Archive for April, 2010

ACTRA on Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore

This week ACTRA's Stephen Waddell appeared before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage.  A discussion on the private copying levy led to a testy exchange about Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore with Waddell stating: "I really don't understand why our minister, the minister who should, as you say, be defending […]

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April 29, 2010 6 comments News

Next ACTA Negotiation Round Details Leaked

Information on the next round of ACTA negotiations has leaked out with reports that it will be held in Lucerne, Switzerland from June 28 – July 2, 2010.

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April 29, 2010 1 comment News

FCC Workshop on Open Internet

Yesterday I appeared as a panelist in an FCC Open Internet workshop in Seattle.  For more details, see  Workshop: Approaches to Preserving the Open Internet. Media coverage of the event here.

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April 29, 2010 Comments are Disabled Committees, News, Video

Why Is CRIA Reluctant To Provide Public Specifics About Copyright Reform?

Last week, the Canadian Recording Industry Association appeared before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage with discussion that focused largely on copyright reform (media coverage of the appearance here).  While copyright was the key issue, what was striking was CRIA's reluctance to actually specify what reforms it supports.  That may sound unusual, but a review of recent public statements suggests that it is actually quite typical.  In recent years, CRIA has become very reluctant to provide specific views on reforms, seemingly relying instead on the sort of backdoor, lobbyist-inspired meetings that are the talk of Ottawa due to the Rahim Jaffer situation.

The transcript has not been posted yet, however, a review of the unofficial transcript shows that CRIA President Graham Henderson provided no legal specifics in his opening statement.  During questioning, he was repeatedly asked what his organization wants.  First Liberal MP Pablo Rodriguez asked, eliciting the following response:

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April 28, 2010 63 comments News

Study Finds Fair Use Industry Worth Trillions

The CCIA has released a new study on the economic contributions of the fair use industries.  Using the same metrics as WIPO uses to calculate the contributions of the copyright industries, the study finds that the sectors relying on fair use generate trillions in revenue in the U.S., are growing […]

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April 28, 2010 1 comment News