Industry Minister Jim Prentice continues to duck questions, but Bruce Lehman, the architect of the DMCA, was apparently happy to come on CBC's Search Engine program to discuss the law. His verdict? "I don't think it [DMCA] has achieved the objectives we necessarily intended."
Post Tagged with: "prentice"
Cellphone Spectrum Set-Aside Simply Step One
My weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, Ottawa Citizen version, homepage version) focuses on the recent government spectrum allocation announcement. I argue that new wireless competition will be welcome news to consumers, however, it represents only part of the solution. The day before the Prentice press conference, U.S.-based Verizon Wireless shocked the industry by announcing that next year it will adopt an "open network" approach that will remove the restrictive walled garden that typifies the incumbent carriers. Instead, its customers will be permitted to use any device and any application that meets minimum technical standards. The Verizon decision comes just weeks after Google introduced a partnership with leading U.S. carriers such as Sprint and T-Mobile to create the Open Handset Alliance, which will similarly enable consumers to use devices that are fully open to new innovation and third-party programs.
This rush toward an open cellphone market stands in sharp contrast to years of restricted networks that left decisions about new devices and functionality strictly in the hands of a few dominant cellphone providers.
Cellphone Spectrum Set-Aside Simply Step One
Appeared in the Toronto Star on December 3, 2007 as Cellphone Spectrum Auction Only First Step Following months of intense telecom lobbying, Industry Minister Jim Prentice took to the podium last week at a Toronto hotel and unveiled the government's policy on the forthcoming spectrum auction. Dismissing misleading claims of […]
The Canadian DMCA: What You Can Do
With the Canadian version of the DMCA likely to be introduced within the next two weeks, there has a remarkable outpouring of interest from individual Canadians about what they can do to have their concerns heard. The unfortunate reality is that there is nothing can be done about what the bill will look like when it is introduced – Industry Minister Jim Prentice has simply decided discard consumer, education, research, and privacy interests, ignore his own party's policy platform, and the cave into U.S. pressure. Once the bill is introduced, however, Canadians can send a message to their MPs, the Ministers, and others, calling for a fair copyright bill that addresses Canadian concerns (those in Calgary can do so in person on December 8th as Prentice hosts an open house).
Many people have pointed to the my 30 Things You Can Do posting. I've decided to update the posting – and create a short YouTube video – to better reflect the current situation. I've also launched a Facebook group called Fair Copyright. The next 60 days are absolutely crucial. If Canadians speak out in large numbers, the government may rethink its current strategy of fast-tracking the Canadian DMCA.
What can you do?
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