Post Tagged with: "actra"

Some Copyright Wish Lists

The CBC.ca posts copyright wish lists for ACTRA, CAIP, CAUT, CLA, ITAC, ESA, and PIAC.

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August 3, 2009 1 comment News

ITAC on Copyright Reform and Innovation

CBC.ca runs a feature on the current copyright consulation and the technology community concerns that copyright laws not hinder the potential for new innovation.

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July 27, 2009 Comments are Disabled News

CRTC Network Management Hearings, Day Three: IFTA & CFTPA, CCD & ARCH, ACTRA, MTS Allstream

Day three of the CRTC's network management hearings brought in the views of several additional stakeholders along with the first large telco of the week.  Witnesses included the Independent Film and Television Alliance, the Canadian Film and Television Production Association, Council for Canadians with Disabilities, the ARCH Disability Law Centre ACTRA, and MTS Allstream.

While all the creator and producer groups expressed support for net neutrality, it was their position on BitTorrent that was particularly noteworthy.  Perhaps heralding an end to the demonization of file sharing, ACTRA emphasized that it wants to compete with illegal downloading and that the best way to do that is to ensure that its members can use applications like BitTorrent to distribute their content.  In other words, copyright alone won't address their concerns (they added the need for copyright reform) as network management practices that create a level playing field are essential. Meanwhile, the independent producers emphasized the economic potential of BitTorrent-based distribution.  Moreover, ACTRA argued that it was not the role of ISPs to determine the legality of content on their networks.  That position is a far cry from what groups like CRIA would like to see happen.

The other big story of the day was MTS Allstream arguing that dominant carriers should never be permitted throttle wholesale services (ie. they argue that any throttling should only occur at the retail level).  This led to repeated discussion about the nature of wholesale services (referred to as GAS or Gateway Access Service) with MTS explaining that wholesale service is not like buying Internet access as a retail customer (it was described as akin to a private virtual network).  For that reason, there is no valid claim that congestion concerns are the basis for throttling wholesale services (left unsaid is why a company like Bell would throttle – competition from the very ISPs to whom it supplies wholesale access).  The discussion was stunning since it left the distinct impression that the Commission did not fully understand what was at issue in the CAIP throttling case.

There was two other exchanges involving Commissioner Len Katz worthy of note.  The first was a question in which he suggested that Bell and Rogers do not have a dominant position in Ontario, something that will be news to the overwhelming majority of broadband subscribers in the province.  The second was the recognition that prioritization of content is effectively the same thing as throttling of content since the effect in both instances is to place some content on a fast lane and other content on a slow one.

These issues may arise again tomorrow when CAIP appears.  Today's summary was compiled by Yael Wexler, a law student at the University of Ottawa.  Other coverage available from the National Post liveblog, CBC.ca, and the cippic twitter feed (or mine for MTS).

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July 8, 2009 10 comments News

ACTRA Speaks Out For Net Neutrality

ACTRA appeared before the CRTC today on net neutrality and has issued a press release urging the Commission to enshrine a principle of net neutrality.

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July 8, 2009 1 comment News

Songwriters Bid To Legalize File Sharing Gets a Rewrite

In November 2007, the Songwriters Association of Canada shocked the music industry and many Canadians by proposing the full legalization of music file sharing.  The SAC proposal was based on the premise that file sharing was not going away, that lawsuits against file sharers do more harm than good, and that the continued emphasis on using digital locks to control copying has been a complete failure. In the view of thousands of Canadian songwriters, the better way forward was to encourage music sharing by monetizing it.  The SAC proposal envisioned a levy (five dollars per month was floated as a possibility) that would be used to compensate creators for the sharing.  In return, Canadians would be entitled to freely share music for non-commercial purposes.

The reaction to the SAC proposal was generally critical.  The recording industry rejected it out-of-hand, arguing that it violated international copyright law.  Consumer groups were also skeptical, noting that a mandatory universal levy would result in payments by non-music sharers, who would effectively subsidize those sharing music. Notwithstanding the criticism, the SAC persisted.  My weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) notes that last week, it quietly unveiled a revised version of the proposal at a public forum on copyright in Toronto.  The new version, which addresses many of these earlier criticisms, is far more promising and there are indications that the SAC may be joined by other creator organizations in pursuit of a legalization strategy.

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March 23, 2009 32 comments Columns