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British Library To Offer 65,000 Free E-book Downloads

The British Library plans to make more than 65,000 19th century works of fiction available as free downloads for the public this spring.

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February 8, 2010 1 comment News

US, EU Defend ACTA Secrecy, UK Supports Transparency

Faced with mounting criticism over ACTA secrecy, officials from both the U.S. and the EU are speaking out.  In a letter to the editor at the Financial Times, the USTR's Stanford McCoy rejects the transparency concerns, claiming:

"Far from keeping them secret, governments participating in these negotiations have sought public comments, released a summary of issues under discussion, and enhanced public engagement."

Meanwhile, an EU official told EurActiv.com that media reports have oversimplified ACTA and that information has been provided to the European Parliament "whenever possible."  The EU official declined to be named due to a non-disclosure agreement.

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February 5, 2010 8 comments News

Angus Launches ACTA Secrecy Facebook Group

NDP MP Charlie Angus has launched a new Facebook group called ACTA: End the Secrecy.

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February 5, 2010 Comments are Disabled News

Hints Of Deep Discord in Canada-EU Talks

Troy Media reports on possible discord in the Canada – European Union trade talks over the intellectual property chapter.

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February 5, 2010 Comments are Disabled News

Canadian Digital Music Sales Growth Beats The U.S. For the 4th Straight Year

Nielsen Soundscan has just released the Canadian music sales figures for 2009.  Notwithstanding the regular claims that the Canadian digital music market cannot develop without copyright reform, the Canadian market grew faster than the U.S. market for the fourth consecutive year.  As the chart below demonstrates, digital music sales have grown faster in Canada than in the U.S. in every year since 2006:

Year Canada United States
2009 38% 8%
2008 58% 27%
2007 73% 45%
2006 122% 65%

While this does not suggest that the market is thriving – a down economy with more competition for the entertainment dollar it is a tough market – it does confirm yet again that attempts to link copyright reform to the development of a Canadian digital market are not borne out by the facts.  Indeed, Canada has consistently grown faster than the United States (from an admittedly lower starting point given that digital music stores arrived later in Canada). 

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February 4, 2010 9 comments News