Post Tagged with: "conservatives"

Copyright and the Right

Last night’s Republican presidential candidate debate featured a question on SOPA, leading all four remaining candidates to register their opposition to the bill. Their positions are consistent with the growing trend on the right in the United States as it the Republicans that are increasingly opposed to SOPA and PIPA with Democratic supporters left to wonder why their representatives remain so out-of-touch with the popular view of the public (this morning Democrat Senator Reid announced a delay in the vote on PIPA). In fact, it isn’t just Republican politicians who are opposed to overbroad copyright reforms: the right-leaning press and conservative think-tanks are expressing the same views. None of these groups or politicians can be accused of being soft on crime or weak on intellectual property. Rather, they recognize the need for government to tread carefully and to ensure that legislative initiatives do not undermine basic freedoms and personal property rights.

The opposition to SOPA is not limited to the right in the United States. In Canada, Blogging Tories, which aggregates dozens of right-leaning blogs, went dark in support of the SOPA protest and the National Post was the only major Canadian paper to publish an editorial on the issue, concluding:

On Wednesday, Wikipedia and a handful of other sites will shut down in protest of SOPA and PIPA. They have our full support. Governments should not be in the business of propping up outdated business models, nor of blocking legitimate speech. This draft legislation would do both.

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January 20, 2012 13 comments News

Conservative Party Passes Policy Resolution on Broadband

The Conservative Party has passed a policy resolution on broadband at its policy convention. The resolution states: The Conservative Party recognizes the vital importance of internet connectivity to full Canadian participation in global economic, social, and cultural communities. The government should create an environment that encourages private sector investment to […]

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June 11, 2011 11 comments News

Conservatives To Discuss Net Neutrality, Broadband at Convention

The Conservatives hold their convention later this week with 80 resolutions being considered for possible debate in the plenary session. The resolutions are proposed by local chapters and at least two focus on Internet access and net neutrality. Resolution P-063 (Durham) on broadband states: We believe in the need for […]

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June 7, 2011 17 comments News

Conservative Majority Gives Ottawa A Crack At Breaking The Digital Logjam

My weekly technology column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) reviews many of the points raised in a blog post last week on the future of digital policies in Canada given the majority Conservative government. It is hard to project precisely what will happen; given the number of open cabinet positions it is not known whether Industry Minister Tony Clement and Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore will remain in their portfolios or move elsewhere. If they stay the course, the Conservative digital policies are strong in a number of areas.

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May 10, 2011 10 comments Columns

Tory Majority Gives Ottawa A Crack At Breaking The Digital Logjam

Appeared in the Toronto Star on May 8, 2011 as Tory Majority Gives Ottawa A Crack At Breaking The Digital Logjam The election of a majority Conservative government has generated much speculation about the future of digital policies in Canada. It is hard to project precisely what will happen; given […]

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May 9, 2011 Comments are Disabled Columns Archive