Quebecor proposal could fill gap in regulatory research and development

A new research project being proposed for the University of Montreal has the potential to extend Canada’s leadership in communications regulation into cyberspace. As part of its tangible benefits package tabled with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications (CRTC) to take over Vidéotron Communications, Quebecor Inc has offered a $200,000-grant to the school’s faulty of law to produce a book exploring models for regulation and legislation of new media. The Quebecor tangible benefits package for new media1. UQAM/Concordia Research Consortium: $250,000. Concordia University’s Media Lab and the Université de Québec à Montréal will form a consortium to direct and coordinate research on the development of interactive content. 2.. Centre de recherche en droit public: $200,000. 3. Royalties/new media: $200,000. Quebecor has proposed funding a research program into how royalties are paid as content from television is extended to other media. A company spokesperson says no details have yet been worked out. 4. Cinémathèque québécoise – archiving and digitization: $225,000. The contribution will enable the organization to continue archiving and digitizing Quebec’s television heritage.Pierre Trudel, head of the technology and law group at Montreal, says the work will be an extension of over 20 years of research into the subject. It was previously impossible to compile an extensive work on the topic given the dearth of funds for such projects in Canada. The Vidéotron money will fund a team of nine professors and their grad students as they spend a year to create the book and related websites. The project will study the laws and regulations surrounding communications with a view to make the most of new economic opportunities, possibly using new regulatory models such as self-regulation and online dispute resolution. While the proposed book will be produced by Canadians, its outlook will be decidedly global, says Trudel. "It’s global because it’s harder than ever to contemplate these issues only from a national point of view. This is universal." Trudel says that a main thrust will be countering fears that the Internet is a domain incapable of being regulated. Canada is known as a leader in regulatory innovation, and has provided advice to several developing and newly democratic countries through bodies such as the Canadian International Development Agency. Trudel believes Canadians can take advantage of the newness of the Internet to take a similarly leading role. The role of regulation in protecting Canadian culture in various media, he says, is partly responsible for the goodwill we enjoy globally. Economic opportunity at stakeOf course, the grant won’t be used entirely to fund a vanity project. At stake, says Trudel, is the future of Canada’s new economy with its associated jobs and opportunities. "There is a lot of demonstration that can be made that if we improve the regulatory process, it will create more jobs and more opportunity." He says bad regulation can be counter-productive to innovation, and that research into what constitutes good regulation is essential. For example, he says, there may be alternatives to the adversarial approach adopted by the Copyright Board of Canada, and that the online dispute resolution mechanism for domain names might be one model. "If medical research worked like the legal process," he says, "we’d all be sicker than we are." The green light for the project won’t come until the commission approves the Quebecor/Vidéotron merger, a process that will likely take several months.

Quebecor proposal could fill gap in regulatory research and development

Broadcast | February 7, 2001

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