November 20, 1998

OTTAWA-HULL — The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) hearing on the new media begins Monday, November 23^rd at 9:00 a.m. The hearing will take place at the Conference Centre, Phase IV, 140 Promenade du Portage, Hull, Quebec. The Commission will examine issues related to the new media over the course of this hearing.

The CRTC wishes to create a forum for constructive dialogue and to compile a comprehensive record about the scope and impact of new media services and the benefits Canadians may reap from their evolution.

The Commission expects the hearing process to address three basic questions:

• How do the new media affect the regulation of the traditional broadcasting undertakings of radio, television and cable?
• To what extent do new media constitute services already defined by the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Acts? and
• What other recommendations should be made to government on other broader regulatory issues?

The topic of new media has generated a lot of interest. The Commission has received several hundred written submissions and e-mail comments on the topic of new media. Eighty-five different parties ranging from individuals to producers to distributors of new media content have asked to come to speak to the Commission.

These parties have expressed concerns about privacy and security on the net, copyright, taxation, and social rights issues, as well as the overall, potentially dramatic effect that the new media could have on the way we run our lives and society.

The hearing will sit for 12 days. Final oral arguments will be made during the second phase of this process which take place February 8 to 12, 1999.

Reference documents: Broadcasting Notice CRTC 1998-82 and Telecom Public Notice CRTC 98-20.

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Contact: Denis Carmel, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N2
                Tel: (819) 997-9403, TDD: (819) 994-0423, Fax: (819) 997-4245
                eMail: denis.carmel@crtc.gc.ca
                Toll-free # 1-877-249-CRTC (2782)

Copies of documents are available through our Internet site ( http://www.crtc.gc.ca ) or by contacting the public examination room of any CRTC office. These documents are available in alternative format upon request.

Documentation Centre: 55 St. Clair Avenue East, Suite 624, Toronto, Ontario, (416) 952-9096

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