It has been almost a year since we filed an application with the CRTC to ask for carriers to have the authority to block certain illegal content on their networks. It has been two years since TELUS got into trouble for blocking access to a website without the permission of the CRTC.
The issues are different, but related.
Why did we go to the CRTC in the first place? The basis of our application was to seek CRTC approval under Section 36 of the Telecom Act, which states:
[Content of messages]
36. Except where the Commission approves otherwise, a Canadian carrier shall not control the content or influence the meaning or purpose of telecommunications carried by it for the public.
So, Section 36 tells us that the CRTC has the authority to intervene on content being carried and further, the Commission has to approve any control of the content that carriers handle for the public.
The Commission had never before [nor since] been asked to approve such an application, even though carriers are already blocking content identified by Cybertip as containing illegal child abuse images. We are breaking new ground on this section of the Act.
We did not ask for carriers to be ordered to block the illegal content. Simply that they be authorized to do so.
We have not dropped the issue. For the past two years, The Canadian Telecom Summit has examined Illegal Content on the Internet and we are continuing to explore both the technology and policy solutions as well as appropriate mechanisms for regulatory and judicial oversight.