Archive for March, 2005
Canadian MP Says Extended Licensing Proposal Delayed
Marlene Catteral, a Canadian MP and chair of the Canadian Heritage parliamentary committee has told (Quicktime format) a university audience that the government has delayed plans to introduce a much-criticized copyright proposal to establish a extended license for educational institutions. The proposal would have created a license for Internet materials that were not publicly available.
Time for Canada To Cancel Crown Copyright
My weekly Law Bytes column (full hypertext version with background links or Toronto Star version, homepage version) focuses on Canadian crown copyright, which provides that the government retains the copyright associated with any work that is prepared or published by or under its direction, creating an enormous and unconscionable barrier to Canadian film making, political advocacy, and free speech.
P2P Goes to the Movies
The Vancouver Sun ran a story over the weekend on the growing popularity of downloading movies on P2P networks. The article notes that movie swapping is still tiny in comparison to music, but that it may grow in the future.
Keeping An Eye On A Canadian Prize
Last month, in celebration of Black History Month, thousands of Internet users engaged in a small act of civil disobedience. They downloaded Eyes on the Prize, the award-winning documentary on Dr. Martin Luther King, which is no longer available for purchase due to the expiry of rights to certain clips […]
Canadian Security Companies, Heritage Committee MP Concerned Over Copyright Reforms
A group of Canadian security firms have released a public letter also expressing concern over potential Canadian copyright reforms. The companies note the negative impact of the DMCA on security research and urge the government to avoid criminalizing technology. I'm quoted in the Toronto Star's coverage of the letter, noting that the potential rules may render illegal what sits the core of legitimate security research.