Timothy M. Denton

The Trudeau government’s plans to regulate the global internet and interfere with Canadians’ freedom of expression continues to confuse the legislation’s proponents.  While opponents to the Online Streaming Act (Bill C-11) are clear that the CRTC’s authority over the online world will restrict citizens’ ability to communicate without restriction, Parliamentary hearings this week elicited the […]

Ian Scott, chairman of the CRTC, claims that Bill C-11, the new draft of the Broadcasting Act, will not result in user generated content being regulated. That is not true.  A loaded gun is not intended to be used for murder, but it remains a dangerous weapon. Likewise, the direction of a car is better […]

Lipstick on the same old pig. I will let Peter Menzies say it for me.  There has been a lot of talk about liberty lately. Some, like those in the truckers’ convoys and blockades, want a lot more of it. Others, startled at the prospect of mingling with the unvaccinated and unmasked, want less of […]

  My colleague Philip Palmer delivered this address to the PIAC conference. Caution – it has a large blast radius. C-10: Three Failures There are tomes to be written about C-10, its ambitions and its failings. I would like to make 3 points: First, the restriction of free speech by the regulation of Internet streaming […]

The Basic Question Is there something in the Internet which should inform our approach and constrain the application of broadcasting concepts to it?  I think there is: permissionless innovation.      I am going to divide what I say into three themes. What is the Internet? Permitted or licensed versus Permissionless Speech Expanding the scope […]

  People think that fascism appears as gangs of thugs in black uniforms beating people up. I suspect that it first appears by thought and word, before it manifests as physical violence.  If you define the word “fascism” in its Italian sense, it means “nothing outside the State, everything for the State, and nothing against […]

  Sir Douglas Barrett, QC, King’s Bench, 1692-1764, precursor of Canada’s broadcasting legal fraternity     I see that broadcasting lawyer Doug Barrett is suggesting we vote anything but Conservative because they threaten delay in the passage and implementation of the Broadcasting Act, as expressed in the late bill C10. If you care abut people’s […]

The new Broadcasting Act, Bill C10, may be stymied in the Senate of Canada, but the actual content of its policy objectives has just been released. Heritage Canada has published “Guiding Principles on Diversity of Content online”. The Guiding Principles have several advantages over the policy objectives of section 3 of the Broadcasting Act. They are not legislated, […]

  Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to the Annual General Meeting of the Internet Society, Canada Chapter.   What a year it has been! The vision of the Internet that we have is one that is open, accessible and affordable. The one that the Government of Canada appears to have is of an internet that […]