Archive for January 29th, 2009

Canada’s Private ACTA Talking Points

While the Canadian government has dutifully followed the U.S. line on ACTA with bland releases following each of the four 2008 negotiation sessions, newly obtained documents under the Access to Information Act reveal that the Canadian delegation may be speaking out on some of the public concerns that have been raised around transparency and the exclusion of many countries from the negotiation process [download here].  The documents include several noteworthy revelations:

First, the documents confirm that the leaked ACTA document from last year was indeed the ACTA Discussion Paper distributed among governments.  At the time, there was some question as to whether this was an industry wish-list or a government document.  The Canadian documents confirm that this was a government document, a suggested intervention notes that "we would like to raise the issue of communications.  As you all know by now, the ACTA Discussion Paper has been leaked . . . "

Second, the documents reveal that Canada submitted two "non-papers" to the other countries in advance of the first round of negotiations last year.  The two papers focused on (1) institutional and procedural issues to be addressed during the negotiations and (2) institutional issues following the negotiation of ACTA. 

Third, the documents include suggested interventions for the Geneva meeting last June. 

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January 29, 2009 4 comments News

Irish ISP To Adopt Three Strikes Approach

The Irish Times reports that Eircom, a leading Irish ISP, has settled an ongoing dispute with the major record labels and agreed to implement a three strikes and you're out approach.

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January 29, 2009 1 comment News

Facebook’s Chris Kelly on Canadian Privacy Law

The National Post has an interview with Facebook's Chris Kelly, in which he discusses Canadian privacy law and the absence of anti-spam legislation.

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January 29, 2009 Comments are Disabled News

RCMP Arrests Three For Pirated DVD Sales

The RMCP in Hamilton have arrested four men for violating the Copyright Act by selling pirated DVDs.

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January 29, 2009 5 comments News