A large tech trade group in the U.S. is calling for the Trudeau government’s controversial internet regulation bill, Bill C-11, to be rewritten, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.
“Governments should be modest about imposing obligations on the technological future,” The Consumer Technology Association of Arlington, Virginia (CTA) wrote in a submission to the Senate transport and communications committee on Thursday.
“Specifically, Canada should be cautious and precise about attempting to influence or define the information that is available to users.”
The CTA argues that C-11 fails to define what “commercial” internet programmers are and the bill does not “explicitly exempt videos uploaded on YouTube by everyday users.”
“Individuals and companies communicating on the internet were not like radio and TV broadcasters and should not be regulated under the Broadcasting Act,” said the CTA.
“Ability to share should not be assumed to turn users into broadcasters,” said the CTA. “Nor should it subject users even to remotely comparable obligations and regulations.”
Directors of the CTA include executives with Amazon, Best Buy, Google, IBM, Microsoft, Samsung and Sony.
The CTA are not the only Americans concerned about the government’s internet regulation bill. In July, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai expressed concern about Bill C-11 after meeting with Minister of International Trade Mary Ng.
Despite previous claims made by Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez that Bill C-11 would not impact online creators, the Expert Advisory Group on Online Safety said that “misleading political communications” should be federally regulated. Rodriguez’s claims have also been contradicted by the CRTC.
Bill C-11 passed in the House of Commons on June 21 but has faced hurdles in Senate committees. The bill, which aims to amend The Broadcasting Act, would see the CRTC regulate commercial internet programmers like Netflix, YouTube and Facebook.
