The CBC lock-out in Canada has made news in many places, largely because of the response of some of the locked-out employees. Faced with an inability to get "on mic" some are now podcasting.

Radio master Tod Maffin has been covering the lock-out in detail and has publicized many of the efforts of the un-CBC podcasts.

In the midst of a major labour upset, triggered by management action, I see a certain irony in the actions of the "rebel" podcasts.

What is this lock-out about? Contract vs. full-time? Staffing levels? Flexibility to designate resources? Response to technology change? Costs in general?

5,500 people are out on the street because the future will not be like the past. Many of the locked-out workers must surely know that. When a crew of a few can post up a podcast, they are pointing to the on-demand future. They are high-lighting the profound delivery adjustments and resource allocation issues that make this event meaningful. In bootstrapping their own broadcasts and distributing them in the form of podcasts, they are fearlessly experimenting with petards at their own breakfast table.

When management and the union finally meet to resolve this dispute will the "solution" be based on a typical 2 or 3 year formula or will there be an opportunity to embrace the future? Imagine a broadcast network scaled back to staffing levels used by private broadcasters, with hundreds -- perhaps thousands -- of CBC workers being redeployed to on-demand technologies, new media and local coverage of events. Imagine a public broadcaster responding to technological change by embracing it; imagine the employees having fun again. Imagine a CBC de-centralized and so much a part of the Canadian fabric again that public funding becomes a non-issue.

If the CBC were to integrate its broadcast strategy with an on-line strategy of unlimited download for made-in-Canada video and audio; we would be innovating a creative industry that would be years ahead of others. Imagine a CBC where data centers and servers were just as important as transmitters and towers. Imagine the CBC viewed again as a public service with offerings so diverse it would shatter the watered-down delivery of the thread-bare Country Canada and Newsworld. Imagine a national network involved in developing better, faster delivery mechanisms and think of the sweetness of using broadcast to promote and announce multiple offerings on-line.

Think of the competition it would spawn.

Imagine the CBC drawing so many eyes and ears that advertisers clamoured for exposure. Imagine a network flush with cash and think of profits re-invested in more creative industries throughout the country. Maybe Canadian TV and film wouldn't be a joke anymore. Maybe we could blow up the whole "Hollywood North" apparatchik and make really good stuff. Maybe the phrase "Canadian content" wouldn't spawn bursts of derisive, cynical, quota inspired laughter.

When the time comes, I hope that management and the union see a future full of incredible growth and dynamic possibilities. Or will they only think about what they have and how they'll keep it?