Columns

Thinking Outside the Canadian Copyright Box

The Hill Times this week features my special opinion piece on copyright issues (Hill Times version (sub req), homepage version). The column calls attention to Bruce Lehman's recent acknowledgement that "our Clinton administration policies didn't work out very well." Lehman followed the criticism of U.S. policy by issuing a challenge to Canada, urging policy makers and political leaders to think outside the box on future reform. Lehman argued that Canada was well-positioned to experiment with new approaches consistent with international copyright law and I add that there are some obvious differences between Canada and the U.S. including our trade differences (copyright exporter vs. importer) and the success of the Canadian music market (faster digital download sales growth, more online music sellers on a per capita basis).

Given the Canadian marketplace realities and the Lehman recommendation to chart our own course on copyright, how might Industry Minister Maxime Bernier and Canadian Heritage Minister Bev Oda respond? I point to three possibilities.

April 4, 2007 — 2 comments — Columns

Internet Video, Internet Regulation, and Canadian Content

My weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) focuses on the growing push from the Canadian broadcasting community to revisit the CRTC's 1999 New Media decision, in which Canada's broadcasting regulator took a hands-off approach to the Internet. The support for greater regulation is often couched in Canadian content terms, but I argue that the current changes have the potential to dramatically alter Canadian content production from one mandated by government regulation to one mandated by market survival.

The issue began to percolate last June, when Canadian Heritage Minister Bev Oda asked the CRTC to conduct a six-month consultation on the effects of changing technology on the radio and television industries. The CRTC report, which was quietly released in mid-December, went almost unnoticed, yet submissions from broadcasters, copyright collectives, and labour unions all point to an increased regulatory role for the CRTC.

The underlying theme of many stakeholder submissions is that unregulated new media represents a threat to the current regulated Canadian content model.

April 2, 2007 — 7 comments — Columns

Liberals Try To Resuscitate Big Brother Plan for the Internet

My weekly Law Bytes column (Ottawa Citizen version, homepage version) covers the Liberals' introduction of C-416, the return of lawful access legislation. I note that while the bill is unlikely to pass – opposition private members bills rarely become law and the current Parliamentary session is likely to end before […]

March 27, 2007 — 1 comment — Columns

C-47 Undermines Olympic Spirit

My weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) focuses on Bill C-47, the Olympic and Paralympic Marks Act, which I think is better characterized as the Olympic Corporate Sponsor Protection Act. The column synthesizes my comments from two earlier postings on the bill (here and here), namely that […]

March 19, 2007 — 2 comments — Columns

Wireless Number Portability Just a First Step

My weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) focuses on wireless number portability, which makes its much-anticipated debut on Wednesday, allowing Canadian consumers to change their cellphone provider without surrendering their current phone number. I note that while wireless number portability removes one lock that the providers have […]

March 12, 2007 — 4 comments — Columns