In what has become an annual rite of spring, each April the U.S.
government releases its Special
301 report
- often referred to as the Piracy Watch List - which claims to identify
countries with sub-standard intellectual property laws. Canada has
appeared on this list for many years alongside dozens of countries. In
fact, over 70% of the world's population is placed on the
list and most African countries are not even considered for
inclusion.
While the Canadian government has consistently rejected the U.S. list because
it "basically lacks reliable and objective analysis", this year I
teamed up with Public Knowledge to try to provide the U.S. Trade
Representative Office with something a bit more reliable and objective.
Public Knowledge will appear at a USTR hearing on Special 301 today. In
addition, last
week we participated in meetings at the U.S. Department of Commerce and
USTR to defend current Canadian copyright law and the proposed reforms.
The full submission on Canadian copyright is available
here.
It focuses on four main issues: how Canadian law provides adequate and
effective protection, how enforcement is stronger than often claimed,
why Canada is not a piracy haven, and why Bill C-11 does not harm the
interests of rights holders (critics of Bill C-11 digital lock rules
will likely think this is self-evident). The section challenging the
piracy haven claims states the following:
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