Broadcast regulator sides with CBC in spat over online music service
August 14, 2012 - 4:48 PM
OTTAWA - Canada's broadcast regulator has quashed a bid to stop CBC from streaming free music over the Internet.
Private broadcaster Stingray Digital Group Inc. argued the new CBC Music service had an unfair advantage because it is funded by the federal government.
The company, which runs the pay-music service Galaxie, also claimed the public broadcaster gets a preferential rate on copyright licence fees.
But the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission dismissed both complaints in a ruling today.
CBC launched an online service in February with 40 different web radio stations, on-demand music and live concerts.
Stingray claimed what the public broadcaster was doing was not substantially different from what private companies were offering.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2012