CONSUMER ADVOCACY ORGANIZATION OpenMedia.ca said that it will boycott the CRTC’s “controversial hearing” on over-the-top (OTT) content. That is, if the matter ever progresses to a hearing.
As Cartt.ca reported in May, the Commission kicked off a month-long fact-finding exercise on over-the-top programming services in the Canada. The deadline for comments was Tuesday, July 5.
In a statement on Wednesday, the pro-Internet group accused the CRTC of becoming “overly entangled with the interests of powerful stakeholders", and said that the proceeding has been structured "to yield results that favour industry interests over Canadian interests”.
"The CRTC is supposed to work for the Canadian public, and its current approach is simply irresponsible”, said executive director Steve Anderson, in the statement. “Making it difficult for under-resourced organizations representing Canadians to participate, while also giving lobbying advice to industry players, only feeds public frustration and the perception of regulatory capture."
The group quoted a recent column by Michael Geist, Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law, in which Geist wrote that the CRTC is "erecting barriers to [public] participation in [the] consultation", by not compensating public interest groups wishing to participate.
"OpenMedia.ca has no interest in participating in a hearing where the cards are so clearly stacked against the public”, Anderson added. “We expect more from the CRTC."
Perhaps they were just boycotting the fact-finding exercise. We’ll see.
