Broadcaster or pipeline? Courts to rule on ISPs

A federal court will be asked to rule whether companies that provide Internet access should be viewed as broadcasters of online content, or merely the pipes that transmit bits of data to computer screens. The decision could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the entertainment industry,

Content producers, such as actors and screenwriters, argue that Internet service providers (ISPs) perform a similar role to cable companies and broadcasters when material flows onto the Internet. As such, they should be subject to the Broadcasting Act, which requires those companies to give financial support to Canadian content on TV and radio.

The CRTC attempted to answer that question in February, but after hearing detailed legal arguments from both sides of the debate, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has decided to turn the matter over to the Federal Court of Appeal.