Must Reads

• Cogeco Changes Broadband Ad Claims Following Competition Bureau Concerns

  Cogeco has changed some its broadband advertising claims following concerns raised by the Competition Bureau.  The Bureau found that Cogeco had claimed that its services were the fastest "without having based such claims on fair comparisons." Dec.16/09Comments (3)

• Ottawa Record Store Owner Pleads Guilty to Copyright Infringement

  The Ottawa Citizen reports that an Ottawa record store owner grudgingly pleaded guilty to infringing copyright for possessing about 100 infringing CDs out of a collection of 500,000 to a million recordings. Dec.16/09Comments (2)

• NZ Holds ACTA Briefing But Reveals Little

  ComputerWorld reports on a recent ACTA briefing held by New Zealand government officials.  The media was not permitted to attend the briefing and attendees reported that the government provided little new information.  Meanwhile, NZ MP Clare Curran continues to voice concerns about ACTA, noting that the government has not responded to requests to provide a briefing for opposition MPs. Dec.16/09Comments (0)

• France To Spend $1.1 Billion Digitizing Its Works

  The French government has committed $1.1 billion toward the digitization of French literary works.  I wrote about the promise of Canada doing the same in 2005, for a fraction of that cost. Dec.15/09Comments (2)

• CEP Says It Plans To Appeal Globalive Decision

  The Communications Energy and Paperworkers’ Union, Canada's largest telecom union, says its plans to challenge the Globalive decision in federal court, arguing the "decision is illegal." Dec.15/09Comments (6)

• Content For The People, By The People

  Andrew Potter has a terrific piece in the Ottawa Citizen on Culture 2.0 and the move toward Democracy 2.0. Dec.15/09Comments (0)

• EU Ratifies the WIPO Internet Treaties

  The European Union has formally ratified the WIPO Internet treaties.  While critics of Canadian copyright law will no doubt use the move to argue that Canada has fallen behind on copyright reform, it is worth noting that: (1) Canada has twice introduced legislation designed to do the same; (2) the European national implementations show a wide range of exceptions, opening the door to a "made-in-Canada" WIPO approach; (3) for all the claims that Canada is years behind, the EU ratification arrived today.
  Dec.14/09Comments (1)

• UK Launches Copyright Consultation on Exceptions

  The UK has launched a new copyright consultation on exceptions.  The consultation notably recommends against a narrow format shifting exception, arguing instead that something far bigger is needed.  It states "we would however encourage the EU to look at options that benefit consumers, including the possibility of a broad exception to copyright for non-commercial use." Dec.14/09Comments (0)

• NZ MP Raises Questions on ACTA

  New Zealand Labour MP Clare Curran has raised questions about ACTA, noting "ACTA has the potential to have massive implications on New Zealand’s proposed copyright laws and how internet piracy is policed locally." Dec.14/09Comments (0)

• Why Buy American Has Nothing to do With Canadian Copyright Reform

  Blayne Haggart, a PhD student at Carleton, has a great post explaining why the attempted linkage between Buy American policies (largely state and municipal) and copyright policies (federal) are false. Dec.10/09Comments (2)