Canadian Heritage Minister Bev Oda has announced that the government is commissioning a major study on the future of television and radio regulation. Oda claims that "other nations began to build the policy framework for the new digital world decades ago. Unfortunately Canada did not." It would be interesting to […]
Articles by: Michael Geist
Statistics Canada on Culture
Statistics Canada is out today with several cultural studies including a regular culture periodical, an employment analysis, and a report that Canada’s cultural goods deficit grew in 2005.
CRIA’s Lobby Effort: The Untold Story
On the heels of last week's posting on election financial support for Canadian Heritage Minister Bev Oda, the Hill Times runs a special op-ed I've written that focuses on an unreported CRIA lobby effort from earlier this year (Hill Times version, homepage version). According to information released under the Access to Information Act, at 10:01 in the morning of February 6, 2006, at the precise moment that a new Conservative cabinet was being sworn into office at Rideau Hall, David Dyer, a senior consultant with the Capital Hill Group and a registered lobbyist for the Canadian Recording Industry Association, sent an email to Patricia Neri, the Director General of Canadian Heritage's Copyright Policy Branch.
The email included a suggested outline for a March 2nd event focused on copyright reform. It envisioned a meeting with the Canadian Heritage Deputy Minister Judith LaRoque, two hours of presentations from speakers sympathetic to CRIA's position, lunch with deputy ministers from Heritage, Industry, and International Trade, and a private meeting with the soon-to-named Minister of Canadian Heritage.
One month later, virtually the identical scenario played itself out in Canadian Heritage's Gatineau offices and in the private dining room of a swank nearby restaurant.
The Untold Story of CRIA Lobbying
Appeared in the Hill Times on June 12, 2006 as Unchecked Lobby Power Plays an Old Familiar Tune At 10:01 in the morning of February 6, 2006, at the precise moment that a new Conservative cabinet was being sworn into office at Rideau Hall, David Dyer, a senior consultant with […]
Sweden Considers Legalizing P2P File Sharing
Sweden's Justice Minister has said that the country is open to legalizing P2P file sharing. The Minister raised the prospect of reversing the current ban, noting that the law has not reduced file sharing and that it could be replaced with a compensatory levy.
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