As reported in the Globe and Mail last Friday, a Federal Court judge has found that the CRTC’s Type 2 fees on broadcasters are a tax, set at 1.365% of revenues, and are not a fee. As such, according to the ruling, these fees are beyond the CRTC’s jurisdiction.

The result could be refunds in the order of hundreds of millions of dollars of fees paid over the past 8 years, in excess of the costs of administration.

The refunds will be at the expense of taxpayers and into the pockets of the broadcasters and their shareholders – both of whom, of course, will pay some of that windfall back to the government in income taxes.

Between the courts and cabinet, for both telecom and broadcasting, it has been a rough month for appeals for the CRTC.

Technorati Tags:
CRTC, license, broadcast

Just when I was hoping that Frank and Gordon would be able to provide Santa with navigational assistance from space, Bell has announced that it has sold Telesat to Loral Space & Communications, with the federal employees’ pension fund providing sufficient Canadian content to pass the foreign ownership tests.

Telesat had been in Bell’s hands in part since 1992 and Bell acquired the minority shares (42%) held by other Stentor members and Spar back in 1998. The move continues Michael Sabia’s drive to simplify Bell’s corporate structure and focus on core telecommunications business. The deal provides Bell with $3.25B in cash, enough to fund almost 3 years of dividend payouts for Bell shareholders.

On closing, Loral Skynet, which provides satellite services in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America, will be combined into the new company. Combined with Telesat’s existing services, the new company will be one of the world’s leaders, headquartered in Ottawa. The company will continue to be headed by Dan Goldberg (no relation).

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Bell, Frank and Gordon, Telesat

In response to the concerns expressed in comments on his blog about Project Cleanfeed, Michael Geist reports that Cybertip.ca has put together a Frequently Asked Questions page.

Among the statements used to differentiate child pornography from other forms of illegal content, such as hate material, Cybertip’s FAQ says:

It is illegal in Canada to access child pornography on the Internet. There is a designated organization (Cybertip.ca) with the expertise and widely-accepted authority to assess that such content would clearly be criminal in Canada. The same circumstances do not currently exist for any other form of online content.

This statement seems to avoid the plain language of the Criminal Code that provides for a number of exceptions or defenses. Specifically,

(6) No person shall be convicted of an offence under this section if the act that is alleged to constitute the offence
(a) has a legitimate purpose related to the administration of justice or to science, medicine, education or art; and
(b) does not pose an undue risk of harm to persons under the age of eighteen years.

Lawyers out there? Help us understand how Cybertip can be so absolute in its clarity about “It is illegal in Canada to access child pornography on the Internet” when the Criminal Code does not appear to support that view.

It is my understanding that this is why we have courts as part of our judicial system. Perhaps this is why there are many people who are concerned that there is a lack of due process, including the fact that so far, there is a lack of a CRTC authorization for the carriers to “control the content … of telecommunications carried by it for the public¹.”

To be clear about my position, I completely support the Cleanfeed project and I have been somewhat vocal about the need for Cleanfeed to be implemented in Canada for more than 2 years now. I support the organizational design, the separation of ISPs from the determination of content to be blocked and role of Cybertip in developing the database.

Commenters are asking where is the clear authority, whether from the courts, or a quasi-judicial body like the CRTC, for blocking activity to take place? The courts likely cannot make case-by-case rulings, but the CRTC could certainly examine the process and either approve or modify the process.

It would be helpful to see the carriers make an application to the CRTC for authority under S.36 of the Telecom Act. This would not even slow the implementation of Cleanfeed, if the carrier ISPs ask for interim approval while the proceeding moves through the Commission’s processes.

The topic of illegal content on the internet requires serious, reasoned discussion and debate. As such, it is returning to the agenda at The 2007 Canadian Telecom Summit next June, with a special session on Monday, June 11.

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¹ Telecom Act. S.36

Technorati Tags:
CRTC, Illegal Content, Net Neutrality, Cybertip, Cleanfeed