Canada

Thanks for being patient and providing a detailed response.

I was referring to the backlash in general. I also think the article and your comment were a bit too negative. However, reading this comment shows me that there is always more nuance and things I don't know, which is good.

I hope that they only restrict the regulations to commercial entities, however again it depends on the wording. I should also note that the point of the legislative branch is to pass legislation. The legislation can be struck down or upheld in the Supreme Court. Our version of rights is different from the U.S. and our Supreme Court is not as partisan, at least not overtly. I think that's where the distinction will be made. If the legislation is too broad the courts will enforce only the section and interpretation that upholds rights for people or struck down. I can see there is a bunch of grey areas. Personally, the line I would draw is if the poster is a person or if it is a legal commercial entity. There are sole proprietor ships, however those legal constructs are not distinct from the person it is just a way for people to produce goods and services commercially. That is also a grey area and an area of discussion, should they be included or not? I would say any and all commercial activity should be regulated, and personal activity shouldn't. So in the case of podcasts, we already know that big corporate entities do that and small commercial entities exist as well. Those, in my opinion, should be regulated. There could also be sole proprietors that do that as well. That I can understand to be a grey area, there are a lot of "small and independent creators". In all cases when you have a reduced barrier to entry, especially compared to radio and TV, regulation will be more invasive. What type of "podcast" should not count as being out of the scope of regulation? Should one where no one is being paid be regulated? What about frequency? If you post once a month count? I can see how invasive it is; however, we are also decreasing the barrier for people to produce content. The technology changes and so should the regulation, even it increases its reach. There is also the problem of enforcement which I can't see how it could be done.

As in regard to the terrible record of CRTC, I can see how terrible it can be. Could you provide some sources for that, I don't mean it as a gotcha just so that I can understand the institution better. I want more Canadian content to be available, but I understand the current layout, if it is not working, needs to be fixed. I think that our current setup as a liberal democracy, I mean our current representative setup, is not equipped to hold such institutions accountable. We are living in a different age compared to when the Constitution Act was still known as the British North America Act. For that I can see how regulation can be and done ineffectively. In my opinion, there should be new institutions that are better suited should be made. An idea, we have school trustees that oversee the school boards, could we elect trustees that oversee regulatory bodies, especially ones concerning nontechnical matters? I can understand the frustration with the CRTC, but I hope we could try to improve it or replace it. At this point I think, like all regulators, it can be corrupted.