A new UK report on the open Internet finds that ISPs are prone to exaggerate the costs of data.
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The Daily Digital Lock Dissenter, Day 7: Canadian Civil Liberties Association
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association is a national organization that was constituted to promote respect for and observance of fundamental human rights and civil liberties, and to defend, extend, and foster recognition of these rights and liberties. Recognizing the link between copyright reform and civil liberties, it has highlighted concerns […]
Why Are Consumers Missing from the CRTC’s Online Video Ruling?
While many feared the CRTC would jump at the chance for new Internet regulation, last week it surprised observers by rightly concluding that its consultation generated plenty of rhetoric about the dangers of an unregulated over-the-top video services market, but no evidence of real harm. Given the lack of evidence and the absence of entry barriers for Canadian companies to establish their own competitive offerings, the CRTC decided to open a “watching brief” with the promise to revisit the issue in another fact-finding exercise next year. The CRTC decision concluded “it is best to allow the over-the-top market to continue evolving, better measurement tools to emerge and entities that contribute to the policy objectives of the Act to take advantage of the many opportunities in this new environment.”
This is close to what I suggested might happen back in July, when I noted “given the lack of actual evidence – this has been a fear-finding exercise rather than a fact-finding one – the CRTC should surely label this a watching brief and wait until 2014.” There is a big difference between waiting until the next scheduled new media review in 2014 and kick-starting another examination of the issue next May, however. The CRTC message to the Online Broadcasting Working Group is “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” By opening the door to two reviews in the span of a one-year period, the Commission hold on new Internet regulation may only be a temporary reprieve.
The Daily Digital Lock Dissenter, Day 6: Canadian Federation of Students
While C-32 proposes a welcome expansion of fair dealing, the anti-circumvention provisions would prevent users from exercising this and all other rights granted to them by the act in any instance in which a digital lock is present. these provisions would allow corporate copyright owners to freely bypass users’ rights and exercise absolute control over what users are able to do with copyrighted works. these provisions would greatly limit what consumers can do with Cds, dvds, and other purchased media; how media outlets can use videos and other multimedia for news reporting; and how researchers can use media, software, and other copyrighted works in their research.
The Daily Digital Lock Dissenter, Day 5: Canadian Teachers’ Federation
The Canadian Teachers’ Federation is a national alliance of provincial and territorial teacher organizations that represent nearly 200,000 elementary and secondary school teachers across Canada. The CTF’s take on digital locks: The Canadian Teachers’ Federation supports amendments to section 41 that would permit users to circumvent technological measures in situations […]
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