Printable View
http://www.canada.com/montreal/montr...6-CEDC6AFC2C4C
OK, so there are people there buying black-market satellite equipment to steal signals. When they get busted, they have it coming.
However, the Canadian Cable Television Association fails to differentiate between the pirates and those who are actually paying USA subscription fees to watch satellite programming that is unavailable on Canadian providers. And so does the government. I think that's a kingsize load of crap.
What dipshit made this law?
I am so happy that they are finally cracking down on these people. I don't care if someone is paying DirecTV/Dish Network or not, they are clearly breaking the law.
Even those "paying pirates" are not paying Canadian taxes on their systems or bill, are they? They are robbing Canadian providers and stations of income - which passes the cost on to law-abiding Canadians. They are circumventing the CTRC's Canadian content laws (which are not nearly strong enough as it is).
Oh, and the article does not mention that Al-Jazeera is due to be carried in Canada soon. The Gazoo itself reported that a few months ago. If immigrants like myself want new channels introduced they should follow legal procedures. Get a sponsor, write letters to networks and start a movement to get their channel on the air in Canada. If the companies see it as profitable they'll get their wish. Besides, there is all kinds of multi-cultural content broadcast in many languages on channels like CH Horizon. There is a Spanish programme on right now as a matter of fact! :rolleyes:
I miss watching the New Jersey Devils hockey games, broadcast from my native homeland of New Jersey, according to this logic would that justify me breaking the law too? Access to *TV* is not a human right for crying out loud. :rolleyes:
Ah well, in any case I see a lot less pirate dishes in the past year so it's good to see the laws are working.
ps. The Gazoo is a tabloid piece of garbage.
Are you serious?Quote:
Originally Posted by sggg
I clearly don't see how this law does any good for people if their form of media is restricted to what the government thinks they should be regulated to, it's just another form of dictatorship. Plus there is no way they should claim they're stealing airwaves if the services are being paid for.
Maybe we can strike a deal. Satellite signals for prescription drugs?
This is OLD news.
They've been cracking down on "grey market" dishes ever since ExpressVu and StarChoice came on the market up here years ago.
It has to do with international copyrights (channels are licenced to broadcast shows only in specific regions,) and the fact that most american specialty stations aren't licenced to broadcast in Canada at all. (They have to apply to the CRTC to get on cable and dish here, just like they had to apply to the FCC there.)
As I said, every single cable/dish/antenna station ANYWHERE has to apply for a licence. If you were to start a radio station from your house, the FCC would be busting down your doors pretty fast.Quote:
Originally Posted by voltz
There's two reasons for this:
a) Radio/TV bandwidth is limited, so they have to licence broadcast spectrum to avoid chaos.
b) Radio/TV has to conform to "decency standards", so they can't show hardcore porn and stuff.
This article is ridiculously biased. Maria may as well have written it herself. Canadian television has a great amount of variety (and it's a fraction of what it costs in the US no less). Almost every channel anyone could possibly want is available. Canada has CBC/SRC, which like the BBC is actualy viable worthwhile public television, a variety of local networks in both official languages, multicultural multilingual programming, movie channels, sports channels, educational channels, and so on.Quote:
Originally Posted by voltz
It's not a person's right to have access to television in their native non-official language. What about immigrants from Finland? Should Saku Koivu demand the Finnish stations be carried? :wtf: If there is enough of a market for Spanish, Arabic, Korean, or any other language-based stations then the companies themselves will make an effort to get on the air. If not, tough shit. It's just TV. Al-Jazeera managed to get itself approved. If Maria cannot live without Mexican TV maybe she should move to Mexico. What does she expect, every country in the world to show Mexican TV just in case a Mexican shows up? What if she moves to Slovakia - will she pull the same shit there? It's a stupid argment. It's just TV!!
I miss plenty of things from home, including some TV shows. But when you decide to immigrate to another country you have to leave some things behind. That's just the way it goes.
And like I said, there already is enough imported programming. The Canadian content laws are not strong enough to begin with. I'm all for more diversity in channels. I'd prefer to watch them myself. I don't understand Spanish but I used to watch football on Telemundo when I lived in the States, but the problem is not the CRTC. The problem is that what is imported is dominated by redundant US stations.
Quote:
Originally Posted by voltz
:rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by sggg
There was a loophole that was legally closed about a year ago, however. Before that it was ignored and not cracked down on. Now, as you can see, there is a stiff fine and they go after people. Around me most of the pirate US dishes I used to see are gone. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Kenshin
Many of them get on the air by making a Canadian version, with a % of Canadian content and adding the suffix "Canada" to the title. There is Fox Sports World Canada, BBC Canada, Home & Garden Canada, Food TV Canada, Tech TV Canada, and so on. There are also many actual US stations that broadcast here.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kenshin
If anyone is curious, here are the extra channels available to me.
* Link
Québec has different "decency standards". :pQuote:
Originally Posted by Kenshin
;)