Canada is at a critical juncture in the evolution of its communications
policy. Will our information and communications technologies continue
in a market-oriented, neoliberal direction, or will they preserve and
strengthen broader democratic values?

"Media Divides" offers a comprehensive democratic audit of
communications law and policy. Using the concept of communications
rights as a framework for analysis in five key domains -- media,
access, the Internet, privacy, and copyright -- leading analysts
reveal that Canada's failure to respond adequately to a host of
pressures and developments has left its citizens with unequal access to
the nation's communications system and the freedom of expression
it promises.

"Media Divides" not only offers the first up-to-date account
of the democratic deficits in Canada's communications policy, it
formulates recommendations -- including the establishment of a
Canadian right to communicate -- for the future.

This book is a primer on media governance at a global level and the key influencing forces and organizations, such as ITU, WTO, UNESCO, WIPO, and ICANN. Governance oversees regulation, and questions addressed here include: Why do we regulate the various media at all? What currently are the major forms of global regulation, and how do they work? Who participates in, and who benefits from, media regulatory and governance structures? And what are the trends? Anyone interested in the media and its progressively rising influence over so many dimensions of society will sooner or later find themselves confronted with these questions. This book does not pretend to answer all the questions, but it raises key ones and points in directions where more complete answers can be found. Published in cooperation with UNRISD.