Recent comments from the RCMP about their IP enforcement priorities are attracting considerable attention. The head of federal investigations last week acknowledged that infringement for personal use is no longer targeted (if it ever was). Instead, the RCMP prioritizes health and safety issues such as fake medicines or unsafe electrical appliances. These comments are consistent with what the RCMP told the House of Commons committees on counterfeiting last spring and indicate that the our national law enforcement agency has rightly decided to allocate its limited resources toward issues that raise broad, public concerns, rather than more limited, private ones. While IP enforcement issues aren't going away, the RCMP comments provide a useful reminder that more laws are certainly not the answer.
RCMP Says It Doesn’t Target Music Downloaders
4 Comments
Recent Posts
Back-of-the-Napkin Cultural Policy: The Government’s $600 Million Streaming Plan Copies the CRTC Decision It Killed at More Than Double the Cost 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 282: Udbhav Tiwari on Why Signal May Exit Canada Over Bill C-22’s Encryption and Metadata Retention Rules 
From Making Web Giants Pay to Paying Media Giants: Budget 2026 Replaces the Government’s Internet Platform Strategy With $1.5 Billion in Taxpayer Dollars for Culture and News 
Has the Government Read Its Own Bill? What Three Days of House Debate Revealed About Bill C-34 Before the Committee Hearings Begin 
Surveillance By Design: Government Officials Say Lawful Access Could Reach Gaming Platforms, Daycares and AI Services
This is in line with the Department of Justice Policy for the past 10 years of only going after what they describe as “serious cases” of “commercial infringement by importers, manufacturers and distributors”.
[ [ link ] ]
Thank Goodness!
Thank GOODNESS that our law enforcement actually employs some common sense in their tactics by targeting *real* crimes that affect *real* people, and are not hitmen for the recording industry racket.
RCMP distances itself from a loonie
The RCMP is obviously distancing itself from CRIA and it’s leader after he invited himself to their party and proclaimed himself protector of all counterfeit material in Canada.
That action shows some leadership in the RCMP and makes CRIA look like the buffoons that they really are.
M
Thomas Lee
This isn’t such a bad idea, and it was easy to see coming.
If some governments and police forces can decide that simple drug possession of marijuana is not worth active investigative efforts, then why should music downloading be such a concern for them?
Also, it could be argued that as an instance of pure economic loss, music downloading is not a harm that society will feel is an important issue to prosecute.