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Defective by Design’s Day Against DRM

October 3rd is Defective by Design's Day Against DRM . The group has compiled a list of hundreds of things that people can do to address the issue.  There are several Canadian activities planned.  At the conclusion of my 30 Days of DRM series, I provided a list of 30 […]

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October 2, 2006 Comments are Disabled News

Tech Law Research Hurt By Budget Cuts

My weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version , homepage version ) examines last week's announcement that the Conservative government plans to cut funding for the Law Commission of Canada.  I cite a series of important technology law research projects, noting that the common link is that the LCC, an independent law reform agency that advises Parliament on how to improve and modernize Canada’s laws, has provided the necessary financial support.

Government has limited capacity to conduct comprehensive research analysis on its own, leaving it increasingly dependent on outside contractors or academic studies to support its policy work. 

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October 2, 2006 2 comments Columns

The Canadian Heritage Copyright Collective Study

Earlier this year there was a fair amount of buzz about a Canadian Heritage commissioned study on copyright collectives.  Conducted by Toronto lawyer Craig Parks, the study came to the public's attention after Parks launched a blog that invited contributions and public comment.  It was an interesting approach, though critics noted that Canadian Heritage was not providing any support for the blog initiative and there seemed to be a lack of transparency about the process.

Documents obtained from a recent Access to Information request provides a bit more background and raise a series of new concerns.  It would appear that the study was commissioned late last year with final contractual details ironed out in early 2006.  Mr. Parks submitted his report, A Report on the Copyright Collectives Operating in Canada, on March 31, 2006.  The report is effectively divided into two parts.  The first part is a review of the collectives with unattributed comments highlighting specific benefits and problems.  The second part is a directory of the collectives with contact information, key personnel, collective members, licenses, as well as a description of the role of the collective and its relationship with the Copyright Board.  The prime source of the material in the study was a series of telephone interviews lasting an average of one hour each.  Mr. Parks does not disclose who he spoke with, but rather that he "stopped counting after 50."

Interestingly, Parks notes in the introduction that "I can say that a more comprehensive survey would have yielded diminishing returns in terms of new and different comments in the areas of concern."  Despite that view, he went back to Heritage in early May with a proposal to extend the contract to conduct some face-to-face interviews with the prospect of revising the March report.  The revised report is due in mid-October.

In reviewing the ATIP documents, I encountered both substantive and procedural concerns.

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September 28, 2006 1 comment News

CMRRA on Private Copying

Last week I posted a note about CRIA's position on private copying at a recent copyright board hearing.  My colleague Jeremy deBeer highlights the CMRRA position, which also raises interesting questions about reconciling seemingly conflicting perspectives about the mix between private copying and DRM.

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September 28, 2006 Comments are Disabled News

Canada Against WIPO Broadcast Treaty Diplomatic Conference

Reports from Geneva, where WIPO is holding its General Assembly, indicate that Canada has come out against a diplomatic conference for the WIPO Broadcast Treaty.  The U.S. is now also opposed to the conference, which was seemingly pushed through several weeks ago without consensus support.  I wrote about the controversial […]

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September 27, 2006 Comments are Disabled News