Archive for 2006

Canadian Heritage and Canadian Artists

In May of this year, Canadian Heritage Minister Bev Oda delivered the keynote address to the Professional Writers Association of Canada.  Oda acknowledged that "that freelance writers are one of the groups most concerned with Canada’s copyright policy."  While Oda's appearance at the PWAC event might be seen as evidence that she is sympathetic with the concerns of Canadian writers, action speaks louder than words.  Last week, Oda released her response to a Senate report on the Canadians news media.  One of the Senate recommendations dealt specifically with copyright and freelance writers:

That the Minister of Canadian Heritage examine whether there is any abuse of author's rights in the requirements imposed by universal contracts and, if so, explore amendments to the Copyright Act.

Oda's response?

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December 6, 2006 Comments are Disabled News

PIPEDA Hearings – Day 05 (CMA, FETCO)

Today marked the fifth day of PIPEDA hearings with the Canadian Marketing Association and FETCO (Federally Regulated Employers Transportation and Communication) taking centre stage.  The gist of today's discussion from the witnesses – no order making power, cautious approach on security breach disclosure, and cut back on employee privacy rights.   The MPs have begun to settle into specific issues with the Conservative members focused on the compliance costs, while the opposition members more receptive to enhanced privacy rights within PIPEDA. Shiran Sabari provides a complete look at the discussion:

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December 5, 2006 Comments are Disabled News

Reuters and Yahoo Jump on Citizen Journalism Bandwagon

The NY Times has the details.

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December 5, 2006 Comments are Disabled News

Child Pornography Blocking Plan a Risk Worth Taking

My weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) wades back into the Project Cleanfeed Canada debate.  My last post on this issue generated considerable discussion with many valid criticisms of the ISP plans to block access to child pornography.  In developing this column, I posed many of the […]

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December 4, 2006 18 comments Columns

Child Pornography Blocking Plan a Risk Worth Taking

Appeared on December 4, 2006 in the Toronto Star as Child Porn Blocking Plan a Risk Worth Taking Few issues unite Internet users as much as their collective distaste for censorship.  It was therefore unsurprising that many in the Internet community recoiled at last month's announcement that a group of […]

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December 4, 2006 2 comments Columns Archive