Newsmakers: Interpreting Broadcasting Act for the digital era is key, von Finckenstein says

At the Canadian Film and Television Production Association’s Prime Time 2007 conference last week, new CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein outlined the principles that will govern his five-year term in the position, as well as the challenges he will have to deal with during that period. Below is an edited excerpt from his February 22 speech. First, I would like to share with you my approach to regulation. In my view the work of a regulator, such as the CRTC, should be guided by the following four principles: transparency, fairness, predictability, and timeliness. By transparency, I mean that we should be as open in our dealings as the law permits so that all our interlocutors understand what we are doing, why and how they can interact with us. By fairness, I mean that we have to strike a fair balance between the competing parties that appear before us. The balance may be between large and small companies, between consumers and providers, between broadcaster and BDU’s or other stakeholders.... By predictability, I mean that we should be consistent and follow clearly articulated directions. Or, if we deviate from these directions, we have to explain why, i.e. what drove us to the departure. Finally, timeliness means that we should strive to deal with issues in a timely manner. While time has little value in the bureaucracy, we have to realize that any delay on our part costs the regulated stakeholders real money.... Now I would like to share with you some of the challenges that I see for the CRTC….First in telecommunications, we’re entering the last major frontier in deregulation – local telephone service….The challenge the commission faces here will be to ensure that a less regulated environment in telecommunications will foster more – not less – competition, choice, technical innovation and value-for-money for consumers….Second, on the broadcasting side of our work, the kind of change we are seeing is perhaps even more rapid and profound than in telecommunications…."New media" – the result of applying new technologies to broadcasting – have the potential to undermine existing business models and regulatory structures. What can we do in the face of this to preserve and fulfill our mandate as set out in the Broadcasting Act? That’s the key challenge that faces the regulator….The third challenge I see is one that is internal to the commission….As in other organizations in the federal public service, at the CRTC there will be an imminent wave of departures as staff that are part of the baby-boom generation become eligible for retirement….Fourth, and last, is the constant challenge of finding the right mix of market forces and regulation....Market forces are driven by strictly rational economic objectives. They don’t put any value on culture per se. Yet broadly speaking the prime goal of the Broadcasting Act is to safeguard, enrich and strengthen Canadian culture. The goal thus becomes one of directing or steering market forces so that they lead to the attainment of the objectives of the Broadcasting Act. The trick, of course, is to do that without losing the benefits normally associated with a competitive free market economy....For me, this question of getting the right mix is central to the role of a regulator. While we were very successful in the past with our mix, and your industry is a testament thereto, we will constantly have to reappraise and if necessary recalibrate the mix to obtain the objectives of the Broadcasting Act.

Newsmakers: Interpreting Broadcasting Act for the digital era is key, von Finckenstein says

Broadcast | March 1, 2007

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