SATELLITES FLY OVER BORDERS 

GOVERNMENTS CREATED DURING THE NOW FADING INDUSTRIAL AGE CREATED ALL KINDS OF RESTRICTIVE LAWS AND REGULATIONS. THAT WAS IN KEEPING WITH A TIME THAT STRESSED THE LINEAR VIRTUES OF THE MASS PRODUCTION LINE, WITH STUDENTS TRAINED TO OPERATE THE PRODUCTIVITY CENTRES OF THAT AGE. ALL WERE TAUGHT THAT TWO FOLLOWS ONE. THAT B FOLLOWS C. THAT TRAINS CAME ONE AFTER THE OTHER AND PUNCTUALITY WAS EVERYTHING. NOW NEW TECHNOLOGIES ARE MOVING IN SO FAST THAT THEY ARE MAKING A MOCKERY OF MANY EXISTING LAWS. LET'S LOOK AT A FEW EXAMPLES:

BROADCASTING REGULATIONS IN CANADA ARE RULED BY THE CRTC (CANADIAN RADIO & TELEVISION TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION). IN THE U.S. BY THE FCC (FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION). IN MANY WAYS THEY ARE SIMILAR. LATELY THE DIFFERENCE IS OBVIOUS.

IN THE PAST BOTH ORGANIZATIONS ERECTED A REGULATORY WALL AGAINST ALL THOSE NOT ON THE "IN". THE "IN" BEING IF THEY HAD APPROVED YOUR LICENSE APPLICATION SOMETIME IN THE DISTANT PAST. IN THOSE DAYS THERE WAS SOME JUSTIFICATION FOR REGULATION. IT WAS KNOWN AS 'SCARCITY OF SPECTRUM'. THAT TECHNICALESE FOR SAYING YOU COULD ONLY HAVE SO MANY RADIO OR TV CHANNELS. THEN IT WAS TRUE. NOT SO TODAY.

NEVERTHELESS THE CRTC CONTINUED TO ERECT A WALL AGAINST U.S. TERRESTRIAL HERTZIAN WAVES ENTERING HALLOWED CANADIAN AIRSPACE. HOWEVER, BLIND TO THE WINDS OF CHANGE THEY NEGLECTED TO CONSIDER THAT IN AN AGE OF MICROWAVE AND TRANSMISSION VIA SATELLITE A WALL ISN'T MUCH GOOD WITHOUT AN ACCOMPANYING ROOF. NOT ONLY U.S. SIGNALS WERE ENTERING WITH IMPUNITY BUT SO WERE BULL FIGHTS FROM MEXICO, PORNO SHOWS FROM SEVERAL ORIGINATION SPOTS, ADS FROM ELECTRONIC DEPARTMENT STORES AND A HOST OF OTHER THINGS THEY WOULD PREFER TO KEEP OUT. BECAUSE SATELLITES ARE TIME- INSENSITIVE, BLUE SHOWS AIRED IN NEW YORK AT 9 P.M. EST ARRIVED JUST IN TIME FOR THE CHILDREN'S DINNER HOUR ON THE WEST COAST. ANOTHER EDICT BANNED SATELLITE DISHES IN AN ILL-FATED ATTEMPT AT OLD-FASHIONED CONTROL. IMMEDIATELY 10,000 DISHES SPROUTED THROUGHOUT THE LAND.

NOW THE LATEST IN ELECTRONIC BOOMERANGING HAS OCCURRED. THE CRTC HAS THE MANDATE TO ENSURE CANADIAN CONTENT MAKES SOME SHOWING ON THE CANADIAN TELEVISION SCENE. DURING RECENT YEARS, PROVINCIAL MINISTRIES HAVE BEEN WORKING ON ELECTRONIC EDUCATION. BRITISH COLUMBIA'S "KNOWLEDGE NETWORK", THE FIRST IN THE COUNTRY, ALONG WITH THEIR OPEN LEARNING INSTITUTE AND DISTANT LEARNING PROGRAM, ALLOW ANY B.C. RESIDENT TO OBTAIN A UNIVERSITY DEGREE WITHOUT, THEORETICALLY, LEAVING ONE'S HOME. NATURALLY ONE WOULD THINK THAT SINCE "CANADIAN CONTENT" IS THE CRTC'S JURISDICTION THEY WOULD SUPPORT THAT IDEA. WRONG. THEY HAVE OPTED TO ALLOW AN AMERICAN COMMERCIAL CHANNEL -- THE LEARNING CHANNEL -- TO OPERATE THROUGH YOUR LOCAL CABLE COMPANY. THEY GET PAID FOR, IN MANY CASES, THE SAME ' LASSES' AVAILABLE FREE IN B.C., ONTARIO (TV ONTARIO) OR QUEBEC (RADIO QUEBEC).

DOES ANY GOVERNMENT KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON?

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