MPAA & RIAA Criticize USTR Position on Canada |
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Tuesday May 01, 2007
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One of the big surprises in this year's USTR Special 301 Report was the decision to keep Canada at the lowest level of priority (the Watch List) rather than elevate it to the Priority Watch List. Indeed, all the political signs pointed to an elevation - all the major U.S. lobby groups recommended it, the USTR conducted a special review of Canadian IP enforcement, and there has been growing criticism of Canadian IP law by U.S. officials. Yet, despite those signals, Canada remains on the Watch List and the U.S. lobby groups are left to criticize the USTR. Immediately following its release, the MPAA registered specific disappointment with the USTR decision on Canada, while the RIAA also responded that it had proposed elevating Canada to the priority watch list. Why the change of heart? While it would be nice to think that perhaps the U.S. is recognizing the Canada is already compliant with its international copyright obligations or that it appreciates the fact that we haven't addressed DRM interoperability (an issue that received specific mention in the report with the warning that interoperability mandates may harm both DRM makers and works locked by DRM), the RIAA hints at the more likely reason. It notes that "we hope that its [Canada's] recent engagement on trying to advance the protection of intellectual property in global markets reflects the government's intention to address these matters at home as well." In other words, joining the WTO IP complaint against China may have bought Canada considerable goodwill on the IP front with the United States. Comments (2)
Jeff Hume
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09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 5 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 This is why we should keep these organizations hands out of our legislation. |
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... Seems like there is a dearth of communication btwn the "Office of the U.S trade representative (USTR)" and the "United States Patent and trademark office (USPTO)" Cause if there was, then USPTO would have brought to USTR's attention that...well gee our system is b0rked right now...it has been for some time. And perhaps for a reason. Our judicial system keeps on doling out decisions in favour of American companies even though the patent information/evidence would prove to be on the contrary. (example: RIM vs NTP) Yet we continue finger pointing and laying the blame on other countries for patent infringement. This mixture of finger pointing, broken patent system, and manipulating decision in some cases is only going to lead to one thing ---> "curb innovation" ---> which by every measure can only cause REAL HURT to our economy in the long run. Can someone say Lessig? |
We want to enhance competition and investment in this country, and this is why we adopted this policy back in 2008 for the AWS spectrum. Let me say that the price went down by an average of 11% since then, and we will continue this way with the 700 megahertz spectrum. We launched consultation with the industry to make sure that we enhance competition and provide better choice and better rates for our consumers.
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