|
Wednesday March 23, 2011 |
Bill C-32 looks to be headed for the dustbin if Canada heads into an
election this week, but the C-32 committee is still ongoing until
someone pulls the plug on the current Parlimentary session. Rogers,
Telus, and Bell appeared yesterday and the discussion unsurprisingly
focused on the notice-and-notice approach currently used by ISPs and
codified within the bill. The notice and notice system involves a
notification from a copyright holder - often involving movies, software
or music - claiming that a subscriber has made available or downloaded
content without authorization on file sharing systems. The ISP
forwards the notification to the subscriber but takes no other action -
it does not pass along the subscriber's personal information, remove
the content from its system, or cancel the subscriber's service.
While some rights holders (who the committee learned played a role in
establishing notice-and-notice in the first place) have claimed the
system is ineffective, Rogers came prepared with evidence about how the
system functions and on its effectiveness. It reports that it processed
207,000 notices in 2010, sending those notices to about five percent of
its customer base. In other words, 95% of its subscribers are not
identified by rights holders as copyright infringers - far from the
piracy haven that it often claimed. Of the households that receive
notices, only 1/3 receive a second notice. Of those that receive a
second notice, only 1/3 of those receive a third notice.
Slashdot, Digg, Del.icio.us, Newsfeeder, Reddit, StumbleUpon, TwitterTagsShareWednesday March 23, 2011 |
|
View
|
|
|
Tuesday September 21, 2010 |
With the House of Commons back in session this week, there has been
growing speculation that Bill C-32, the copyright reform bill, will
emerge as a government priority. Given the rhetoric we've seen
over the past three months, it seems likely that proponents of the
digital lock approach will seek to paint critics as anti-copyright,
pirates, and radical extremists. While the rhetoric may seek to
delegitimize consumers and many Canadians vocal on the copyright issue,
the reality is that many consumer and education groups have been far
more supportive of the bill than proponents such as the music industry.
With the caveat that I can only speak for myself, the following post
covers the most contentious aspects of Bill C-32 by aggregating some of
my posts and comments. When the bill
was first introduced, my immediate
response was that the government did a good job compromising on
some very contentious issues (ISP liability, fair dealing, consumer
provisions, statutory damages) but that the digital lock approach
represented a huge flaw that undermined many of the positive steps
forward. This remains my view - if we can find a compromise on
digital locks, I think this is a bill worth supporting. The
following five issues are likely to be the among most contentious in
the
upcoming hearings:
Slashdot, Digg, Del.icio.us, Newsfeeder, Reddit, StumbleUpon, TwitterTagsShareTuesday September 21, 2010 |
|
View
|
|
|
Tuesday November 03, 2009 |
The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement negotiations continue in a few hours as Seoul, Korea plays host to the latest round of talks. The governments have posted the meeting agenda, which unsurprisingly focuses on the issue of Internet enforcement [UPDATE 11/4: Post on discussions for day two of ACTA talks, including the criminal enforcement provisions][UPDATE 11/5: Post on discussions for day three on transparency]. The United States has drafted the chapter under enormous secrecy, with selected groups granted access under strict non-disclosure agreements and other countries (including Canada) given physical, watermarked copies designed to guard against leaks.
Despite the efforts to combat leaks, information on the Internet chapter has begun to emerge (just as they did with the other elements of the treaty). [Update 11/6: Source document now posted] Sources say that the draft text, modeled on the U.S.-South Korea free trade agreement, focuses on following five issues:
1. Baseline obligations inspired by Article 41 of the TRIPs which focuses on the enforcement of intellectual property.
2. A requirement to establish third-party liability for copyright infringement.
3. Restrictions on limitations to 3rd party liability (ie. limited safe harbour rules for ISPs). For example, in order for ISPs to qualify for a safe harbour, they would be required establish policies to deter unauthorized storage and transmission of IP infringing content. Provisions are modeled under the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement, namely Article 18.10.30. They include policies to terminate subscribers in appropriate circumstances. Notice-and-takedown, which is not currently the law in Canada nor a requirement under WIPO, would also be an ACTA requirement.
4. Anti-circumvention legislation that establishes a WIPO+ model by adopting both the WIPO Internet Treaties and the language currently found in U.S. free trade agreements that go beyond the WIPO treaty requirements. For example, the U.S.-South Korea free trade agreement specifies the permitted exceptions to anti-circumvention rules. These follow the DMCA model (reverse engineering, computer testing, privacy, etc.) and do not include a fair use/fair dealing exception. Moreover, the free trade agreement clauses also include a requirement to ban the distribution of circumvention devices. The current draft does not include any obligation to ensure interoperability of DRM.
5. Rights Management provisions, also modeled on U.S. free trade treaty language.
Slashdot, Digg, Del.icio.us, Newsfeeder, Reddit, StumbleUpon, TwitterTagsShareTuesday November 03, 2009 |
|
View
|
|
|
Friday May 09, 2008 |
Last month I wrote about the pressure to adopt "graduated response," a policy that is better described as "three strikes and you're out" for ISP subscribers. While Canada has yet to take a public position on the issue, a new French document cites Canada as an example of a country that is negotiating an ISP three strikes policy. In particular, the latest Olivennes bill draft submitted by the Conseil d'Etat, states:
La méthode et le dispositif des Accords de l’Élysée soulèvent d’ailleurs un vif intérêt à l’étranger. De nombreux pays d’Europe (comme la Grande_Bretagne) ou d’autre continents (comme le Canada ou le Japon) ont d’ores et déjà initié un processus de négociation comparable, encadré par les pouvoirs publics, que ceux_ci viendront relayer en tant que de besoin.
Given that there has been no Canadian public statement consistent with the French claim, either the French are simply wrong (and should be corrected) or Canadian officials may have privately indicated a willingness to move in this direction. The latter possibility is very troubling given the likelihood that new Canadian copyright legislation is likely to be introduced within the next few weeks. Slashdot, Digg, Del.icio.us, Newsfeeder, Reddit, StumbleUpon, TwitterTagsShareFriday May 09, 2008 |
|
|
