<i>> The legislation requires streaming services, such as Netflix and Spotify, to pay to support Canadian media content like music and TV shows.</i><p>Canada deleted their Youtube channel with 3,000+ digitally restored works of Canadian Content, <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35716982" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35716982</a>
The French speaking part of Canada of which I am a part of generally view this legislation positively since it does mean more money for culture in French. Money that currently goes toward English content. Now if we could actually produce quality shows it would be great (right now its like 90% bad soap/romcom/cop shows), otherwise the younger generations (me included) will just continue to watch US English content. If I want to watch good content in French I search for stuff made in France (ARTE on youtube, Backseat on twitch, etc).
As a Canadian, I am of two minds about it. FM radio is required to broadcast Canadian produced or performed music at least for 35% of the time. There are not too many, in absolute numbers, songs that are both Canadian and popular which results in few songs being broadcast to death. At least that was the case when I used to listen to FM radio. On the other hand, that legislation certainly helped Canadian artists.
I both want diverse cultures to flourish & be celebrated but wow, this is not the way.<p>Bossing around entities on the internet to give special treatment to your niche causes is the new thing, is what everyone all of a sudden is giving themselves laws to do.<p>It just has such limits, pushing other people around to give yourself favor. How is the internet supposed to keep on, when every nation demands their pound of flesh, their personal asks?
This was also the topic of the first 20-30 minutes of last weeks Wan Show (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSOF8RFrihM">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSOF8RFrihM</a>) where he also shared some anecdotes from his interactions with political folks in Cananda.<p>(For folks that might not be familiar - Linus runs a pretty popular set of youtube channels and is based in Canada)
I hate this.
Always more and more control from our government that know what is good for us!
I can’t stand this government and hope people wake up and switch at next elections.
I'm a Canadian who's been following C-11 and before that C-10 for the 2 years the government has been working to pass this legislation.<p>Here is the best summary I've read so far:<p><a href="https://allenmendelsohn.com/2023/04/welcome-to-the-online-streaming-act-era/" rel="nofollow">https://allenmendelsohn.com/2023/04/welcome-to-the-online-st...</a><p>Digital first creators, Canadian YouTubers and TikTokers (ex Linus Tech Tips), stand to lose the most from this. Their livelihoods are under threat.<p>This is because of a clause in the bill that seeks to regulate user generated content. Months of senate testimony concluding that user generated content is in scope of the bill. The senate introduced an amendment to exclude user generated content, but the government rejected the amendment, while insisting this will not affect user generated content.<p>The heritage minister claimed in an interview that the only opposition to this bill came from YouTube. This is despite months of testimony from digital first creators expressing grave concerns about this bill.<p>Other facts to keep in mind about C-11:<p>1. The heritage minister gets to define Canadian content only after the bill has passed
2. Cabinet can overrule any decisions made by the CRTC, the Canadian equivalent of the FCC.
This is my biggest worry that as countries continue to add more and more laws the internet becomes more and more fragmented and soon instead of the internet we have the EUnet, the CAnet, the ChinaNet, the RussiaNet the AmericaNet, etc.
Fun fact: The "Canadian content" requirement for broadcast was parodied by SCTV, who in order to fill the letter of the law aired a skit featuring two of the most stereotypically Canuck characters imaginable: Bob and Doug McKenzie.
>The government has insisted that the legislation is not intended to regulate independent content creators.<p>What does that means? If I upload videos on Youtube, then I'm probably in the clear. But if I make my own website with videos on it, am I still an "independent content creators" or am I now a streaming service in need of being regulated? How big I need to become before the law apply to me? Is this a new barrier to entry so the little guys are stuck with existing platform?
It's funny that this is needed for streaming, because it seems like every time I look up a filming location, it's Canada. Good ol' "Hollywood North".
Other countries should introduce a tariff on all Canadian content - fight fire with fire. I'm Canadian but I don't think such protectionist policies are ultimately helpful.
Whatever needs to happen so I don't have to listen or watch English or American shows all the time, I'm OK with that, and I assume these are my tax dollars working for me.<p>I see a lot of negativity regarding "The French" (their TV programs, their culture, and OMG their communist government?!?) and I just hate it every time I see it. The demeaning attitudes are hurtful, and don't usually contribute anything.
This is a CBC article so keep in mind its bias in favour of the Liberals who pushed this bill through.<p>For anyone interested in a more balanced view, Michael Geist is law professor, research chair, and overall internet policy nerd. I highly recommend his review of the bill: <a href="https://www.michaelgeist.ca/2023/04/billc11end/" rel="nofollow">https://www.michaelgeist.ca/2023/04/billc11end/</a><p>It's also interesting to put what the Trudeau Liberals are doing in perspective. This is just one of three internet censorship bills that they will pass before 2026.<p>C-11 (this bill), will allow the Liberals to dictate what platforms show. Simply put, the books aren't being censored, they're just telling the book stores what should be on the shelves. It also adds what is effectively a new tax for content creators which the Federal government will distribute for Canadian content. Keep an eye for scandals about how these funds were distributed in a couple of years.<p>C-18 is the next one. In short, the Trudeau Liberals will implement another a tax on links, so aggregators such as Google may be forced to pay when they link to say the CBC. Google has already said they may simply stop linking to news services in Canada if they pass this, giving the government funded Canadian news agencies even more power. Good write up: <a href="https://www.michaelgeist.ca/2023/02/billc18reality/" rel="nofollow">https://www.michaelgeist.ca/2023/02/billc18reality/</a><p>The Online Safety Bill - not yet formally proposed - will likely be the coup de gras. Not much is known yet, but given how easily you can censor anything under the guise of "safety" and the Liberal's proclivity towards extra-judicial action, it probably won't be good.<p>Overall, Canada's internet will look very North Korean by the time the next elections roll about. If you're visiting, you should probably have a VPN ready to go before you cross the border.