The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are not subject to the Broadcasting Act. This coincides with the ruling previously issued by the Federal Court of Appeal.

Groups including the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists, Canadian Media Production Association and the Directors and Writers Guilds of Canada, had argued that ISPs should be required to contribute to Canadian broadcasting (by disseminating a certain amount of Canadian-generated content), the same way that cable and satellite companies have to.

Essentially, these groups see ISPs as content distributors, and want them to have to abide by the same rules as everyone else.

In the judgment, the court said that an "ISP does not engage with these policy objectives when it is merely providing the mode of transmission. ISPs provide Internet access to end-users. When providing access to the Internet, which is the only function of ISPs placed in issue by the reference question, they take no part in the selection, origination, or packaging of content."

This issue was first brought before the Canadian Television-radio Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) in 2008, before subsequently getting passed over to the courts.

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