In its Report on New Media (May 17, 1999), the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) stated that it would not attempt to regulate the Internet under the Broadcasting Act.

The report offered two main reasons for exempting new media services such as webcasting from the CRTC’s jurisdiction. The mandate of the Broadcasting Act covers "the transmission of programs by radio waves, or other means of telecommunication, for reception by the public by means of a broadcasting receiving apparatus" (Section 2(1)).

But most Internet services are not presently defined as broadcasting media, and don’t involve such transmission. Nor does the Internet fall under the Act’s definition of a program: "sounds or visual images, or a combination of sounds and visual images, that are intended to inform, enlighten or entertain — but does not include visual images, whether or not combined with sounds, that consist predominantly of alphanumeric text."

And because the services now available on the Internet do consist predominantly of alphanumeric text, according to the CRTC Report on New Media, they therefore "do not fall within the scope of the Broadcasting Act."

The report also says that digital-audio services and audio-visual signals do fall under the definition of "program" and "broadcast" in the Broadcasting Act; but it concluded that regulation is not necessary to achieve the Act’s objectives.

Other contentious areas of media over which the CRTC has jurisdiction are media ownership, and Canadian content. However, the CRTC prefers to leave the matters of "Canadian internet presence" and "Canadian product" to market forces.

Full Text: Broadcasting Act