CRTC won’t block content pirates

COMMISSION DOESN’T HAVE JURISDICTION

A coalition of media organizations suffered a setback in their fight against so-called content pirates on Tuesday when the CRTC said it doesn’t have authority to police the activities they want shut down.

The FairPlay Canada coalition that includes Bell Canada, Rogers, the CBC and other large media companies had asked the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission in January to help protect their ownership and licensing rights by setting up an independent agency to help locate websites with pirated material.

The coalition also wanted the CRTC to require internet providers to block access to pirated material.

The CRTC said it agrees “piracy causes harm to the Canadian broadcasting system and the economy” but that it didn’t consider the proposal because it doesn’t have jurisdiction under the Copyright Act.

The CRTC said “there are other avenues that are more suitable to address this issue, such as the reviews of the Copyright Act, the Telecommunications Act and the Broadcasting Act.”

University of Ottawa law professor Michael Geist, who had strenuously argued a similar position in numerous blog posts and opinion pieces published by mainstream media earlier this year, said on his website Tuesday that the CRTC’s denial of the site blocking applications is “an important step toward stopping a dangerous proposal.”

In a phone interview from Fredericton, Geist said his main concerns included a lack of court oversight in the process originally proposed by the coalition.