Post Tagged with: "dmca"

DMCA Criminal Trial Dropped on Fairness Grounds

A DMCA criminal prosecution against an Xbox modder has been dropped by the prosecution on “fairness and justice” grounds.  The case was the first to test the criminal DMCA provisions as applied to game consoles.

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December 3, 2010 2 comments News

The U.S. Influence on Bill C-32 Hits House of Commons Debate

One of the most notable aspects of the House of Commons debate on Bill C-32 thus far (debate continues today) has been the recognition by opposition MPs of the influence of the U.S. on the bill’s digital lock rules.  In the opening debate, Bloc MP Carole Lavallée argued:

This bill was developed for the big American film and video game companies, and digital locks meet most of their needs. For these big American and European film and video game companies, the government did a good job.

That theme continued in day two of the debate in this exchange between the NDP and the Liberals:

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November 5, 2010 35 comments News

The Case for Flexibility in Implementing the WIPO Internet Treaties

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be placing the spotlight on the many contributions in From “Radical Extremism” to “Balanced Copyright”: Canadian Copyright and the Digital Agenda.   My substantive contribution focuses on the legal requirements to comply with the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Internet treaties. With the treaties dating back to the 1990s the issue may seem dated, yet it still resonates today. Within a domestic context, the government has identified ratification of the WIPO Internet treaties as one of Bill C-32’s chief goals.  Internationally, the 1990s WIPO debate was re-enacted this year during the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement negotiations, with the U.S. again failing to convince its negotiating partners to adopt its implementation approach for anti-circumvention.

My article examines the issue from four perspectives: the plain language of the statutory requirements, the legislative history behind the inclusion of anti-circumvention provisions within the treaty, state practice in implementing those requirements, and scholarly analysis of the treaty obligations.

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October 20, 2010 3 comments Chapters, News

ACTA Ultra-Lite: The U.S. Cave on the Internet Chapter Complete

One of the biggest stories over the three year negotiation of ACTA has been the willingness of the U.S. to cave on the Internet provisions.  When it first proposed the chapter, the U.S. was seeking new intermediary liability requirements with three strikes and you’re out used as an example of an appropriate policy as well as language that attempted to create a global DMCA.  The draft released today is a far cry from that proposal with the intermediary liability provisions largely removed and the DMCA digital lock provisions much closer to the WIPO Internet treaty model. In its place, is a chapter that is best viewed as ACTA Ultra-Lite. For Canadians, this is crucial since it now leaves an ACTA that is far more flexible than even Bill C-32.  In fact, the Canadian copyright bill now exceeds the requirements under ACTA and could be amended in a manner that will allow for greater balance on digital locks and still be ACTA compliant.

It should also be noted that this chapter is still not concluded.  The inclusion of trademarks in some provisions would seemingly require changes to U.S. law and has not acheived consensus.  Further, a provision on enforcement procedures ” including the unlawful use of means of widespread distribution for infringing purposes” has not received consensus support. With respect to what has been concluded:

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October 6, 2010 30 comments News

Search Engine on the DMCA Exemptions

Search Engine covers [MP3] the new DMCA exemptions in an interesting interview with EFF’s Corynne McSherry.

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August 6, 2010 Comments are Disabled News