Archive for February 21st, 2005

Copyright Conference Talk Now Online

I recently gave a keynote address at the University of Toronto's Sound Bytes, Sound Rights conference. The talk is titled Canada's Choice: Copyright, Culture and the Internet. The webcast of the talk is now online in Real format.

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February 21, 2005 Comments are Disabled Audio

Copyright and Faith in the Free Market

My weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, HTML backup article, homepage version) in the Toronto Star focuses on the Canadian recording industry's rejection of alternative compensation systems on the grounds that it prefers to rely on the free market. The column notes that the industry has been a leading proponent of government involvement, consistently seeking both financial support and legislative intervention. It concludes that as Canada heads toward yet another round of copyright reform, policymakers and politicians should be mindful that they have already used legislative intervention to establish many rights and protections that have tilted the copyright balance heavily toward creators at the expense of users.

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February 21, 2005 Comments are Disabled Columns

Renegades Spam Complaint Apparently New News

The Ottawa Business Journal today features an article on my successful privacy complaint against the Ottawa Renegades for sending me unsolicited commercial email and not respecting a request to opt-out. While the story is a bit old, it is new to some people — the story appears on Slashdot today, likely raising more awareness of the decision than an appearance on CBC's As It Happens.

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February 21, 2005 Comments are Disabled News

Music Industry Doesn’t Need More Government Protection

link to archive   

In these politically charged times, there is a tendency to view many policy issues, whether they be same sex marriage or tax reform, through a narrow lens — left or right, blue or red, liberal or conservative. The same is true for copyright issues.

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February 21, 2005 Comments are Disabled Columns Archive