The Conference Board of Canada's Deceptive, Plagiarized Digital Economy Report |
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Monday May 25, 2009
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The Conference Board of Canada bills itself as "the foremost, independent, not-for-profit applied research organization in Canada. Objective and non-partisan. We do not lobby for specific interests." These claims should take a major hit based on last week's release of a deceptive, plagiarized report on the digital economy that copied text from the International Intellectual Property Alliance (the primary movie, music, and software lobby in the U.S.), at times without full attribution. The report itself was funded by copyright lobby groups (U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Canadian Anti-Counterfeiting Network, Copyright Collective of Canada which represents U.S. film production) along with the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation. The role of the Ontario government obviously raises questions about taxpayer dollars being used to pay for a report that simply recycles the language of a U.S. lobby group paper. That is just the press release - the report itself is even worse as it is largely a copy of the IIPA 2008 Special 301 Report on Canada. Given the lack of attribution in some instances, this work would face possible plagiarism sanctions in almost any academic environment. Even where there is attribution, the chart below demonstrates that the report simply adopts the IIPA positions and language as its own.
While the flagship Digital Economy report is the only one with plagiarism, two other reports on IP issued at the same time also raise concerns. A report titled Creating Value and Stimulating Investment: A Business-Level Assessment of the Role of Intellectual Property, retreads the same guesses on counterfeiting, stating: Estimates from Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters place the value of counterfeit goods in Canada at $20 billion to $30 billion. RCMP intelligence shows that the trend is "billions and growing." Although the RCMP and others acknowledge that no comprehensive study has been done on the specific amount of pirated and counterfeit goods, they concur that a widely accepted estimated cost of counterfeiting and piracy to the Canadian economy ranges between $10 billion and $30 billion per year. To validate these estimates, Canadian piracy and counterfeiting losses can be estimated in relation to U.S. losses. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimates that counterfeiting and piracy costs the U.S. economy US$250 billion per year. Since the GDP of the Canadian economy is approximately nine per cent of the U.S. economy, the cost of counterfeiting and piracy in Canada is approximately US$22.5 billion- a crude estimate, but nevertheless validating all the above figures. Of the course, all estimates - the CME, RCMP, and Chamber of Commerce are all based on the same guess, so there is no "validation" of the figures as the report suggests. A third report titled National Innovation Performance and Intellectual Property Rights: A Comparative Analysis misleads by lamenting that Canada ranked 19th worldwide in intellectual property protection according to a 2008 World Economic Forum study on competitiveness. What the report fails to mention is that Canada was actually tied with four other countries ranked 15th to 19th including the United States, which in the same paragraph is heralded as a leader in innovation whereas Canada is described a laggard. The Digital Ecomomy report raises some deeply troubling questions for the Conference Board of Canada, its board directors, and for Minister John Wilkinson, whose department helped fund it. In particular: For Anne Golden, the President and CEO of the Conference Board of Canada:
You can pose these and other questions yourself (Golden, Toope, Samarasekera, Wilkinson) as I think the public deserves some answers. Update: See this post for the Conference Board of Canada's response and my rebuttal. Comments (29)
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Mike
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Excellent Find! Way to go Michael! Thanks for bringing this to light. Absolutely pathetic is the Conference Board of Canada. |
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... And note this very imbalanced propaganda event (called a conference) that the Conference Board is holding in Toronto on May 29: http://www.conferenceboard.ca/conf/09-0120/agendaataglance.aspx |
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... Any chance of this getting reported in the papers? Or is it another situation that it takes longer than the 15 second atention span that the government/mainstream media has been training the population to have, so that false-flag campaigns can be passed off as serious research... It's hard not to despair at the state of our nation, and culture. |
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... I have just sent my feedback and questions to Golden, Toope, Samarasekera, Wilkinson. I will report back with any responses should I get them. |
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Affront to intellectual honesty This is revealing expose of an egregious act of intellectual dishonesty. It is reminicent of the reported example of Merck paying Elsevier to produce a non-academic publication designed to resemble an academic journal containing reprints of articles favourable to Merck pharmaceuticals. (See: http://www.guardian.co.uk/comm...-companies ) |
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... I wonder whether the IIPA will bring a copyright suit against the Conference Board for using downloading and copying its report verbatim! Oh the sweet irony of it! |
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... When a undergrad student can receive a failure in a course for not providing enough citations in a paper it is so encouraging to know that at least this is training them for a lifetime of rigourous academic quality standards. /sarcasm |
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... The fact that our universities are participating in distributing propoganda raises serious concerns about their general credibility. |
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Big Publishing + Big Pharma=Big Profits @GregHagen: I used to work for one of the medical publishing companies now owned by Elsevier; there was a special unit set up just to flog previously published materials for the Pharma market; I'm not saying that my experience included any intellectual lack of ethics, but if it could make a buck, it was pursued. That one division made more profit than the regular book publishing arm did, by a long shot. Doesn't surprise, 'though it still saddens me. |
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... The public needs to know this type of behaviour is the rule not the exception of government. Sadly the elected authorities we depend on for leadership are either liars, ill-informed or uninterested in the issues that affect Canadians. This story needs to be in all the major media in Canada with appropriate editorial comment. |
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Publisher, Daly Digest, http://cdndailydigest.blogspot.com/ Sent to Editors and columnists 114, oops 116, have returned: Subject: Read: F.Y.I.: Questions to Conference Board of Canada on its plagiarism. _____________________________________ Date: Mon, 25 May 2009 13:53:30 -0400 To: National Media From: Joe Hueglin Subject: F.Y.I.: Questions to Conference Board of Canada on its plagiarism. The Conference Board of Canada - http://www.conferenceboard.ca/...ault.aspx, styles itself as "The foremost independent, not-for-profit applied research organization in Canada." A post providing documentation and raising questions concerning plagiarism by the Board, "The Conference Board of Canada's Deceptive, Plagiarized Digital Economy Report", http://www.michaelgeist.ca/con...ion/0/125/ , was received to-day. Plagiarism and acceptance as a person or organization of integrity are incompatible in academe and journalism. The post if forwarded to you without comment. The questions raised follow. A comment on the may be of interest "And note this very imbalanced propaganda event (called a conference) that the Conference Board is holding in Toronto on May 29: Intellectual Property Rights: Innovation and Commercialization in Turbulent Times Joe Hueglin 905-356-3901 QUESTIONS The Digital Ecomomy report raises some deeply troubling questions for the Conference Board of Canada, its board directors, and for Minister John Wilkinson, whose department helped fund it. In particular: For Anne Golden, the President and CEO of the Conference Board of Canada: Is a deceptive, plagiarized report drawn from a U.S. lobby group consistent with an organization that claims that it is non-partisan and that does not lobby? How much was the Conference Board of Canada paid to produce this report? Does the Conference Board of Canada stand by the report in light of these findings? Will the Conference Board of Canada retract the report and the inaccurate press release that accompanied it? For Stephen Toope, President of UBC, and Indira V. Samarasekera, President of the University of Alberta, both members of the Conference Board of Canada board: Do they condone or support the use of plagiarism in this report? Will they ask the Conference Board of Canada to review this report and to retract it? Perhaps most importantly, for Minister of Research and Innovation John Wilkinson: How much public money was spent in support of this report? Does the government support the use of public money for a report that simply repeats the language of a U.S. lobby group? Will the Minister ask the Conference Board of Canada to refund the public money spent on this report? Will the Minister publicly disassociate himself from the report in light of these findings? You can pose these and other questions yourself (Golden, Toope ,Samarasekera, Wilkinson) as I think the public deserves some answers. |
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Librarian It is rather ironic that we are teaching students across Canada multiple literacy skills to assist them in being lifelong learners. Among these are the following two: Critical Literacy: Focuses on how and in whose interests the information found is used. Students need to know how to determine the authenticity and reliability of sources found in print and in digital format. Ethics of Information Use: Students must understand the values associated with the fair and honest use of information they find in print and in digital format. They need to represent the work of authors accurately and appropriately. They need to have a respect for the confidentiality and intellectual property of authors and understand the illegal uses of knowledge and information. We should be concerned, when, "the foremost, independent, not-for-profit applied research organization in Canada", publishes a document that fails to meet some of the literacy skills that we teach students in canadian high schools. Someone at the Conference Board of Canada should have edited this document before it was published. The fact they are defending it is a sad reflection on Canadian research. What should we tell our students? |
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University collusion in big entertainment lobbying may bite them in the ass Universities that form part of the Conference Board of Canada should be wary of the reports and statements they align themselves with. If this aggressive lobbying coming from big entertainment results in the successful passing of a Bill C-61 type of copyright law, universities may find themselves with less bargaining power to argue against the restrictions of said new laws. |
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... "Objective and non-partisan. We do not lobby for specific interests." Hmmm, does that mean they will lobby for any interest as long as they are paid? |
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I love the 22 Billion figure... Once again, bad data is repeated in an attempt to turn it into a fact. 9% of the US GNP means they must have 9% of the US problem which is reported at $250 billion. Too bad the number is bogus. Someone worked to track down the source of the $250 billion figure used by the copyright lobby in the US. Turns out, it has no source, but was invented out of thin air and then used by lobbying groups for decades. See http://www.freedom-to-tinker.c...skepticism |
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Shame. Shame on you Mike for twisting the facts and encouraging the pirates. I hope you will place due apologies before someone duly addresses your distortions. |
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... Kudos Dr. Geist. You are doing the Conference Board a service, whether they realize it or not. |
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... Sent my feed back to the board. Hoepefully they read it, though I'm beginning to doubt. |
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Anyone have a copy of the report? Does anyone know where a copy of the report can be found now that it has been removed from the Conference Board of Canada Website? |
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Nice find! Keep up the good work. Canada needs more people willing to stand up and fight against the corruption of government and business. |
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Recycling becomes Pirating? Apparently and according to the "methodology" used to generate the numbers for the statistics these geniuses use : 1) If you buy a new computer, and install the old applications from your discarded one, then you are calculated to be pirating each application reused. 2) If you opt to upgrade to freeware, lets say Open Office instead of MS Office, you are also counted as pirating each application replaced. |
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My hero!! Michael - Amazing work. The internet is a better place thanks to advocates like you who question the "facts" that are, essentially, shoveled onto our plates with every morning's newspaper. Congratulations on the report's retraction; I hope that in the future, the Conference Board thinks seriously about its sources, its neutrality and its credibility. |
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... I think that it is time to stop complaining about TCB of Canada, what the U.S. Conference Board in New york is doing to employees is far worst than anything. The CEO Jon Spector run this company like a dictator,him Jim Slamp, Toni Ricardi is his mangement team. they are firing people but still hiring, also he fazed out a dept and hired a friend of his to run a dept of people that have been fired. I wish someone can please look at what is happening. PLEASE |
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Conference Board-another plagiarized report After long association with the Conference Board, I am not surprised what is reported by Michael ( a great, unbiased and comprehensive review). An organization that self-profess leading research organization of the country, without any experty in any area, because it does research in every socio-economic issues where there is money to grab. Look at the credentials of researchers, very limited number of Ph.Ds and those who have, are from fluffy institutions and in fluffy disciplines. What is important at the Conference Board is how quickly a report can be produced in the least cost. The presentation is the yardstick for a good report, not the content. More time is spent in doing editorial, design and process work than enriching the actual content by getting services from real experts in specific areas. Researchers (first, most of them are jack of all trade) have to spend up to 60% of their time in marketing and finding project money than the actual resreach. |
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Re I do really know that you did a really hard research, creating your superior data referring to this good topic. Therefore, such kind of task scholars do writing the thesis writing and graduate thesis exploring. |
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An Opinion I mean don't you think that USA is making people headaches when using Canadian products? I mean we have a case using Canadian products where FBI is basically makes you headache over it. So better not to buy that or? We are from Europe but we try to have better connection with Canada than USA has with you. |
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reply this post Following my own exploration, billions of persons on our planet receive the home loans at various banks. Thence, there's a good chance to find a secured loan in every country. |
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