Degrassi: now on iTunes

Though it lost NBC content, iTunes is now offering Canadian and some American TV shows in Canada.

Shows also syndicated in the US include The Hills, South Park, Avatar, and Degrassi: The Next Generation. iTunes Canada will largely sell Canadian shows like Little Mosque, Corner Gas, and NHL hockey games.

The reason for the long delay stems from the complicated business of licensing international content rights, according to The Globe and Mail's Ingram 2.0.

The same issues are at stake with the current Hollywood writer's strike. Content owners cannot come to an agreement on how writers should be compensated when content is repurposed for digital use.

Though the digital medium has made distribution easier, it does not make the legal, tax, and regulatory structure any simpler — something another Globe blog, Kapica's Cyberia, delves into.