Earlier this year, I appeared at the European Parliament's INTA
Committee Workshop on ACTA where I reached the following conclusion:
This report concludes that ACTA's
harm greatly exceeds its potential benefits. Given ACTA’s corrosive
effect on transparency in international negotiations, the damage to
international intellectual property institutions, the exclusion of the
majority of the developing world from the ambit of the agreement, the
potentially dangerous substantive provisions, and the uncertain
benefits in countering counterfeiting, there are ample reasons for the
public and politicians to reject the agreement in its current
form. In
doing so, governments would help restore confidence in the global
intellectual property system and open the door to a new round of
negotiations premised on transparency, inclusion, and evidence-based
policy-making.
While I previously posted my opening
remarks and a video
of comments,
I was unable to post the full report until granted approval by the
European Parliament INTA Committee (the Dutch government issued a response
to my comments). That report
is now available for download and is part of a full report
on the workshop that includes all the background reports and a
summary of the workshop discussion. My analysis
follows the same format as the comments but offers more detailed
analysis and discussion.
The U.S. Trade Representative released its annual Special
301 Report
yesterday, unsurprisingly including Canada on the Priority Watch list.
While inclusion on the list is designed to generate embarrassment in
target countries, this year's report should elicit outrage. Not only is
the report lacking in objective analysis, it targets some of the
world's poorest countries with no evidence of legal inadequacies and
picks fights with any country that dare adopt a contrary view on
intellectual property issues.
The inclusion of Canada on the priority watch list is so lacking in
objective analysis as to completely undermine the credibility of the
report. The Canadian "analysis" amounts to 173 words that hits on the
usual dubious complaints (and given criticism of countries such as
Chile for
their notice-and-notice system, Israel for their statutory damages
rules, and many countries on border enforcement, the Canadian criticism
will clearly not end with the enactment of Bill C-11). By comparison,
China is treated as equivalent to Canada on the priority watch list,
yet garners over 4,600 words.
Earlier this year, I completed a
submission with Public Knowledge to the USTR Special 301 process
that examined current Canadian law as well as Bill C-11. It concluded:
Brazil has been hit with a major
copyright scandal
as 15 directors of a local copyright collective have been indicted for
fraud. The Brazilian Senate has proposed changes to the legal
regulation of copyright collectives wth an emphasis on increased
transparency.
Foreign Policy reports
that the Trans Pacific Partnership may be foundering with growing
opposition in countries such as Chile and Malaysia as well as exclusion
of Canada, Mexico, and Japan.
Following UBC's
announcement that it will not sign the Access Copyright model
licence, three additional universities have followed suit - Athabasca,
Windsor,
and Winnipeg.
The four universities demonstrate that the licence raises concerns in
all types of universites - big, medium, small and distance-focused.
May.22/12Comments (2)
Reports indicate
that the European Union is set to provide an 80 billion euro boost to
open access by making open access publishing the norm for its Horizon
2020 research program.
May.22/12Comments (0)
Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta says
his country will not ratify the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement
unless the European Parliament modifies the agreement. Since the EP
does not have the power to amend ACTA, that makes ratification unlikely.
May.22/12Comments (0)
Dozens of leading U.S. law professors have written
to the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance to express concern about the
lack of constitutional authority to approve the Anti-Counterfeiting
Trade Agreement without submitting it for Congressional approval. May.17/12Comments (0)
Harvard Professor Winston Hide has stepped
down from the editorial board of the prestigious Genomics journal
over the lack of open access. May.17/12Comments (0)
In addition to the UBC decision to not sign the Access Copyright model
licence, the Manitoba Library Association has added
its voice
in opposition to the agreement. Moreover, the Trent University Senate
has adopted a motion stating "that the Senate, in solidarity with the
CAUT, the CFS and dozens of other constituent and governing bodies,
reject this unfair and unreasonable AUCC-Access Copyright 'model
license' and instead affirm and abide by 'the right to fair and
reasonable access to copyrighted works for educational purposes.'"
May.16/12Comments (1)
The Globe's John Ibbitson has a column
that confirms much of the private speculation about lawful access,
namely that the bill is going nowhere so long as Vic Toews remains
public safety minister. This is consistent with the prevailing view
that Toews is so closely associated with the worst of the bill -
warrantless disclosure of subscriber information, new surveillance
technologies, and divisive us vs. them framing - that a change will be
needed for the bill to come back. Ibbitson focuses on the likelihood of
Parliament proroging before the bill is revamped and returns, yet
speculating on those issues is always difficult. What is certain
is
that lawful access will return at some point, meaning Canadians will
need to remain vigilant to ensure that any future bill addresses the myriad of
concerns associated with Bill C-30.
May.16/12Comments (2)
Conservative MP Dean Del Mastro offers up one of the oddest copyright
analogies during the C-11 debate, likening format shifting to socks
and shoes.
May.16/12Comments (12)
The Wall Streeet Journal's MarketWatch picks
up
on Canada's missing digital economy strategy, using the Penske File
framing to discuss the failure of Industry Minister Christian Paradis
to lead on the file.
May.16/12Comments (0)
