The Vancouver Sun reports on how the B.C. government is using crown copyright to constrain the publication of documents released under freedom of information legislation.
Fair Use?
The fact that the BC gov't would even do that is a gross misrepresentation of the intent of copyright (to protect authors from knock-offs and plagiarism). Further, the transparency of this attempt at censorship under the guise of adhering to the FOI is galling. I hope somebody gets canned over this, though I doubt it.
I wonder though, and perhaps this is a leading question, does BC/Canada not have fair use provisions that would cover publication in the press for purposes of criticisms and/or reporting?
Private government?
It boggles the mind how any government publication could be copyright protected in the first place. Isn't the government publicly funded? Maybe not.
Government House Leader Peter Van Loan announced yesterday that the government is imposing time allocation on the second reading debate on Bill C-11. That means debate on the bill should conclude on Friday and the bill will be sent to committee for further hearings and review. While the government's overuse of time allocation is a concern, sending C-11 to committee places the core issues on the table - will it amend the digital lock rules as so many are asking and/or will it cave to copyright lobby pressure and add SOPA-style amendments to the bill? Now is the time to speak out.Feb.08/12Comments (5)
Alexander Furnas explains
in the Atlantic why the broader implications of ACTA may make it as bad
as SOPA. Furnas notes "while many of the alarmists specific claims are
inaccurate, ACTA exposes the systemic danger in how international
intellectual property regulation has evolved over the last 20 years." Feb.07/12Comments (0)
Kris Kotarski writes an opinion
piece in the Calgary Herald that calls attention to the lobby panic
that leads to legislation like SOPA and ACTA.
Feb.07/12Comments (0)
The National Post featured an op-ed
from Jesse Kline
over the weekend that notes "the essential question that must be
addressed going forward is whether government regulation is needed to
protect industries that have failed to innovate." He says the answer is
no.
Feb.07/12Comments (3)
John Ibbitson discusses
the implications
for Canada of joining the Trans Pacific Partnership, noting it would
likely include surrendering Canadian sovereignty over copyright law. A
reminder that the government is currently consulting on the TPP.
Details on the agreement and participating here, here, and
here.
Feb.06/12Comments (0)
Open Media has launched a new
campaign
against copyright reforms that threaten digital rights including the
prospect of website blocking, Internet termination, and digital locks.
Feb.06/12Comments (0)
AccessNow is maintaining an excellent
map
of the protests planned across the continent on February 11th, which
has been designated an international day of action against ACTA. The
issue has attracted mainstream media attention (eg. New
York Times) and questions
emerge about the likelihood the treaty will receive the necessary
approvals for ratification.
Feb.06/12Comments (0)
Entertainment software giant Ubisoft, who the Ontario government gave $263 million in
2009 to create 80 jobs per year over 10 years (or $328,750 per job),
has advised
its customers that its games may not work sometime this week due to its
reliance on digital locks and the migration of data servers. Feb.06/12Comments (4)
Last week Rogers advised
the CRTC that it plans to drop
Internet throttling for all customers by the end of the year. The
move was not unexpected given that its policy was an outlier
among all major Canadian ISPs. I'll have more to say on this
development soon.
Feb.06/12Comments (1)
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