As it turns out, Canada’s state broadcaster, the CBC, has had to edit its radio programs streamed online to remove music and other copyrighted material. It has now reached a deal that will allow it to stream those programs unedited.
It stands to reason whether Canadian taxpayers, who foot the CBC’s bill, were really interested in having all that filler material in the streamed version of radio programs. People usually go to streamed content if they missed the original broadcast and are probably happy about not having to waste time with such fillers, instead focusing on, say, an interview with a politician, celebrity or author of some prominence.
In other words, the CBC might have agreed to pay extra for something online listeners may not even care for.
But what should be of grave concerns to taxpayers is the CBC’s plan to launch a commercial music streaming service later this year. Trying to compete with iTunes isn’t really part of the state broadcaster’s mandate, is it?
Let’s assume the service has launched: Will Canadians be asked to pay for any song they download, or, as it should be, will they be told that their access is free because they already paid their taxes?
If the CBC wants to go down the commercial road, that’s fine, but if that’s where it’s headed, taxpayer-funded subsidies should cease automatically.