Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community
With the launch of YouTube in Canada, featuring the CBC (television) and CFL (football), and the launch of the USC Channel, it is worth pausing for a moment to reflect on the way "internet service providers, and cultural groups steadily move toward the delivery of content online that bears a striking resemblance to the conventional cable model." What characterizes the cable model is not only channels and bundles, but also barriers and borders. "The new Daily Show site," for example, "is off-limits for Canadians since the U.S.-based Comedy Central recently took the unprecedented step of redirecting Canadian visitors to the CTV-owned Comedy Network site." I find it ironic that it is business interests - who are always the first to caterwaul against government interference in markets - that are leading this charge to clamp down, control, and ultimately impose a wide range of content controls over the internet.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Mar 28, 2024 05:48 a.m.

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