Post Tagged with: "c-11"

The Daily Digital Lock Dissenter, Day 37: British Columbia Teachers’ Federation

The British Columbia Teachers’ Federation (BCTF), established in 1917, is the union of professionals representing 41,000 public school teachers in the province of British Columbia, Canada. All public school teachers belong to the BCTF and their local teachers’ association. The BCTF provided a submission to the 2009 national copyright consultation and said the following on digital locks:

Including a provision that prohibits the unlocking of content from anticircumvention features is particularly a threat to libraries – school as well as public libraries. Users (teachers, librarians, or individuals) should have the right to access resources that they intend to use within the copyright provisions.

Telling potential users that they can use material, appropriately, and then putting a roadblock in the way of actually accessing the material, makes a sham of recognizing the rights of users. Again, the public interest requires that libraries, in particular, be able to offer access to people who do not have the personal resources to access important materials – materials that contribute to their roles as citizens and as participants in the Canadian economy.

November 24, 2011 — Comments are Disabled — News

The Daily Digital Lock Dissenter, Day 36: Canadian Political Science Association

The Canadian Political Science Association began its activities in 1912 and was incorporated under the Canada Corporation Act in 1971. The CPSA limits public policy positions to those issues directly related to political science. As part of the 2009 copyright consulation, the CPSA submission made its position on digital locks clear:

The new law should not allow Digital Rights Management technologies to prevent fair use of published work.

November 23, 2011 — Comments are Disabled — News

Canadian Anti-Counterfeiting Group Calls For Graduated Response, More Restrictive Digital Lock Rules

The Canadian Anti-Counterfeiting Network is back in the news today with a refreshed version of its 2007 report that recommended new border measure powers, legal reforms, and a massive increase of public tax dollars for enforcement and education programs. Many of those same recommendations are back with claims that the government should pour millions into anti-counterfeiting activities, increase criminal penalties, expand seizure powers, and ratify the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.

On the Bill C-11 front, the CACN wants to gut many of the balancing provisions, including limiting the scope of the already overly restrictive digital lock exceptions, dropping the ISP notice-and-notice approach in favour of a graduated response that could lead to terminating Internet service for individual users, and removing the distinction between commercial and non-commercial infringement for statutory damages despite the fact that Canada is one of the few countries to have such damage provisions (which would pave the way for more Hurt Locker style lawsuits against individuals).

November 22, 2011 — 9 comments — News

Napster Drops Out of Canada, Warns Users Of Lost Purchases Due to Digital Locks

Napster Canada has advised its customers that it is shutting down operations effective December 16, 2011. The move comes weeks after Napster US became part of Rhapsody and users were assured that Canadians would be unaffected by the move. The company warns users to create backup copies of downloaded music […]

November 22, 2011 — 15 comments — News

Daily Digital Lock Dissenter, Day 35: Cdn Assoc of Edu Resource Centres for Alt Format Materials

The Canadian Association of Educational Resource Centres for Alternate Format Materials is an informal organization that promotes and facilitates the sharing of educational materials amongst eleven Educational Resource Centres across Canada. Each centre has a mandate to provide alternate format resources to students with perceptual disabilities who are enrolled in Kindergarten to Grade 12 and/or Post-Secondary education programs in their respective province or region. In its submission to the 2009 national copyright consultation, the CAER recommended:

Provide an exception that permits the circumvention of digital rights management and technological measures for purposes of creating an alternate format. Permit the use of circumvention devices for the purposes of preparing materials for alternate format production.

November 22, 2011 — 1 comment — News