Archive for June 21st, 2005
Bill C-60 User Guide: Peer-to-Peer File Sharing
I was not planning to deal specifically with file sharing since there is no "file sharing" provision in the bill. Since the issue continues to dominate discussion, however, (in no small part because the government itself has emphasized the issue) it may be useful to highlight the provisions that appear relevant to the question of file sharing.
The Perfect Photo-Op
Canadian media coverage of the introduction of Bill C-60 is relatively light this morning, likely reflecting the late afternoon introduction of the bill and the difficulty of obtaining something other than the government's press release on the matter.
New Accountability Needed For ISPs
My weekly Law Bytes column (full hypertext version with background links or Toronto Star version, homepage version) focuses on a touchy subject — ISP accountability.
I argue that it is time to re-examine the self-regulatory, hands-off approach to ISPs. Content regulation is clearly unworkable and dangerous, however, I am of the view that increased accountability for ISP's carrier function may be needed.
Copyright Conference Talk Now Online
I recently gave a keynote address at the University of Toronto's Sound Bytes, Sound Rights conference. The talk is titled Canada's Choice: Copyright, Culture and the Internet. The webcast of the talk is now online in Real format.
Copyright and Faith in the Free Market
My weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, HTML backup article, homepage version) in the Toronto Star focuses on the Canadian recording industry's rejection of alternative compensation systems on the grounds that it prefers to rely on the free market. The column notes that the industry has been a leading proponent of government involvement, consistently seeking both financial support and legislative intervention. It concludes that as Canada heads toward yet another round of copyright reform, policymakers and politicians should be mindful that they have already used legislative intervention to establish many rights and protections that have tilted the copyright balance heavily toward creators at the expense of users.