Liberal MP David McGuinty has introduced the Telecommunications Clarity and Fairness Act, a private members bill that will come as welcome news to every Canadian consumer. The bill would outlaw the much-hated system access fee and require the CRTC to study issues such as how stop providers from locking devices, […]
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Digital Advocacy Comes to Parliament Hill
Last week, hundreds of Canadians descended on Parliament Hill in Ottawa for a public rally in support of net neutrality, a contentious issue that focuses on the need for Internet service providers (ISPs) to treat all content and applications in an equal, non-discriminatory manner. The event succeeded in attracting politicians from two major political parties, labour leaders, independent ISPs, and individuals concerned with the Internet in Canada. My weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, Ottawa Citizen version, Vancouver Sun version, homepage version) notes that while it is tempting to view the rally as an anomaly, it is more accurately seen as just the latest in a series of advocacy actions around the world that illustrate both how digital issues are rapidly moving into the policy mainstream and how the Internet can be used to mobilize offline advocacy.
The Unofficial Canadian DMCA Background Document
Multiple sources advise that Industry Minister Jim Prentice's current plan is to introduce the Canadian DMCA this week, likely on Wednesday. While things could change, it would appear that Prentice's communication strategy is to do as little communicating as possible. Plans for a possible press conference have apparently been put on hold given concerns that the press might actually ask questions and Prentice has even entertained thoughts of shuffling the bill quickly to a committee for summer hearings so that he would not have to deal with the issue all summer long. The Minister will also head for Japan and South Korea late the following week as part of the OECD Future of the Internet Economy conference, so out-of-sight, out-of-mind.
What do we get instead? Likely a press and MP briefing in a lockup just prior to the release of the bill, which will probably happen later in the afternoon (government bills are tabled after 3:00 on Wednesdays) to minimize the opportunity for critical comment in the immediate news cycle. While Prentice presumably hopes that this is a one-day story, my guess is that he is wrong. There is no local open house this time round, but Prentice is planning his annual Calgary Stampede breakfast for July 5th. Further, the OECD is inviting anyone to pose comments or questions about the Internet directly to the Minister on its YouTube page with the Ministers asked to react to the best videos at the OECD conference in South Korea.
Given the apparent effort to control the media spin, I thought it would be useful to anticipate the likely talking points in the Canadian DMCA backgrounder along with a broader perspective featuring things Prentice probably won't say. These include:
Japan Planning Fair Use Provision
Add Japan to the list of countries moving toward expanding fair use. The Intellectual Property Strategy Headquarters, led by the Prime Minister, has announced plans to introduce a fair use provision based on the U.S. model early next year.
Bell Files Response in CRTC Throttling Case
Bell has filed its response to the CRTC's questions regarding its throttling practices. The public documents have confidential and sensitive data removed.