|
Thursday January 26, 2012 |
|
Jesse Brown blogs
on the push to introduce SOPA style rules into Canadian copyright
reform.
c-11, copyright, sopa Slashdot, Digg, Del.icio.us, Newsfeeder, Reddit, StumbleUpon, TwitterTagsShareThursday January 26, 2012 |
|
|
Wednesday January 25, 2012 |
My post
this week on the behind-the-scenes demands to make Bill C-11, the
current copyright bill, more like SOPA has attracted considerable
attention with mainstream (National
Post, La
Presse) and online media (Mashable, Wire
Report)
covering the story. The music industry alone is seeking over a dozen
changes to the bill, including website blocking, Internet termination
for alleged repeat infringers, and an expansion of the "enabler"
provision that is supposedly designed to target pirate sites.
Meanwhile, the Entertainment Software Association of Canada also wants
an expansion of the enabler provision along with further tightening of
the already-restrictive digital lock rules.
The concern with expanding the enabler provision is that overly broad
language could create increased legal risk for legitimate websites. As
a result, new online businesses may avoid investing in Canada for fear
of potential liability or costly lawsuits. My post
cited concerns about SOPA being used to target sites like Youtube and
the danger that that could spill over into Canada. Industry lawyer
Barry Sookman responds in the National Post
article, arguing that it is "inconceivable" and "not remotely
possible" that
the law could be used to shut down a mainstream site like Youtube.
Millions of Internet users certainly hope Sookman is right, yet recent experience
suggests that the content industry is open to using these kinds of
provisions in massive lawsuits against sites like Youtube. For example,
consider the ongoing Viacom lawsuit against Youtube/Google.
c-11, copyright, sopa, youtube Slashdot, Digg, Del.icio.us, Newsfeeder, Reddit, StumbleUpon, TwitterTagsShareWednesday January 25, 2012 |
|
View
|
|
|
Monday January 23, 2012 |
The Internet battle against SOPA and PIPA generated huge
interest in Canada with many Canadians turning their sites dark
(including Blogging Tories, Project Gutenberg Canada, and CIPPIC) in
support of the protest. In writing about the link between SOPA and
Canada, I noted
that the proposed legislation featured an aggressive jurisdictional
approach that could target Canadian websites. Moreover, I argued that
the same lobby groups promoting SOPA in the U.S. are behind the digital
lock rules in Bill C-11.
While SOPA may be dead (for now) in the U.S., lobby groups are likely
to intensify their efforts to export SOPA-like rules to other
countries. With Bill C-11 back on the legislative agenda at the end of
the month, Canada will be a prime target for SOPA style rules. In fact,
a close review of the unpublished submissions to the Bill C-32
legislative committee reveals that several groups have laid the
groundwork to add SOPA-like rules into Bill C-11, including blocking
websites and expanding the "enabler provision"to target a wider range
of websites. Given the reaction to SOPA in the U.S., where
millions contacted their elected representatives to object to rules
that threatened their Internet and digital rights, the political risks
inherent in embracing SOPA-like rules are significant. [UPDATE: I have
a second
post that examines how the proposed changes could be used to target
Youtube]
The music industry is unsurprisingly leading the way, demanding
a
series of changes that would make Bill C-11 look much more like SOPA.
c-11, copyright, sopa Slashdot, Digg, Del.icio.us, Newsfeeder, Reddit, StumbleUpon, TwitterTagsShareMonday January 23, 2012 |
|
View
|
|
|
Friday January 20, 2012 |
Last night's Republican presidential candidate debate featured a
question on SOPA, leading all four remaining candidates to register
their opposition to the bill. Their positions are consistent with the
growing trend
on the right in the United States as it the Republicans that are increasingly opposed
to SOPA and PIPA with Democratic supporters left to wonder
why their representatives remain so out-of-touch with the popular view
of the public (this morning Democrat Senator Reid announced
a delay in the vote on PIPA). In fact, it isn't just Republican
politicians who are opposed to overbroad copyright reforms: the right-leaning
press and conservative
think-tanks
are expressing the same views. None of these groups or politicians can
be accused of being soft on crime or weak on intellectual property.
Rather, they recognize the need for government to tread carefully and
to ensure that legislative initiatives do not undermine basic freedoms
and personal property rights.
The opposition to SOPA is not limited to the right in the United
States. In Canada, Blogging
Tories, which aggregates dozens of right-leaning blogs, went
dark in support of the SOPA protest and the National Post was the
only major Canadian paper to publish an editorial
on the issue, concluding:
On Wednesday, Wikipedia and a handful
of other sites will shut down in protest of SOPA and PIPA. They have
our full support. Governments should not be in the business of propping
up outdated business models, nor of blocking legitimate speech. This
draft legislation would do both.
c-11, conservatives, copyright, sopa Slashdot, Digg, Del.icio.us, Newsfeeder, Reddit, StumbleUpon, TwitterTagsShareFriday January 20, 2012 |
|
View
|
|
|
