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Wednesday January 04, 2012 |
Julian Sanchez has an excellent
post
at the CATO website debunking claims in the U.S. on the financial
impact of counterfeiting and piracy, which is being used to promote the
dangerous Stop Online Piracy Act. The post focuses on the fake $250
billion per year claim that is frequently invoked by copyright lobby
groups, noting that the number is not based on an actual study but
rather a 1991 sidebar in Forbes that took a guess at the global
market. In 2010, the U.S. Government Accountability Office examined
the counterfeiting data claims and found that they could not be
substantiated and last year the Social Sciences Research Council released
a massive study on counterfeiting and piracy that thoroughly debunked
the claims.
Given the return of fake counterfeit data, it is worth remembering that
the same ploy has been used in Canada for many years. In 2007, I took a
closer look
at RCMP claims of $30 billion in losses in Canada, a number that was
based on a single bullet point in a powerpoint presentation from an
industry association that was a
guess based on 3 to 4 percent of Canada's two-way trade. The RCMP has
since distanced itself from those claims, but the Canadian Chamber of
Commerce revived
the fake figure last year in its lobby effort for new IP-related
border measures (its response to being called out involved pointing
to more unsubstantied data). As Sanchez notes:
The movie and music recording
industry have gotten away with using statistics that don’t stand up to
the most minimal scrutiny, over and over, for years, to hoodwink both
Congress and the general public. Wherever you come down on any
particular piece of legislation, this is not how policy should get made
in a democracy, and it’s high time they were shamed into cutting it out.
copyright, Counterfeit, Counterfeiting, sopa Slashdot, Digg, Del.icio.us, Newsfeeder, Reddit, StumbleUpon, TwitterTagsShareWednesday January 04, 2012 |
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Thursday November 24, 2011 |
The Dutch Parliament has set the standard
for how countries should address the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade
Agreement. It is refusing to even consider the agreement until all ACTA
negotiation texts are published.
acta, anti-counterfeiting trade agreement, Counterfeit, Counterfeiting, netherlands Slashdot, Digg, Del.icio.us, Newsfeeder, Reddit, StumbleUpon, TwitterTagsShareThursday November 24, 2011 |
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Tuesday November 22, 2011 |
The Canadian Anti-Counterfeiting Network is back in the news today with
a refreshed
version of its 2007 report that recommended
new border measure powers, legal reforms, and a massive increase of
public tax dollars for enforcement and education programs. Many of
those same recommendations are back with claims that the government
should pour millions into anti-counterfeiting activities, increase
criminal penalties, expand seizure powers, and ratify the
Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.
On the Bill C-11 front, the CACN wants to gut many of the balancing
provisions, including limiting the scope of the already overly
restrictive digital lock exceptions, dropping the ISP notice-and-notice
approach in favour of a graduated response that could lead to
terminating Internet service for individual users, and removing the
distinction between commercial and non-commercial infringement for
statutory damages despite the fact that Canada is one of the few
countries to have such damage provisions (which would pave the way for
more Hurt Locker style lawsuits against individuals).
c-11, cacn, copyright, Counterfeit, counterfeiting Slashdot, Digg, Del.icio.us, Newsfeeder, Reddit, StumbleUpon, TwitterTagsShareTuesday November 22, 2011 |
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Monday October 03, 2011 |
Canada became an initial
signatory to the Anti-Counterfeiting
Trade Agreement
over the weekend in Japan. Other countries to sign the agreement
include Australia, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea,
Singapore and the United States. That leaves out the majority of
countries that were part of the negotiations as all the European Union
countries, Switzerland, and Mexico attended the ceremony but did not
sign. Canada's decision to sign is not surprising given its
participation throughout the negotiation process and the flexibility
that was built into the agreement. While there are many concerns with
ACTA (both procedural and substantive), it is not the agreement the
U.S. envisioned when it started the process several years ago.
The signing of the agreement does not mean the agreement is enforceable
yet. ACTA stipulates that it takes effect when six countries have
deposited instruments of ratification, acceptance, or approval. In
other words, most countries must still ratify the agreement (much like
the WIPO Internet treaties, signing indicates general approval of an
agreement but being bound by the terms requires ratification).
acta, anti-counterfeiting trade agreement, c-11, copyright, Counterfeit, Counterfeiting Slashdot, Digg, Del.icio.us, Newsfeeder, Reddit, StumbleUpon, TwitterTagsShareMonday October 03, 2011 |
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