Archive for February 4th, 2008

Microsoft Misleads on Copyright Reform

The Hill Times this week includes an astonishingly misleading and factually incorrect article on Canadian copyright written by Microsoft. The most egregious error comes in the following paragraph which attempts to demonstrate why Microsoft thinks reform is needed:

Imagine you're an aspiring author who decides to self-publish on the internet in hopes of supporting yourself and catching the eye of a publishing house. Now imagine someone hacks into your website and accesses your work and begins using the ideas expressed in your work for their own commercial benefit. You should be protected, right? In Canada, you are not.

Actually, you are protected.

February 4, 2008 — 52 comments — News

Microsoft Misleads on Copyright Reform

Actually, you are protected.

February 4, 2008 — Comments are Disabled — Stop CDMCA

Prentice Backtracks On Treaty Policy

The Hill Times turns itself over to copyright this week with no less than four articles and op-eds on the topic (including one from me revealing a secret meetings between CRIA and the Canadian Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Wilson). The most important of article is a front page, lead […]

February 4, 2008 — 4 comments — News

Is Prentice’s Copyright Bill Born in the U.S.A.?

The Hill Times runs a special op-ed (HT version, homepage version) in which I note that while the influence of the U.S. government in crafting a Canadian version of the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act has been a recurring theme, what has gone largely unnoticed is the role that some Canadian lobby groups have played in quietly encouraging the U.S. to step up the pressure. Indeed, according to documents recently obtained under the Access to Information Act, last spring Canadian Recording Industry Association President Graham Henderson met with Wilkins' counterpart – Canada's Ambassador to the United States Michael Wilson – to encourage him to pressure both governments to prioritize U.S. style copyright reforms.

February 4, 2008 — Comments are Disabled — Columns

Is Prentice’s Copyright Bill Born in the U.S.A.?

Appeared in the Hill Times on February 4, 2008 as Is Prentice's Copyright Bill Born in the USA? With Industry Minister Jim Prentice preparing to unveil his controversial copyright bill, there has been considerable speculation about the role that the U.S. government has played in pressuring Canada to move on […]

February 4, 2008 — 3 comments — Columns Archive