------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Feb 1994 02:51:13 EST From: John_Stevenson@MAGIC-BBS.CORP.APPLE.COM Subject: File 2--Update on Canadian BBS "Licensing" (Re: CuD 6.15) I wrote this messge in response to many rumours that have been floating around Onenet and MAGIC recently. Don't Panic I've been following the thread started when I forwarded LORD QORTHON's copied post to the CyberForum. At first I was alarmed, but when I gave the matter some thought, I realized that it is highly unlikely that the CRTC has any interest in regulating BBSes right now. It may be that government policy may effect BBS operation in future, but I just don't see that happening any time soon. Before I go on, I want to make it clear that I know the CRTC fairly well from nearly a decade of work in the community radio sector. > The Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) is >currently in the process of setting itself up to regulate Public >bulletin boards. They want to make it an offense to run a BBS without a >CRTC license. If licensing comes into effect, the BBS scene will quite >literally shrivel up and die. Bruce McIntosh telephoned the CRTC in Ottawa last week, and was told that there are no plans to regulate bullten boards in the works. He spoke with a public info officer and was told nothing was being worked on. To me, that makes perfect sense - the CRTC has suffered from budget cuts in the past few years and is understaffed. They would rather see more self-regulation, like the cable industry's recent standards council. I am sure that if this ever became something real, a group of BBSers getting together and drafting some very basic standards would nip it in the bud. > Consider the example of radio in the 40's and 50's. Before the >CRTC was formed, anyone could broadcast radio signals legally from their >home on any bandwidth. Fearing obscenity and extreme access to >information, the CRTC was formed to sell licenses to broadcasters. >Without such a license, you could be prosecuted for broadcasting. The >result of this action can be seen today: the only radio stations we see >are totally mainstream and are hell-bent on making profit, not pleasing >listeners or informing the public. When I see this kind of history thrown out as "reality", it bothers me a great deal. Government regulation of broadcasting existed from nearly the beginning of the sector in Canada. The CBC and CRTC were formed not to stop "obscenity and extreme access to information" but American commercial radio control of Canadian airwaves. It was not the case that "anyone could broadcast radio signals legally from their home on any bandwidth (sic)" - even in the 1920s, the Fisheries Dept. was giving put licences. > If licensing comes into affect, we will LOSE this access. Not only >will the pirate boards be hunted down and exterminated, but all >currently LEGAL PUBLIC DOMAIN BBS's will also be made illegal unless >they can afford a license. And who do you think will get licenses? >Only those willing to follow the CRTC guidelines for radio and >television. Corporations and rich executives. The BBS world, our >underground paradise (if you will) is in great danger of becoming a >commercial hell like the rest of today's media. This seems like a likely scenario if (a) the CRTC had some desire to control BBSes as you describe and (b) they could afford to do it. I am not sure about the first and doubt the second very much. > We don't yet know what the proposed licensing fee will be, but it >could anywhere in the area of $300-$5,000. This could also depend on >the size of the BBS. However, most BBS's will simply close up shop if >the government wants a license. The government will simply weed out all >the little guys and support the big guys. Licence fee for a non-profit radio station is $25 dollars a year. Commercial stations pay a very small percent of their profit as the fee. I'm not in favour of licencing, but $25? In the US, all DJs (commercial or non-commercial, it doesn't matter) need an FCC licence to be on the air. Now that is restrictive. > Before I go into my plan of action, I want to tell you that if >licensing comes into effect, if will be basically impossible to beat the >system. All pirate radio stations in North America have been crushed by >the government in a matter of months. Imagine how easy it will be to >crush pirate bulletin board systems (and by that I simply mean BBS's >without a license) with traceable phone numbers. Bell Canada would be >sure to help the CRTC bust those boards. And the RCMP would have a real >easy time busting any boards with illegal software, because those boards >would not have licenses. The CRTC finds the board through Bell, arrests >the sysop for running a board without a license, then informs the RCMP >that this sysop was allowing copyrighted material to be transferred >through his/her bbs. That sysop, for the first time in his/her life, is >suddenly looking at a possible jail term. It's hard for me to argue that folks running pirate boards shouldn't get busted. While I don't agree with many aspects of our wonderful econimic system, I don't think the way to reform it is through establishing pirate bulliten boards. The software business is tough enough. Actually, it isn't all that easy to find a pirate radio station, especially outside Ontario. The Department of Communications has only a couple of testing vans for the whole of Canada. Fact is, there are unlicenced radio stations which have been in existance for years which the CRTC either can't or doesn't want to bust. The last time they went after someone that I can remember was for pirate television - a group of religious boradcasters out west wanted to start a Christian TV station, even though that's contrary to regulation. They ended up allowing them to apply for licences. Isn't the CRTC mean? I have never heard of anyone going to jail or receiving fines for breaking broadcast regulations in Canada. Maybe it happened in the past, but in the most recent ten years, it hasn't. Sure, broadcasters have been punished, but it has never involved criminal prosecution. Yes, in the US this happens a lot - but not in Canada. Anyway, how easy will it really be to track down an "illegal" BBS? Radio and television have a limited range of frequencies they can use - in many parts of Canada, interferance from a new broadcaster will lead to complaints. But a BBS isn't as noticable. What is the CRTC going to do - wardial every city and town in Canada? Nope, they'll have to wait for complaints, or pay someone to hang out in the hacker scene and track down "pirate" boards. >She would be willing to confront the CRTC on legal grounds if we have >enough support from YOU. I have to hear from you. In order to force >the CRTC to at least seriously listen to our argument, we need a lot of >names, and a lot of letters to your local MP and to the CRTC. God, I am sick of people thinking of the CRTC as some sort of FCC-style scary monolith. They've bee watching Pump Up the Volume too many times. The fact is that the Commission is pretty supportive of non-commercial radio. Maby people in the CRTC just want to be responsive to what broadcasters and the public want. They don't fine you and for the most part there is very little ass-kicking going on. >OUR GOAL: To stop the CRTC from requiring the licensing of bulletin >board systems and get it written into the law books that private, home >run bbs's are totally legal and should never be regulated, in the >interests of free information. I know we've argued about this for awhile, but whether the CRTC or anyone else regulates BBSes will be determined by a bunch of circumstances. First, is the public somehow served by this kind of regualtion? Maybe. In the past, even newspapers have been subject to public policy. However, I don't see a pressing need for regulation. Second, if there is a desire to regulate, who is going to pay for it? Regulation means staff, research, and time. Can the CRTC spare that when they have to deal with such issues as new cable services and long distance services? I don't think so. > KEEP PRIVATE BBS's LEGAL! > > LORD QORTHON I guess the sourse of this post was a hacker, probably a warezwolf. As I said at the beginning of this post, don't panic. Even if there is a desire to regulate (and I am drafting a letter to Keith Spicer, the chair of the CRTC to find out), we will have plenty of notice and can deal with it. =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ + END THIS FILE + +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+===+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=