The first four posts on the 32 Questions and Answers on Bill C-32's digital lock provisions focused first on general issues in the bill, second on C-32's circumvention exceptions, third on the missing exceptions, and fourth on consumer-focused provisions in the bill.  This fifth post focuses on business considerations.  For those that want it all in a single package, I've posted the full series as PDF download.

Business Considerations

This section features answers to the following questions:

• Isn't this just a matter of consumer choice?  If consumers don't want products with digital locks, no one is forcing them to purchase them?
• Won't the digital lock provisions help bring new businesses to Canada like Hulu.com?
• Are the concerns associated with digital lock provisions in the United States legitimate? What issues have arisen in the U.S. under the DMCA?
• If these digital lock provisions are too restrictive, what compromises are available?

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The first two posts on the 32 Questions and Answers on Bill C-32's digital lock provisions focused first on general issues in the bill and second on C-32's circumvention exceptions.  Today's post discusses the missing exceptions – circumvention exceptions found in other countries but missing from the Canadian bill. For those that want it all in a single package, I've posted the full series as PDF download.

The Missing Exceptions

This section features answers to the following questions:

• Does C-32 include "authorized circumventers" as is used in New Zealand to facilitate legal circumventions?
• Are companies required to unlock locked content for legal purposes under C-32?
• Does C-32 include an exception for non-infringing access, such as accessing DVDs from other regions?
• Does C-32 include a circumvention exception for personal uses?
• Does C-32 include a circumvention exception for digital archiving?
• Does C-32 include a circumvention exception to protect minors?
• Does C-32 include a circumvention exception for filtering software programs?
• Does C-32 include an exception for circumventing digital locks that become obsolete or broken?
• Does C-32 include an exception for court cases, laws, and government documents?
• Bill C-32's digital lock provisions apply to copyrighted works.  Does that mean that public domain (ie. out-of-copyright) works are not affected?

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