Post Tagged with: "c-32"

The Liberal Digital Economy Strategy: Extended Edition

The Liberals gave the digital economy a prominent place in their election platform, identifying eight principles that included access to broadband for all Canadians, balanced copyright, open government, and support for an open Internet. Yesterday the party expanded on the policy by releasing Digital Canada and holding an online chat forum with Marc Garneau. The Digital Canada release reiterated many of the platform’s positions with one notable addition – a commitment to issue an open Internet directive to the CRTC. According to the Liberals, a Liberal government would “issue an Open Internet Directive to the CRTC opposing anti-competitive usage-based billing and ensure a fair, effective wholesale regime to allow smaller Internet service providers to lease broadband infrastructure at fair prices.”

Far more detail came in the online chat that I participated in as a commentator together with Open Media’s Steve Anderson. The discussion touched on a number of issues, but provided considerable detail on telecom, copyright, and privacy policy.

April 12, 2011 — 5 comments — News

Another Copyright Bill Hits the Scrap Heap: Taking Stock of Canadian Digital Law and Policy Reform

Later today, it appears certain that the government will lose a non-confidence motion, spelling the end to the current Parliament and sending Canada into yet another election. There have been some legislative and policy successes since 2008 including the Anti-Spam law (C-28), a law involving ISPs and child pornography (C-22), and the recent launch of open government and open data initiatives. In addition, the government re-appointed Privacy Commissioner of Canada Jennifer Stoddart for another three year term, supported the entry of Globalive into the Canadian wireless market, and pressured the CRTC to revisit its policy on usage based billing.

Notwithstanding these developments, the focus will undoubtedly shine on the bills and policies that were started but not completed. These include:

the digital economy strategy
a policy on foreign investment in telecommunications
a policy on foreign ownership in book publishing and distribution
a policy on the forthcoming wireless spectrum auction
Bill C-29, a bill to reform PIPEDA
Bill C-32, the copyright reform bill
Bills C-50, 51, 52, the lawful access bills
Bill C-393, the private members bill to facilitate access to generic medicines in Africa

The future for each of these initiatives varies.

March 25, 2011 — 19 comments — News

Rogers Provides New Evidence on Effectiveness of Notice-and-Notice System

Bill C-32 looks to be headed for the dustbin if Canada heads into an election this week, but the C-32 committee is still ongoing until someone pulls the plug on the current Parlimentary session. Rogers, Telus, and Bell appeared yesterday and the discussion unsurprisingly focused on the notice-and-notice approach currently used by ISPs and codified within the bill. The notice and notice system involves a notification from a copyright holder – often involving movies, software or music – claiming that a subscriber has made available or downloaded content without authorization on file sharing systems. The ISP forwards the notification to the subscriber but takes no other action – it does not pass along the subscriber’s personal information, remove the content from its system, or cancel the subscriber’s service.

While some rights holders (who the committee learned played a role in establishing notice-and-notice in the first place) have claimed the system is ineffective, Rogers came prepared with evidence about how the system functions and on its effectiveness. It reports that it processed 207,000 notices in 2010, sending those notices to about five percent of its customer base. In other words, 95% of its subscribers are not identified by rights holders as copyright infringers – far from the piracy haven that it often claimed. Of the households that receive notices, only 1/3 receive a second notice. Of those that receive a second notice, only 1/3 of those receive a third notice.

March 23, 2011 — 27 comments — News

Canadian Lawyers on C-32: Fix the Digital Lock Rules

The National Post runs a feature on the legal profession’s views on Bill C-32. Several lawyers are quoted expressing concern with the digital lock rules. The article concludes “ultimately, most lawyers suggest that the fair dealing definitions and exceptions should be broadened and consumers should have the right to break […]

March 9, 2011 — 8 comments — News

Conservatives and Bloc Negotiating C-32 Deal?

The Wire Report reports that the Conservatives and the Bloc are negotiating a deal on C-32 that would allow for the bill to pass in return for several reforms including the removal of fair dealing for education and the exception for broadcasters.

March 9, 2011 — 8 comments — News