Articles by: Michael Geist

ACCC Legal Counsel: Access Copyright Licence Provides “Little Value”

It has been nearly two months since the Supreme Court of Canada issued its landmark five copyright decisions. In the aftermath of those decisions that provided a strong defense of users’ rights and fair dealing, I have written multiple posts on the implications for education and Access Copyright. These include […]

Read more ›

September 6, 2012 5 comments News

Reports Indicate Japan Ratifies ACTA

Reports indicate that Japan has ratified the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. Japan had positioned itself as a leading proponent of the treaty, hosting the final round of negotiations and the official signing a year later.

Read more ›

September 6, 2012 3 comments News

Putting Some Substance into Canada’s Digital Economy Penske File

Industry Minister Christian Paradis paid a visit to the Economic Club of Canada in Toronto last week to deliver a speech focused on the digital economy. As has been the case for months, the speech was short on specifics but filled with platitudes about a forthcoming digital economy strategy that “challenges our innovators” and “drives new technology.”

Yet despite promises of a strategy by the end of the year, the issue remains the government’s “Penske File”, a source of regular speeches and much “work” but few tangible results (for non-Seinfeld watchers, the Penske file is a reference to a non-existent work project). In fact, with Paradis telling attendees that the government’s role ” is to give our best and brightest the opportunities they need to succeed and then get out of the way” the strategy may be about as ambitious as the character George Costanza was on the Seinfeld show.

My weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) notes that Canadians have waited years for a digital economy strategy. Paradis should dispense with the well-worn cliches and opt for an ambitious plan that generates genuine excitement and broad public support.

Read more ›

September 4, 2012 6 comments Columns

The Economist on Canadian Copyright Law

The Economist focuses on new copyright rules for the digital age, rightly pointing to Bill C-11 as “setting a new standard of permissiveness” (though it neglects to mention the restrictive digital lock rules).

Read more ›

September 4, 2012 2 comments News

Putting Some Substance into Canada’s Digital Economy Penske File

Appeared in the Toronto Star on September 2, 2012 as Canada Can’t Afford to Wait Any Longer for Digital Economy Strategy Industry Minister Christian Paradis paid a visit to the Economic Club of Canada in Toronto last week to deliver a speech focused on the digital economy.  As has been […]

Read more ›

September 4, 2012 Comments are Disabled Columns Archive