Canadians could be thrown in jail for watching TV

[minibubba]

*letter to the Inquirer

The Canadian (sic) Liberal (sic) government (sic) - in between spending $2 billion dollars for an old '486 PC to register a few dozen (mostly harmless) long guns, and then siphoning off a few hundred million 'sponsorship' dollars for their friends - is now embarking on building a new version of the Berlin Wall.

Believe it or not, they're actually planning to make it a criminal offence to watch certain TV channels.

Here.

"Under Bill C-2, anyone who subscribes to a foreign satellite television service could face criminal penalties, including the possibility of a year in prison."

Canadians will henceforth be permitted to watch only those TV channels approved by the Canadian (sic) Radio and Television Commission (CRTC) and carried on the two authorized Canadian satellite systems (or Cable - lol).

Here is our situation. My wife happens to be a cute little lady of non-WASP ethnicity. To keep her happy, in addition to our totally-legitimate Canadian satellite system for which we pay about $60 per month, we also subscribe to another non-Canadian (based off-shore) 'ethnic' satellite system to provide several TV and radio channels in her native language.

These type of 'ethnic' channels will likely never be available on a Canadian satellite system due to the minority interest and limited bandwidth of the Canadian systems.

The only alternatives are: 1) don't watch these 'ethnic' TV channels, or 2) risk going to jail.

We would appreciate you bringing this obvious and completely ridiculous injustice to the world's attention as soon as possible.

Please do not publish my name or e-mail address. The hovering of black helicopters and the kicking-in of doors might wake the children.

-Inq

[SearanoX]

I think that this is a step being taken to stop satilite television piracy. Many Canadians are illegally receiving American stations, and this is most likely the goverment's way of solving the problem. Of course, there's quite a bit of bias and exaggeration in that article, so I don't think that it's as bad a thing to do as it sounds. In fact, it sounds like a good idea to me.

Then again, I don't get satilite TV...so who knows.

[The__tweaker]

In fact, it sounds like a good idea to me.

[kane2g]

The only alternatives are: 1) don't watch these 'ethnic' TV channels, or 2) risk going to jail.

Let me answer that with a question. Do they have conjugal visits in Canada?

[Wiggo]

Is that for real? :eek:

[calcrazy]

Who knows Wiggo,

It could be real, or some parts are real anyway.

I personally know a lot of people who have those DirectTV dishes (or "Yankee Dish" as we call them) in Canada. They are really popular with people who live fairly close to the US border like I used to. The reason being is that most of the channels that are coveted so much can only be accessed on the US system...however, I know of one Canadian cable company that has put a request in to the CRTC to get channels like HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, etc. on Canadian airwaves.

What is truth in that article? The fact that there is a lot of people who are getting grey-area dishes and the Canadian satellite providers are suffering.

What is fiction in that article? We will see what comes to pass.

[The__tweaker]

shape up yall members!! let them watch their tv sets darn you!



:hammer:

[CudofCow]

It should be illegal to watch tv anyways. Crap. Crap. Crappy.

[The__tweaker]

It should be illegal to post crap like that.

[minibubba]

he hates computers, what did you expect? :laugh:

[CudofCow]

computers are crap.

[minibubba]

oh boy, i can see this conversation going all kinds of good places :rolleyes2

[The__tweaker]

<center>mpetrie</center>

[The__tweaker]

computers are crap.

Or.. Maybe you just don't know what to do with em'.. :p

[Black Rain]

I personally know a lot of people who have those DirectTV dishes (or "Yankee Dish" as we call them) in Canada. They are really popular with people who live fairly close to the US border like I used to. The reason being is that most of the channels that are coveted so much can only be accessed on the US system...however, I know of one Canadian cable company that has put a request in to the CRTC to get channels like HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, etc. on Canadian airwaves.

What is truth in that article? The fact that there is a lot of people who are getting grey-area dishes and the Canadian satellite providers are suffering.

I think that it is a combonation of the 'Yankee Dish' effect, the pressure that media owners can bring on the goverment and the 'ethnic' cable companies are colateral damage. Its not like the majority of Canadians will ever watch them. But, the government has no control over the content of these 'ethnic' cable stations, and that aways makes them nervous.

Oh, and we shouldn't pick on mpetrie- just let him use his Web-TV, and bask in its powerfull glow.:blowkiss: