Archive for January 23rd, 2012

The Behind-the-Scenes Campaign To Bring SOPA To Canada

The Internet battle against SOPA and PIPA generated huge interest in Canada with many Canadians turning their sites dark (including Blogging Tories, Project Gutenberg Canada, and CIPPIC) in support of the protest. In writing about the link between SOPA and Canada, I noted that the proposed legislation featured an aggressive jurisdictional approach that could target Canadian websites. Moreover, I argued that the same lobby groups promoting SOPA in the U.S. are behind the digital lock rules in Bill C-11.

While SOPA may be dead (for now) in the U.S., lobby groups are likely to intensify their efforts to export SOPA-like rules to other countries. With Bill C-11 back on the legislative agenda at the end of the month, Canada will be a prime target for SOPA style rules. In fact, a close review of the unpublished submissions to the Bill C-32 legislative committee reveals that several groups have laid the groundwork to add SOPA-like rules into Bill C-11, including blocking websites and expanding the “enabler provision”to target a wider range of websites. Given the reaction to SOPA in the U.S., where millions contacted their elected representatives to object to rules that threatened their Internet and digital rights, the political risks inherent in embracing SOPA-like rules are significant. [UPDATE: I have a second post that examines how the proposed changes could be used to target Youtube]

The music industry is unsurprisingly leading the way, demanding a series of changes that would make Bill C-11 look much more like SOPA.

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January 23, 2012 77 comments News

musicindc32

musicindc32.pdf

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January 23, 2012 Comments are Disabled General

How The Web Killed SOPA and PIPA

Talking Points Memo has a great behind-the-scenes look at the key developments in the demise of SOPA and PIPA.

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January 23, 2012 Comments are Disabled News

Cory Doctorow on the War on General Computing

CBC’s Spark has a 30 minute podcast interview with Cory Doctorow that expands on his war on general computing essay with considerable discussion on Bill C-11 and digital locks.

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January 23, 2012 1 comment News

UN and IACHR Rapporteurs Renew Call for Internet Freedom of Expression

The Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), Catalina Botero Marino, and the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, Frank La Rue, have called on the United States to be vigorous in protecting freedom of speech on the […]

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January 23, 2012 Comments are Disabled News