CRTC registration for podcasts and streaming companies draws criticism

News that online streamers and podcasterswill soon be required to register with Canada's broadcasting regulator is raisingconfusion and concerns that heavierregulationmay becoming.

Late Friday afternoon,theCanadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commissionannounced thatonline streaming and podcasting services operating in Canada with$10 millionor more in annual revenue in this country, will have to register with itbefore Nov.28.

Registrationinvolves providing the legal name of a company, itsaddress, its telephone number and email, and what type of services it offers. In its decision,released Friday, the CRTC called registration a "very light" burden.

University of Ottawa law professor Michael Geist,the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law, describestheinformation being collected as"limited,"but said he suspects there ismore to come from the CRTC.

"I think a lot of people take a look at this and feel like it's the thin edge of the wedge [and] that more regulation is on the way," Geistsaid in an interview with CBC News.

It's a perspective echoed by Canadian podcasterJesse Brown, publisher of Canadaland, who told CBC News that Friday's announcement by the CRTCis concerning to him.

"What they're signalling is, 'We are going to be regulating the space, but we're not telling you how.' That makes it very hard," he said.

CRTC's move related toBill C-11

The move is part of the implementation of the Online Streaming Act, formerly known as Bill C-11, which became law in April. It updated the Broadcasting Act torequirestreaming and online services, such as Netflix and Spotify, to eventually pay into the domestic media ecosystem tosupport Canadian content, including music and TV shows.

The Actdoesn't define what that content should be or how much support will be required, and delegates that task to the CRTC.

Underthe Online Streaming Act, social media and online services offering podcasts will now have toregister with the regulator, while social media users, including those whoshare podcastsover social platforms, will not.

The CRTC said it does not expect podcasters who host their content on their own websites, or who make it available on subscription platforms,would be required to register "because their annual revenues, in most likelihood, would be below the proposed exemption threshold" of $10 million.

However, a larger company such as Spotify may need to register.Spotify told the CRTC during public hearings in July that it wanted to see podcasts exempted from regulation, due to "the economic strain the podcasting industry is currently experiencing."

'Uncertainty'for podcasters

According to Brown,the CRTC's move to include podcasting companiesin the new streaming regulations was not what he or his industry expected.

He said theearlier messaging was that theCRTC was moving to regulate and govern the "web giants" offering streaming content, such as Netflix or Disney, and not podcast producers and networks. He's concerned about what's to come for smaller players likehis company, even though itdoesn't meet the $10 million threshold at this time.

"What it's created in the short term is poison for an innovative industry, which is uncertainty," Brown said."Nobody knows how this is going to play out. Nobody knows what our obligations are going to be. Nobody knows if we're going to benefit from it."

The CRTC is also requiring the online streaming services that meet their thresholdto provide it with information related to whatcontent they offer and who subscribes, and prohibiting them fromrestricting content to people who subscribe to specific internet providers.

The commission will alsobe holding consultations, starting in the winter,that could potentially redefine what counts as Canadian content.

'Censorship' claims not accurate, says law prof

As for various claims on social media that the CRTC's move is a form of censorship or an attack on free speech, Geistsaysemphaticallythatis nottrue.

"I don't thinkthat registration is the same as a censorship regime," he said. However, he added,he isn't without concern.

"The idea that you potentially would have to register with the Canadian government or with its agency, the CRTC, in order to engage in expression, because you meet a certain threshold for revenue is, I think, a real incursion into expression."