Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site hcr.UUCP Path: utzoo!hcr!chrisr From: chrisr@hcr.UUCP (Chris Retterath) Newsgroups: net.misc,can.general Subject: Re: Canada's Tradition as a Pioneer in Communications Technology Message-ID: <608@hcr.UUCP> Date: Tue, 20-Mar-84 15:09:03 EST Article-I.D.: hcr.608 Posted: Tue Mar 20 15:09:03 1984 Date-Received: Tue, 20-Mar-84 15:52:12 EST References: <7255@watmath.UUCP> Organization: Human Computing Resources, Toronto Lines: 24 Maybe we've gone too far ahead. In Canada, the broadcast medium is "public property", which translates to the CRTC applying heavy handed government controls on every aspect of the business. Getting a license to transmit is hard enough, as the fight for University radio stations to transmit on other than campus wires exemplifies. Now we hear that a station in Montreal will lose its license partly because the programmers used too much French in their broadcasts. Cobourg lost a classical station recently because of content decisions. It appears that having a license means that the CRTC must approve everything you broadcast. I won't even go into the horror stories about "canadian content", except to say that the nationality the authors, producers, directors, et al are is usually not of any interest to me. I'm just glad that I live near enough to the U.S. border to pick up U.S. radio and television stations. Getting back to the Canadian tradition, I see communications developments mired down in government crapola all the time. Bell just got turned down in its application for a license to develop cellular telephone circuits; satellite dishes were illegal until recently and are only partly legal for home use; stereo AM is coming in at a snail's pace, and so the story goes. Pioneer? Don't make me laugh! Chris Retterath, hcr!chrisr unclear