 sbrookPremium,Mod
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Ottawa
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 ·TekSavvy Cable
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| reply to zod5000
Re: There would be no independent ISP's without CRTC I think some understanding of the way the CRTC works and is influenced is in order here to understand why there would possibly be no independent ISPs were it not for the CRTC and why they appear to be killing off those same ISPs today.
The CRTC is an agency set up under the auspices of two government ministries ... the Industry ministry, and the Heritage ministry. The Heritage ministry is responsible more for content of telecomms ... like CanCon. The Industry ministry controls the more technical aspects of telecomms, and most specifically the aspects under the telecommunications act and other pieces of legislation.
The Telecommunications Act is not a highly detailed piece of legislation. It is mostly a set of guidelines that the Industry Ministry must turn into enactable laws through regulation.
The Department of Communications (back whenever) created the CRTC as a quasi judicial regulatory agency, partially independent of government with supposedly knowledgable people in these fields to create, implement and enforce the regulations.
Because the Act is full of generalities, these matters can be influenced by the ministries. So, for example, the idea of anti-competitive behaviour that the act talks about is influenced by the government of the day's policies.
Similarly, because the CRTC is a committee of predominantly players from the industries being regulated, there is the potential for a conflict of interest.
This means that while the CRTC created the vehicle for independent ISPs at a time when the government of the day was not influenced by the idea of the "free market", were the idea to be floated today, it's likely they would not create that vehicle today. A CRTC differently staffed and under the influence of a different government might result in an entirely different scenario unfolding today.
Abolishing the CRTC would simply move power of creating legislation back to the Minister of Industry and the government of the day. The last two ministers of industry have not been particularly savvy on this or any other technological stuff, and far more inclined to see Canadian industry sold off! So, abolishing the CRTC might not be such a good idea.
Personally, I think the CRTC is a reasonable idea ... but what needs to change is how the committee and so on is made up, and to reduce the influence of the government of the day. |
