A blog reader points to a site listing more than a dozen videos posted on YouTube that Telus has demanded be removed due to copyright concerns. While there are several videos that may indeed be subject to Telus copyright, many others appear to merely involve union videos that surely do […]
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Olympic Marks Bill on the Fast Track
Bill C-47, the government's Olympic marks legislation, has been quietly placed on the fast track. The very fast track. With no warning, the bill heads to committee this week with hearings today (Industry Canada, VANOC) and Tuesday (several Olympic athletes and committees, clause by clause). With clause-by-clause review already on the schedule, the Industry Committee will only conduct a limited review and the bill could head back to the full House of Commons for third and final reading by the end of the week.
I've posted several items about the bill, expressing concern about substantive shortcomings and legislative fairness. Given the government's determination to fast track this bill, the most that can be done is to suggest some modest reforms to the bill (dropping the bill is out of the question and major surgery is not permitted at this stage). With that in mind, the Committee should consider recommending at least two changes:
Google’s Black Box
The NY Times features an inside look at Google's race to stay ahead in search.
Canada’s Anti-Camcording Bill
As expected, the federal government introduced Bill C-59, its anti-camcording legislation on Friday (coverage from CBC, CTV, Canwest, Toronto Star, Globe). The bill creates two amendments to the Criminal Code:
- The recording of a movie in a movie theatre without the consent of the theatre's manager, punishable by up to two years in jail.
- The recording of a movie in a movie theatre without the consent of the theatre's manager for the purpose of selling, renting, or other commercial distribution of a copy of the recording, punishable by up to five years in jail.
The Globe is reporting that the bill may fast track through the House without any hearings – literally in a matter of minutes – despite a clear need to review the law for potential amendment (for example, I would suggest that there is the need to add the word "knowingly" to the two provisions and suggest adding a reporting mechanism everytime the provision is triggered so that we can get a better handle on the scope of the problem). Everyone would agree that no one credible supports illegal camcording. Indeed, while the economic impact may be subject to debate, there is no doubt that the practice does real harm to the artistic merit of the film and thus harms the creators. That said, this bill troubles me for several reasons.
Canadians Pay More for Apple’s DRM-Free Music
Joseph Thornley notes that Apple has announced that Canadians will pay 33% more for Apple's DRM-free music than U.S. customers. While U.S. consumers pay 30 cents more per song, the Canadian price jump is 40 cents, despite the fact that the currency difference is now very small.
Recent Posts
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 200: Colin Bennett on the EU’s Surprising Adequacy Finding on Canadian Privacy Law 
Debating the Online Harms Act: Insights from Two Recent Panels on Bill C-63 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 199: Boris Bytensky on the Criminal Code Reforms in the Online Harms Act 
AI Spending is Not an AI Strategy: Why the Government’s Artificial Intelligence Plan Avoids the Hard Governance Questions 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 198: Richard Moon on the Return of the Section 13 Hate Speech Provision in the Online Harms Act
