The IFPI, the global RIAA, this week released its annual Recording Industry in Numbers report that tracks global record sales. In its release, it chose to target two countries – Canada and Spain – for declining sales and linked those declines to copyright law. As it no doubt intended, the […]
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Privacy Takes Step Towards Global Enforcement
My weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) notes that last week the talk of the privacy world was news that 10 privacy and data protection commissioners – led by Canadian Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart – had released a public letter to Google CEO Eric Schmidt, expressing concern that the Internet giant was forgetting its privacy responsibilities.
The letter, also signed by the heads of privacy agencies from France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain and the United Kingdom, focused on the recent introduction of Google Buzz, a service that offered new social media capabilities. It attracted the wrath of users and privacy advocates after Google automatically assigned users a network of "followers" from among people with whom they corresponded most often on Gmail. Google quickly altered the offending features, but the damage was clearly done, as privacy commissioners from around the world used the incident as the basis for a shot across the company’s bow.
ACTRA on Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore
This week ACTRA's Stephen Waddell appeared before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage. A discussion on the private copying levy led to a testy exchange about Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore with Waddell stating: "I really don't understand why our minister, the minister who should, as you say, be defending […]
Next ACTA Negotiation Round Details Leaked
Information on the next round of ACTA negotiations has leaked out with reports that it will be held in Lucerne, Switzerland from June 28 – July 2, 2010.
Why Is CRIA Reluctant To Provide Public Specifics About Copyright Reform?
Last week, the Canadian Recording Industry Association appeared before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage with discussion that focused largely on copyright reform (media coverage of the appearance here). While copyright was the key issue, what was striking was CRIA's reluctance to actually specify what reforms it supports. That may sound unusual, but a review of recent public statements suggests that it is actually quite typical. In recent years, CRIA has become very reluctant to provide specific views on reforms, seemingly relying instead on the sort of backdoor, lobbyist-inspired meetings that are the talk of Ottawa due to the Rahim Jaffer situation.
The transcript has not been posted yet, however, a review of the unofficial transcript shows that CRIA President Graham Henderson provided no legal specifics in his opening statement. During questioning, he was repeatedly asked what his organization wants. First Liberal MP Pablo Rodriguez asked, eliciting the following response:
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