I appeared yesterday before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology for a hearing on Bill C-8, the anti-counterfeiting bill that has been placed on the legislative fast-track by the government. The panel also featured representatives from the Canadian Anti-Counterfeiting Network, the Canadian Standards Association, and the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada. The hearing was cut short by a vote in the House of Commons, but there was still an opportunity for a ten minute opening presentation and to address a few questions from the committee members. My prepared remarks are posted below. Given time constraints and the comments of the other panel members, there were some adjustments (I omitted the first section on the scope of counterfeiting and noted that fellow panel members proposed the precise amendments I was discussing).
Committees
The Trouble with the Trans Pacific Partnership: My Appearance before the International Trade Committee
Earlier this week, I was invited to appear before the House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade to discuss the benefits of the Trans Pacific Partnership, a proposed trade agreement involving the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and a handful of other Asian and South American countries. My comments were critical of the proposed agreement as I focused on two issues: copyright and secrecy. The opening comments sparked a lively debate, with the NDP MPs tabling documents I obtained under the Access to Information Act detailing inside access to TPP information for select stakeholders and the Conservative MPs alternately questioning the validity of leaked texts and providing assurances that draft text could change before the final agreement is concluded. I’ll post the transcript once it is available. In the meantime, my opening remarks are posted below.
Digital Economy Deja Vu: My Appearance Before the Standing Committee on Industry, Science & Tech
I appeared yesterday before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science, and Technology for a hearing on the adoption of digital technologies by small and medium sized businesses. While the hearing was shortened by a vote in the House of Commons, it still provided an opportunity to raise ongoing concerns with Canada’s digital economy strategy failure. My prepared remarks are posted below:
Appearance before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology, May 28, 2013
Last Call on C-11: My Appearance Before the Senate Committee on Banking, Trade & Commerce
Today is copyright day at the Senate, where the Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce is devoting seven hours to hearing from over 20 witnesses on Bill C-11, the copyright reform bill that passed the House of Commons earlier this week. I was asked to appear and participated in the first session of the day. My opening statement is posted below. The discussion focused primarily on the digital lock rules with a good opportunity to focus on the dangers of the current approach. My recommendation was to use the regulation power found in Bill C-11 to create a digital lock exception linking circumvention to copyright infringement.
Removing Telco Foreign Ownership Restrictions: My Appearance Before Senate Committee on Transport & Comm
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