The World Intellectual Property Organization today agreed to hold a diplomatic conference aimed at establishing an international treaty aimed at facilitating access to published works for the visually impaired. The conference, which is the final step toward a treaty, is scheduled for June 2013 in Morocco.
News
Federal Court Grants Delay in Voltage File Sharing Lawsuits
Thanks to Paul Andersen (@pandersen) and Bill Sandiford (@Bill_Sandiford) for live-tweeting the proceedings this morning from Federal Court in Toronto as Voltage Pictures sought an order to require TekSavvy, a leading independent ISP, to disclose the identities of thousands of its subscribers. TekSavvy immediately requested an adjournment (ie. a delay), […]
CMEC Releases New Version of Copyright Matters!
The third edition of Copyright Matters!, a copyright guideline document for the Canadian education community backed by government ministers of education, school boards, and the Canadian Teachers’ Federation, has been released. This edition accounts for recent court and legislative changes, offering guidance that is far more consistent with the law […]
KEI’s Summary of the 15th Round of TPP Talks
KEI has posted a helpful summary of the key developments at the most recent round of negotiations on the Trans Pacific Partnership.
The File Sharing Lawsuits Begin: Thousands Targeted at TekSavvy
Given recent reports that a Montreal-based company has captured data on one million Canadians who it says have engaged in unauthorized file sharing, it seemed like it was only a matter of time before widespread file sharing lawsuits came to Canada. It now appears that those lawsuits are one step closer as TekSavvy, a leading independent ISP, has announced that it has received a motion seeking the names and contact information of thousands of customers (legal documents here). To TekSavvy’s credit, the company insists that it will not provide subscriber information without a court order and it has sent notices to affected customers.
The notifications have generated considerable online discussion with some recipients indicating that they have been wrongly targeted. Others wonder what comes next. As I suggested in my posts on this issue, the next steps likely include the following:
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