A handful of Canadian cultural groups spoke in favor of regulating new media at a series of Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission hearings. The groups expressed concern that Canadian content may be "squeezed out" by content from elsewhere in the world, particularly as the internet makes it easier to access such content, reports the Canadian Press.

"Broadcasting is broadcasting regardless the distribution platform," insisted national director Alain Pineau of the Canadian Conference of the Arts. He argued that old and new media play on a "level playing field" — which could in part be achieved by charging fees to internet users for the creation of broadcast-quality Canadian programming.

Meanwhile, Richard Hardacre of ACTRA, the Canadian actor's guild, suggested that the internet be subject to the same regulations as traditional broadcasters — which must adhere to minimum Canadian content requirements.

The hearings were implemented by Commission Chairman Konrad von Finckelstein, who seeks to determine whether regulators' hands-off approach to internet content, adopted in 1999, remains relevant.

In 1999, the internet was restricted by limited connection speeds, little cross-platform unity and limited portals. Traditional media, which for decades has had its own politics of regulation, remained the go-to venues for entertainment.

Now music, games, films, video and even the content of books are abundantly available online — and virtually unbound in terms of geography.

Any final conclusions have yet to be revealed. The groups simply acknowledged there isn't yet a clear answer to how the internet and mobile can be regulated by a governing body.

Hearings for online advertising were held in the United States through 2008. Lawmakers ultimately opted against regulation, preferring to let market forces play out.

The transition from 2007 to 2008 was also marred by a three-month writers strike, at which time members of the Writers Guild of America negotiated a new compensation structure for when traditional media moves to the internet.