The CRTC will stay away from new media for at least another five years, but has sided with the National Film Board in calling for a broader national strategy to keep Canada competitive in the global digital marketplace. The commission said it will continue to exempt from regulation broadcast content that is distributed via the Internet or mobile devices, as it has since 1999, following hearings it held earlier this year towards a possible policy change.

‘Internet and mobile services are acting in a complementary fashion to the traditional broadcasting system. Any intervention on our part would only get in the way of innovation,’ said CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein in the ruling. The policy will be reconsidered again within five years.

The commission was under pressure from labor groups and other creatives in the industry to bring new media under its regulatory aegis – in hope that the stamp of legitimacy would lead to, among other things, more funding – while a loose and unlikely alliance of broadcasters, Internet service providers and activists resisted the move.

ACTRA and other guilds have spoken out against the decision. ‘By not taking any measures right now to ensure a place for Canadian programming in this increasingly dominant medium, we can easily see a future where there won’t be any,’ said Stephen Waddell, ACTRA’s national executive director, in a statement.

‘We’ve already watched for 10 years as Canadian content has been submerged by foreign content. Five years from now will be too late,’ said Waddell. The actors union pled its case at the commission’s public hearings earlier this year, seeking both regulation and a levy on Internet and wireless service providers, but the proposal was rejected.

The CRTC balked at calls for new funding and has referred the more thorny question about ISPs – namely, whether they should be subject to the Broadcasting Act – to the Federal Court of Appeal.

The commission also noted, however, that its ability to make policy on new media is limited by its mandate under the Broadcasting Act. The digital era requires ‘a holistic approach,’ said the CRTC, adding that it endorses the NFB’s call for a national digital strategy.

‘Such a strategy is essential if we want to maintain a competitive advantage in this global environment,’ said von Finckenstein.

With files from Amy Haggar