Archive for July, 2009

Survey Shows Wide Opposition to Two-Tier OTA Television

The Canadian Media Guild has published the results of a survey that show 84% of respondents opposed to a plan that will create a two-tier system for over-the-air television signals (some will have it, others won't). The survey was conducted in Kamloops, which stands to lose its OTA signal in […]

July 30, 2009 — 1 comment — News

ITWorldCanada on Copyright Reform

ITWorldCanada has a feature on the copyright consultation with comments from a range of stakeholders.

July 30, 2009 — Comments are Disabled — News

The Gatineau Copyright Roundtable: My Opening Remarks

As I posted earlier, I was fortunate to receive an invitation to the copyright consultation roundtable in Gatineau this evening. Given the large group, each participant was limited to between three and five minutes. My opening remarks were as follows:

Prepared Remarks
Copyright Consultation Roundtable, Gatineau, QC
July 29, 2009

Let me start by thanking both Ministers for the invitation and for conducting this consultation. Last summer, I wrote a 61 part series on fixing Bill C-61 and the very first entry focused on the lack of consultation, so I think this is a great first step.

There is so much to say – preserving the public domain, modernizing the backup copy provision, removing crown copyright, sticking with notice-and-notice for ISPs, reforming the statutory damages provision by distinguishing between commercial and non-commercial infringement, to name just a few.

But I instead want to pick up on Minister Clement’s opening challenge: how do we establish reforms that last?

July 29, 2009 — 7 comments — News

The Gatineau Copyright Roundtable: The Participants

Tonight I had the opportunity to participate in the copyright consultation roundtable in Gatineau. The roundtable was the largest and longest to-date – 20 participants with some of the most active copyright organizations in the country in attendance. I will follow this post with two more: one with my opening […]

July 29, 2009 — 1 comment — News

The Amazon Kindle and an Orwellian Misstep

For months many consumers have lamented the absence of the Kindle, Amazon’s popular electronic book reader, from the Canadian market. Now in its second version, the Kindle has proven to be a major success story in the United States with a loyal user base that relish the chance to wirelessly access books, periodicals, and web content on a single, sleek device. Yet as my weekly technology law column notes (Toronto Star version, homepage version) two recent controversies cast doubt on the Kindle and in the process highlighted how consumers may find themselves vulnerable as they embrace electronic books.

July 29, 2009 — 10 comments — Columns