IHT carries an interesting article on the growing political pressure on politicians to adopt a balanced approach to copyright reform It focuses on the situation in Sweden and France, where politicians from many parties are recognizing the political force of thousands of downloaders who incidentally also vote. In Canada, those […]
Post Tagged with: "copyright"
Canadian Museums for Balanced Copyright Reform
Add two more major groups to the call for balanced copyright reform. The Canadian Art Museum Directors Organization (CAMDO), a professional association of art gallery and museum directors, has issued yet another public call for copyright reform that focuses on fair uses and avoids anti-circumvention legislation. The CAMDO letter was […]
Canada’s Library Community Speaks Out on Copyright
The Canadian Library Association is meeting this week in Ottawa and the association is marking the occasion by releasing a public letter to Ministers Bernier and Oda on copyright reform. Representing 57,000 library staff and thousands of libraries, the CLA recommends "caution and reflection". Should the government move on copyright, […]
CRIA’s Lobby Effort: The Untold Story
On the heels of last week's posting on election financial support for Canadian Heritage Minister Bev Oda, the Hill Times runs a special op-ed I've written that focuses on an unreported CRIA lobby effort from earlier this year (Hill Times version, homepage version). According to information released under the Access to Information Act, at 10:01 in the morning of February 6, 2006, at the precise moment that a new Conservative cabinet was being sworn into office at Rideau Hall, David Dyer, a senior consultant with the Capital Hill Group and a registered lobbyist for the Canadian Recording Industry Association, sent an email to Patricia Neri, the Director General of Canadian Heritage's Copyright Policy Branch.
The email included a suggested outline for a March 2nd event focused on copyright reform. It envisioned a meeting with the Canadian Heritage Deputy Minister Judith LaRoque, two hours of presentations from speakers sympathetic to CRIA's position, lunch with deputy ministers from Heritage, Industry, and International Trade, and a private meeting with the soon-to-named Minister of Canadian Heritage.
One month later, virtually the identical scenario played itself out in Canadian Heritage's Gatineau offices and in the private dining room of a swank nearby restaurant.
Sweden Considers Legalizing P2P File Sharing
Sweden's Justice Minister has said that the country is open to legalizing P2P file sharing. The Minister raised the prospect of reversing the current ban, noting that the law has not reduced file sharing and that it could be replaced with a compensatory levy.