Archive for April 8th, 2008

Fair Dealing Reform a Key Innovation Policy Priority

The Hill Times ran a special section [PDF] on innovation policy this week that featured several interesting articles including an op-ed on net neutrality from MP Charlie Angus and a column I wrote that links fair dealing reform and innovation.  While the substance behind the Government’s copyright plans remains to be seen, fair dealing reform is a critical part of a copyright reform package linked to innovation.  Indeed, the 2006 Gowers Report on Intellectual Property, the leading United Kingdom study on intellectual property reform, concluded that "'fair uses' of copyright can create economic value without damaging the interests of copyright owners."

Similar sentiments have been raised in Canada.  

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April 8, 2008 5 comments Columns

CRTC Receives Another Net Neutrality Submission

Vaxination Informatique has filed a submission to the CRTC as part of CAIP's request for action on net neutrality.

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April 8, 2008 Comments are Disabled News

Fair Dealing Reform a Key Innovation Policy Priority

Appeared in the Hill Times on April 7, 2008 as Fair Dealing Reform a Key Innovation Policy Priority As successive Canadian governments have prioritized economic competitiveness and innovation, copyright reform has slowly crept onto the innovation agenda.  The 2007 Speech from the Throne included a promise to "support Canadian researchers […]

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April 8, 2008 1 comment Columns Archive

CMA and MRIA Recommend Against Respecting iOptOut Requests

My weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, Ottawa Citizen version, Vancouver Sun version, homepage version) focuses on the reaction to iOptOut.ca which includes advice from at least two Canadian associations to their members not to respect the legitimate opt-out requests of thousands of Canadians.  I argue that this provides a good sense of what lies ahead this fall when the government-mandated list makes its long awaited debut. The iOptOut.ca site is based on a simple premise, namely that Canadian privacy law already gives Canadians the right to withdraw their consent over the use of their personal information (including phone numbers) for telemarketing calls.  Visitors to the site are asked to enter their phone number (and email address if they wish) and to indicate their privacy preferences for nearly 150 organizations.

With a single click, the selected organizations each receive an opt-out request, enforceable for the moment through the complaint process under national privacy law.  Once the do-not-call list is up and running, there will be a further enforcement mechanism – complete with financial penalties – for those organizations that do not respect the opt-out request. After only one week online, it has become readily apparent that the site has struck a chord with Canadians.  More than 17,000 phone numbers have been registered, resulting in over 1.7 million opt-out requests.  Interestingly, many users pick-and-choose their organizations, as over a quarter of all registrants do not check all available options.  

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April 8, 2008 11 comments Columns