Spoiler alert: Here’s part of the last paragraph in this article by Tara Ariano, National Post, Published: Monday, March 27, 2006:
I would like the CRTC to give me access to American cable, unfiltered.
But no Tara, sorry, we’re not allowed.
What your CRT can’t C
The worst kind of media blackout is a government-imposed blackout[…] Time was, the number of cable stations available to Canadian subscribers was limited by the size of the terrestrial spectrum. But since digital cable went mainstream nearly five years ago, those restrictions no longer exist. The only limitation on the networks Canadians have access to is imposed by the CRTC, in its decisions as to which broadcasters get licenses. And in their infinite wisdom, they’ve decided that you should get something called Casino and Gaming Television Canada, but shouldn’t get to watch American Bravo, the home of Being Bobby Brown and the sublime Project Runway. There’s a chance homegrown broadcasters will pick those shows up so you can see them, but that only happens to the buzziest shows, and even then, often not until much later. For instance, months followed the premiere of FX’s Rescue Me before it landed here on Showcase. If Arrested Development does end up on Showtime next year, as is rumoured, will Canadians have to try to avoid reading about it for months until some local carrier gets the rights to air it? Will we just have to buy the DVDs once the entire season has aired Stateside?
But the CRTC isn’t just shielding Canadians from individual shows or broadcasters—it’s also keeping us away from new technologies. Last year, content owners started offering episodes of TV shows, for a nominal fee, through Apple’s iTunes in the U.S. And even though Canadians can finally buy music there, TV shows are still off-limits. So Apple can sell me a video iPod at Toronto’s Yorkdale Mall, but because of a simple accident of birth, I can’t use it to watch an episode of Lost. The CRTC is turning us into second-class digital citizens!
[…]
[Read the whole thing (1 minute)]
Coincidentally, I happened to notice a GoogleAd accompanying this article at the National Post. It was a text ad linking to Download Tv Shows.
…and although I do high-fives, if I did, I’d give Tara Ariano one for her headline. “CRT” is an acronym for “cathode ray tube”, which is your TVs picture tube. And of course it’s also the first three letters of the state censor, the CRTC. C what she did there? She’s a smartypants.
PTBC was founded by Mr. Johannesen in 2000.
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