A great open letter to Industry Minister Jim Prentice from author James Bow.
Articles by: Michael Geist
A Week in the Life of the Canadian DMCA: Part Five
The week in the life of the Canadian DMCA concludes (day one, day two, day three, day four) with Stephen.
Stephen is a big music fan. Tonight, he is going with his girlfriend to see his favourite band in concert. He has purchased every CD issued by the band. To get ready for concert, he downloads a live version of one of his favourite songs that was released commercially in Europe (it is not available in Canada) that he finds on a file-sharing network. The song is downloaded to an external hard drive that he uses to store his music. While on the network, one hundred songs on the hard drive were available in his shared folder for others to download, though none were. At his girlfriend’s request, he also copies three of the band's best songs onto a CD to play during the drive to the concert. He gives the CD to his girlfriend as a gift.
If Industry Minister Jim Prentice’s Bill C-61 becomes law, all of these copying activity – with one exception – would arguably violate the law.
A Week in the Life of the Canadian DMCA: Part Five
The week in the life of the Canadian DMCA concludes (day one, day two, day three, day four) with Stephen.
Stephen is a big music fan. Tonight, he is going with his girlfriend to see his favourite band in concert. He has purchased every CD issued by the band. To get ready for concert, he downloads a live version of one of his favourite songs that was released commercially in Europe (it is not available in Canada) that he finds on a file-sharing network. The song is downloaded to an external hard drive that he uses to store his music. While on the network, one hundred songs on the hard drive were available in his shared folder for others to download, though none were. At his girlfriend’s request, he also copies three of the band's best songs onto a CD to play during the drive to the concert. He gives the CD to his girlfriend as a gift.
If Industry Minister Jim Prentice’s Bill C-61 becomes law, all of these copying activity – with one exception – would arguably violate the law.
Documentary Organisation of Canada Speaks Out Against C-61
The Documentary Organisation of Canada continues to speak out against C-61, warning in a letter to the editor that it will "bring an end to the concept of 'fair dealing' and open public debate in any electronic media."
FTC Shuts Down Canadian Domain Name Scammers
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has shut down the illegal practices of Canadian operators who deceptively posed as domain name registrars and sent bogus bills to thousands of U.S. small businesses and nonprofit organizations.


Michael Geist on Substack
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