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U.S. Copyright Lobby Out of Touch With the Rest of the World

Given that it has been picked up by Slashdot, BoingBoing, and Wired, I'm a bit behind in pointing to a column (BBC version, homepage version) I wrote for the BBC on the recent IIPA intellectual property protection submission to the USTR.  The column picks up on many of the points I made in a posting about the submission last week.  In the column I argue that what is most noteworthy about the IIPA effort is that dozens of countries – indeed most of the major global economies in the developed and developing world – are subjected to criticism.  The IIPA recommendations are designed to highlight the inadequacies of IP protection around the world, yet the lobby group ultimately shines the spotlight on how U.S. copyright policy has become out-of-touch and isolated from much of the rest of the globe.

The IIPA criticisms fall into three broad categories.  

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February 20, 2007 7 comments Columns

Bernier Before the Industry Committee

Industry Minister Maxime Bernier spent two hours before the Standing Committee on Industry, Science, and Technology yesterday afternoon to talk telecom deregulation.  I attended the hearing and came away with several impressions.  First, much of the discussion fails to distinguish between communications services as the discussion frequently veers between local […]

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February 20, 2007 Comments are Disabled News

Evolution of the Music Industry

On the heels of my column this week on the music industry, there are several articles discussing related developments. The LA Times discusses efforts by one ISP to create a licensed, internal P2P service with agreements in place with both Sony and EMI, while the NY Times reports that the […]

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February 20, 2007 Comments are Disabled News

U.S. Movie Studios Kill ACTRA Deal

While the U.S. movie studios demand that Canada reform its copyright laws, the Canadian Press reports that they just killed a negotiated labour settlement that was to have provided new rights and compensation to Canadian performers.  Justice Minister Rob Nicholson might want to remind them of that the next time […]

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February 20, 2007 1 comment News

Another Day, Another Movie Statistic

The NY Times reports on the Canadian camcording issue, using the figure of "30 – 40 percent" of pirated DVDs sourced to Canada.  Moreover, there now yet another reason for why the Canadian camcording is a particular problem – "industry officials acknowledge that Canadian pirates offer technically superior work."

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February 20, 2007 Comments are Disabled News