Project Business Ethics

Canada:

In August 1998, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) called for public discussion on what role - if any - it should have in regulating matters such as online pornography, hate speech, and "Canadian content" on the Web.

Subsequently, on 17 May 1999, the CRTC issued a media release titled "CRTC Won't Regulate the Internet" stating, among other things, that:

"The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) announced today that it will not regulate new media services on the Internet. After conducting an in- depth review under the Broadcasting Act and the Telecommunications Act beginning last July, the CRTC has concluded that the new media on the Internet are achieving the goals of the Broadcasting Act and are vibrant, highly competitive and successful without regulation. The CRTC is concerned that any attempt to regulate Canadian new media might put the industry at a competitive disadvantage in the global marketplace."

Offline Classification:

In Canada, film and video classifications are province-based. Some provinces use the same classification system for both films and videos, while others use a different system, e.g. Ontario. As videos for home rental can have different provincial classifications, in 1995 the film and video industry developed the Canadian Rating System for Home Videos. Under this system, ratings are determined by averaging the classifications assigned by the provincial boards and placed on videos.

Some provinces include sexually explicit material in the R category, while others provinces have a separate category for material similar to that classified X, and some classified RC, in Australia.

Computer games are not required by law to be classified in most Canadian provinces. A non-government rating scheme is voluntarily used by video and computer game distributors which includes an Adults Only/18 rating (unlike in Australia).