wales@ucla-cs.UUCP (08/22/85)
Given the recent surge in popularity of home satellite TV reception setups in the US -- and the recent court decisions here which have made such setups basically legal -- I was wondering what the situation is "north of the border". Is it legal in Canada for someone to set up a dish on his property and pick up satellite TV? Does the answer to this question vary from one province (or even city) to another? Are things still "up in the air" (no pun intended) due to key cases still being in the courts? I am thinking primarily of well-populated areas where broadcast and/or cable TV is already available (albeit not with the same variety of programming as one could get from a satellite dish). I realize that the CBC already uses satellites to beam its programming to otherwise inaccessible areas. -- Rich Wales // UCLA Computer Science Department // +1 213-825-5683 3531 Boelter Hall // Los Angeles, California 90024 // USA ARPA: wales@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU -or- wales@UCLA-LOCUS.ARPA UUCP: ...!(ucbvax,ihnp4)!ucla-cs!wales
wales@ucla-cs.UUCP (09/11/85)
[I posted this question a couple of weeks ago, but received no replies. On the assumption that my original article may have been lost somewhere -- either because of my attempt to specify "na" distribution, or because of simple random flakiness -- I am posting it again.] *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* Is it legal in Canada for someone to set up a TVRO dish on his property and pick up satellite TV? Does the answer to this question vary from one province (or even city) to another? Are things still "up in the air" (no pun intended) due to key cases pending in the courts? I am thinking primarily of well-populated areas where broadcast and/or cable TV is already available (albeit not with the same variety of programming as one could get from a satellite dish). I realize that the CBC already uses satellites to beam its programming to otherwise inaccessible areas. The reason I was thinking that relevant laws might exist at the provin- cial or municipal level is because of the possibility of zoning issues. -- Rich Wales // UCLA Computer Science Department // +1 213-825-5683 3531 Boelter Hall // Los Angeles, California 90024 // USA ARPA: wales@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU -or- wales@UCLA-LOCUS.ARPA UUCP: ...!(ucbvax,ihnp4)!ucla-cs!wales
mupmalis@watarts.UUCP (M. A. Upmalis) (09/20/85)
In article <6821@ucla-cs.ARPA> wales@ucla-cs.UUCP (Rich Wales) writes: > >Is it legal in Canada for someone to set up a TVRO dish on his property >and pick up satellite TV? Does the answer to this question vary from >one province (or even city) to another? Are things still "up in the >air" (no pun intended) due to key cases pending in the courts? > The situation is a tad muddier than just being before the courts. The Feds who control communications have said that they will not prosecute private owners of dishes and a trip in the countryside will result in a healthy number of dishes, the rural use of dishes is a fixed fact and if there is still a law in the books, it doesn't matter. If there are any municipalities with laws about the esthetics of dishes I haven't heard about them and there is one in a neighbourhood near mine ina medium size (160,000+) city. The feds have been have trouble in the with erstatz cable distributors. Cable licenses are granted by the feds and certain requirements are required however there was a case recently in British Columbia, of a man distributing American Signals pirated off satellites, it is illegal for him to distribute Canadian Signals but with his setup the law is less precise, he hasn't been convicted but the case hasn't been settled. One problem is that some of what happens is under regulation as opposed to law and there is some discretion. This is a general view of the situation in Canada, I'll try to post some more specific answers if people are interested, I would have to do some research. -- Mike Upmalis (mupmalis@watarts)<University of Waterloo> ihnp4!watmath!watarts!mupmalis This sentence has threee erors.