a number of times, sometimes including spoofs of the SOCAN logo, which prompted organisation lawyers to try to intimidate p2pnet into removing the graphics on the grounds they’re trade mark infringements.
Clearly, what with this kind of thing preoccupying it, and chasing down errant hairdressers and dentists, SOCAN is doing an excellent job for its members.
Government licensing requirements
Meanwhile, “Consumers will find the content they want, regardless of where in the world it is hosted,” Goldberg points out continuing »»»
SOCAN was asking for regulatory constraints on Canadian hosted websites to require that Canadian content be made available. SOCAN suggests that Canadians want to have access to Canadian content, so the Chair wanted to know why it needs to be regulated. If there is a commercial advantage to making Canadian content available, why does it need to be regulated? In the alternative, since consumers can seek out content world wide, why would we want to disadvantage Canadian operators of websites.
SOCAN suggested that a commercial website including professional blogging sites could be subject to government licensing requirements under the Broadcast Act. Commissioner Denton suggested that SOCAN’s proposal could result in significant government restrictions in the ability for Canadians to speak. SOCAN’s response was to push the problem back onto the CRTC – that it would be the Commission’s job to carve out some kind of subset of Canada’s websites upon which to impose licensing restrictions.
Most government licenses are viewed by the investment community as assets; this one would make most investors run away.
SOCAN said that they want to make sure that at least the archives section of websites have available Canadian content. In that case, why not ask the national archives to build a repository – a giant bunker of on-line content? Index it properly and the world will be able to find it. Let Canadian hosted sites succeed or fail on their own.
Stay tuned.
dire need of regulation – Regulate the Net, say actors, arts groups, February 17, 2009
A Canadian perspective – Restricting Canadian access, February 18, 2009
spoofs of the SOCAN logo – SOCAN threatens p2pnet. Again, August 2, 2007
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February 19th, 2009 at 10:45 am
Title is hyperbole. Blogging arms of traditional media outlets might be regulated under that proposal, but that proposal has a snowball’s chance in etc of being passed. The only serious consideration is the $5/month blanket license levy, or the 3% levy that goes towards new media cancon production (since new media producers like tac.tv are worried that old media will monopolize the CRT fund).
February 19th, 2009 at 11:08 am
“SOCAN is short for Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada”
Huh? How dyslexic does one have to be to come up with that? It should be SoCAMPC.
February 19th, 2009 at 11:12 am
Wow, has every “artist” organization (Actors Guild, **AA, SOCAN, ASCAP, etc…) been sniffing from the same bottle of glue? It is ridiculous!
Don’t they learn anything? Consumers do NOT want this!
You know, this is really pissing me off and if it continues I will DISCONNECT myself from the ‘Net! I’ll go back to writing letters and mailing them.
PVR’s being made hack-proof? DRM up the ying-yang on DVD/CD’s, and yet being removed from MP3/iTunes sites? We already pay a levy on HDD’s, CD’s, DVD’s, etc… Take that a stop complaining!
I know it would take a LOT of investment to lock machines down. I know companies are being forced to do this and for sure there will be investigators listening for any buzz about how to hack the ‘robust’ systems. So, why don’t we STOP BUYING IT!
Don’t buy any new TV, DVD player, CD, DVD, PVR, etc… switch to basic cable if you have it (go read a book from the library or rent movies from mom-pop shops – go get a VCR ans suffer with lower quality but adequate viewing of ‘content’), do everything you can to remove any possible profits they could make. Let’s make the ROI ZERO!!!
The stores will complain to the manufacturers who’ll lobby the governments to get the **AA off their backs!
DVD/Blu-Ray is super clear right? Full of extra features? Amazing sound? But the same CRAP content! The only way you’ll buy the content is if they pretty it up with technology, swearing, violence, and lots of T&A.
Anyone see The Lake House? Watch Il Mare, it’s Korean, but MUCH better! Content from Hollywood and the labels sucks, and their attempt to control your devices so you can’t use them for anything but what THEY want is proof. Will those PVR’s work on public broadcast networks? Probably not because they can’t afford the license for the “Flag.” Is that an American flag by the way (I know it is a watermark signal — at least I think it is that)?
We consumers STILL have control.
Spread the word, do NOT buy anything that’s locked down, let your dollar speak and it WILL work! Then vote, write to your MP, write to the PM/Prez, write to support groups and if you can help them with research or legal aid or financial aid, do it. The more we unite and take on these self-interested, outdated, unwilling to adapt groups and lobbyists the better we’ll all be.
Do you really think V for Vendetta was all that unbelievable? I bet I’ll see that situation in similar form in reality before I’m a grandparent!
February 19th, 2009 at 11:51 am
LOL at the fact that SOCAN wants bloggers “regulated”. hahaha
“Regulated” also means paying a fee for registration. LOL
“Regulated” also means being bound by content written/shown.
SOCAN can go fuck themselves.
I hope this SOCAN clusterfuck of a speech to the CRTC opens the eyes of Canadians. SOCAN is trying to put a policy/regulation in place to shut people up.
February 19th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
From the comments on CBC’s website, sounds like most people agree that the CRTC should continue to say “no” to content regulation.
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/02/18/crtc-newmedia-cancon.html
Let’s hope the government listens to the people, our tax dollars are worth far more than the bribes, I mean lobbyist funds!
February 19th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
It sounds like SOCAN just wants their own big sandbox for themselves because they don’t want to have to work to EARN a spot in the big sandbox that everyone else plays in.
What a bunch of whiny *******!!!
February 20th, 2009 at 11:51 am
SOCAN made the list in “2008 Top 25 Best Small and Medium Employers in Canada”.
Congratulations SOCAN!
What separates SOCAN from the rest is that it has the gov’t and the law on their side, providing guaranteed revenue through tariffs, etc. and I don’t think any of the others winners have that advantage.
http://business.queensu.ca/news/blog/?p=28
2008 Top 25 Best Small and Medium Employers in Canada
Axia NetMedia Corp – Calgary, AB
Joe Fortes Seafood & Chophouse – Vancouver, BC
Windsor Family Credit Union – Windsor, ON
DRN Commerce Inc. – London, ON
Kawartha Credit Union Ltd. – Peterborough, ON
Sapphire Technologies Canada Ltd. (formerly CNC Global Ltd.) – Toronto, ON
4Refuel Canada Ltd. – Langley, BC
Dempsey Corp. – Toronto, ON
National Leasing – Winnipeg, MB
Skjodt-Barrett Foods Inc. – Mississauga, ON
Fuller Landau LLP – Toronto, ON
High Road Communications – Toronto, ON
Kingston Ross Pasnak LLP – Edmonton, AB
Benefits By Design Inc. – Port Coquitlam, BC
Spectra Credit Union – Estevan, SK
Allergan Inc. – Markham, ON
SOCAN (Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada) – Toronto, ON
Chevron Canada Resources Ltd. – Calgary, AB
Lakeside Process Controls Ltd. – Mississauga, ON
GrowthWorks Capital Ltd. – Vancouver, BC
Rare Method Interactive Corp. – Calgary, AB
Hood Group – Sherwood Park, AB
Innovation Place – Saskatoon, SK
Sovereign General Insurance Company – Calgary, AB
Mega Group Inc. – Saskatoon, SK
September 15th, 2009 at 6:54 pm
I will never knowingly buy a product that relates to socan. period.
It’s not enuough that they want to charge me 2 or 3 times for the same song. Now they want top tell me what I can say and what I can’t say.
I have several professional musician friends. I delight in telling them that unfortunately I cannot and will not ever have their albums in my house because of socan. I love to point out to them that I only want to pay for their songs once.
IMO, the only thing socan is useful for is (possibly) compost.
[NOTE: I changed the name to Jon2 so this poster won't be confused with me - Jon Newton
Cheers! ]
September 15th, 2009 at 6:55 pm
who thery hell are they to curtail my free speech?