Bill C-11 regulates user generated content. This has been acknowledged by YouTube. It’s pretty obvious, but it’s noteworthy who is saying it.
Bill C-11 regulates user generated content. This is pretty much a fact of Bill C-11. Supporters have tried hard to deny it, but the text of the legislation has long refuted this denial. Generally speaking, pasting the relevant section (which is “this Act applies in respect of a program that is uploaded”), that typically ends the debate in one form or another.
YouTube has already come out against Bill C-11 in the past. Back in March, the streaming giant said that Bill C-11 would have a negative impact on streamers revenue. This, as far as we’re concerned, is pretty obvious. When legislation starts demanding the dividing up audiences, content will have less reach, less views, and garner less revenue in the end. Now, YouTube is saying that Bill C-11 will regulate user generated content. From Global:
YouTube has warned that cooking videos made in people’s kitchens and other home videos could be regulated by an online streaming law, despite assurances from the heritage minister that this will not happen.
Speaking publicly for the first time about Bill C-11, Jeanette Patell, head of government affairs at YouTube Canada, said the draft law’s wording gives the broadcast regulator scope to oversee everyday videos posted for other users to watch.
She told the National Culture Summit in Ottawa that the bill’s text appears to contradict Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez’s public assurances that it does not cover amateur content, such as cat videos.
Patell told the summit that if the government wants an “option in the future” to regulate YouTube users’ videos, “that’s a conversation we need to have.”
“It’s incumbent on us to have clarity in the law,” she told the summit.
Patell indicated that YouTube accepts that full-length professional music videos should fall within the bill’s scope, but she said she wants the legal text of the bill to explicitly reflect the minister’s insistence that amateur videos will be exempt.
(via @MGeist)
The article goes on to say how the Canadian government is continuing to deny what the text of the bill says that it does – that is regulate user generated content. The Canadian government is still trying to rely on the fuzzy wording about how users are exempt. Indeed, the users themselves are exempt, but the users content are explicitly regulated which has always been at issue. What’s sad is that the government is still trying to mislead Canadians by trying to continue to intentionally confuse the subject. It makes one think that they have yet to find new material in their efforts to sell the legislation.
On a side note, the article also notes how some are still trying to insist that Canadian content is somehow hard to find:
Jack Blum of Reel Canada, which created National Canadian Film Day, said regulations making global platforms promote Canadians’ creative work are essential because otherwise Canadian stories are “extremely difficult to find.”
“The vastness of the platform makes it virtually impossible to have a presence with Canadian stories,” he said. “The marketplace will not service Canadians because Canadians are not a big enough piece of the market.”
So, in other words, apparently Blum doesn’t know how to use a search bar. Obviously, legislation isn’t needed to solve this problem. This little pro tip is for Blum. A search bar is that long rectangular thing on the top of most websites. It typically has the word “search” in it. All you need to do is click on that long rectangular thing and type in the kind of content you are looking for. When you type in your search term, you hit the enter key on your keyboard. The website will then proceed to load in the results of your search request. From there, you can find all the Canadian content that you want. There, problem solved.
In fact, if this person wants examples of Canadian’s making content, try our channel, Furious Pete, JJ McCullough or even Linus Tech Tips. Canadian’s making content is there and its very easy to find, actually. We could very easily offer more examples, but you get the idea. It really goes to show you just how much this legislation is a solution looking for a problem.
Drew Wilson on Twitter: @icecube85 and Facebook.
