U.S. Copyright Report More Rhetoric Than Reality |
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Monday April 23, 2007
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My weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, homepage version, Ottawa Citizen version) discusses this week's release of the USTR's Special 301 Report. This year, it is a virtual certainty that Canada will receive special attention, with the U.S. claiming that the country has neglected to address critical issues and suggesting that it is rapidly emerging as a piracy haven. I focus on three issues likely to generate criticism in the Special 301 report - the fact that Canada has not ratified the World Intellectual Property Organization's Internet treaties, extended the term of copyright by an additional 20 years, or introduced anti-camcording legislation designed to stem movie piracy. Government documents obtained under the Access to Information Act reveal that lobbying pressure is even more intense behind closed doors. During the first nine months of 2006, the documents show meetings focused exclusively on intellectual property were held between U.S. and Canadian officials in January and September in Washington as well as in April, May, and August at the U.S. embassy in Ottawa. The documents also reveal that even Canadian Members of Parliament have used their positions to promote USTR concerns. In August 2005, then Canadian Heritage Parliamentary Secretary Sarmite Bulte sent a personal request to Frank McKenna, the Canadian Ambassador to the United States, to meet for "a briefing on USTR concerns" with Canadian copyright reform. The private meeting, which took place a month later in Washington, featured the Ambassador, Ms. Bulte, and Canadian Recording Industry Association President Graham Henderson. While the USTR report and its supporters seek to paint Canada as a laggard on copyright, this rhetoric ignores the fact that Canada is compliant with its international obligations and that Canadian law is consistent with the laws in most countries around the world. For example, of the three highlighted issues (WIPO ratification, copyright extension, and camcording), only three of 192 United Nations members - the U.S., Singapore, and the Czech Republic - have completed all three reforms. Canada need not become the fourth country on that list. The USTR may give a Canada a failing grade, however, the real failure lies with countries that cave into such bullying by enacting laws that are not in their national interest. Comments (2)
Monty Loree
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... OFF TOPIC: Greetings from Canada, My name is Monty Loree and I am the webmaster from Canadian-Money-Advisor.ca I am contacting Canadian bloggers who have in the past written a post on money. (I found your blog in google under "Canadian Money") I would like to invite you to the 2nd Canadian Tour of Personal Finance The purpose of this Tour event is to hilite Canadian personal finance blogging talent. The first tour was on April 16, 2007 and was a good success! If you're interested please visit [ link ]/tour-register.html' target='_blank'>link ] If you're not interested in participating, could you let other Canadians know about the event by linking to our site from your blog? Thanks, Monty Loree - Webmaster [ link ] |
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... Thanks for spreading the word about these issues, you're doing the world a big service - hopefully our politicians will 'get it' at some point, and start acting in the country's best interest. |
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