Appeared in the Toronto Star on February 2, 2009 as Tough Action Can Reverse Do-Not-Call Disaster When Canada's do-not-call list was launched last September, two outcomes were easy to predict. The first was that the list would prove enormously popular with millions of phone numbers registered in a matter of […]
Articles by: Michael Geist
Canada’s Do-Not-Call Disaster
When Canada's do-not-call list was launched last September, two outcomes were easy to predict. The first was that the list would prove enormously popular with millions of phone numbers registered in a matter of months. The second was that Canadians would ultimately be left disappointed with little reduction in unwanted telemarketing calls and concerns about the ability of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications to enforce the law. Four months later, my weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) notes that the do-not-call list contains roughly six million registered phone numbers and, as expected, there are a growing number of Canadians – including Industry Minister Tony Clement – who are expressing misgivings about the potential for abuse.
The problems associated with the do-not-call list fall into three categories.
Les Fowlie Intellectual Freedom Award
Earlier today, I received the Les Fowlie Intellectual Freedom Award from the Ontario Library Association at their annual SuperConference in Toronto. The award comes for my work on copyright advocacy. As I told the conference, this award was particularly special to me. First, I grew up in Toronto and greatly […]
Canada’s Private ACTA Talking Points
While the Canadian government has dutifully followed the U.S. line on ACTA with bland releases following each of the four 2008 negotiation sessions, newly obtained documents under the Access to Information Act reveal that the Canadian delegation may be speaking out on some of the public concerns that have been raised around transparency and the exclusion of many countries from the negotiation process [download here]. The documents include several noteworthy revelations:
First, the documents confirm that the leaked ACTA document from last year was indeed the ACTA Discussion Paper distributed among governments. At the time, there was some question as to whether this was an industry wish-list or a government document. The Canadian documents confirm that this was a government document, a suggested intervention notes that "we would like to raise the issue of communications. As you all know by now, the ACTA Discussion Paper has been leaked . . . "
Second, the documents reveal that Canada submitted two "non-papers" to the other countries in advance of the first round of negotiations last year. The two papers focused on (1) institutional and procedural issues to be addressed during the negotiations and (2) institutional issues following the negotiation of ACTA.
Third, the documents include suggested interventions for the Geneva meeting last June.
Irish ISP To Adopt Three Strikes Approach
The Irish Times reports that Eircom, a leading Irish ISP, has settled an ongoing dispute with the major record labels and agreed to implement a three strikes and you're out approach.
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