Cooperation in the Pacific Rim by Jakob Polacsek, World Economic Forum (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) https://www.flickr.com/photos/worldeconomicforum/48179628441

Digital Trade

Beyond SOPA: ACTA, WIPO, and the Global Copyfight

Last week, I delivered a keynote address on copyright issues at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg. The talk focused on the activism around SOPA and assessed the global strategies employed by the U.S. and copyright lobby groups of shifting away from WIPO toward closed negotiations such as the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.

February 3, 2012 — 12 comments — Conferences, News, Video

“Why I Signed ACTA”

Slovenia’s Ambassador to Japan offers a full explanation for why she signed ACTA: I signed ACTA out of civic carelessness, because I did not pay enough attention. Quite simply, I did not clearly connect the agreement I had been instructed to sign with the agreement that, according to my own […]

February 3, 2012 — 1 comment — News

MEP Says ACTA Goes Too Far

The Guardian features an exclusive interview with Kader Arif, the lead ACTA negotiator in the European Parliament who quit his position over objections that review process is a charade.

February 2, 2012 — Comments are Disabled — News

European Opposition to ACTA Continues to Mount

European opposition to ACTA continues to mount with Poland’s culture minister admitting that it may not be approved by the Polish parliament and the Slovenian ambassador to Japan apologizing for signing ACTA last week.

February 1, 2012 — 1 comment — News

Ten Key Questions and Answers About Bill C-11, SOPA, ACTA, and the TPP

In recent days there has been massive new interest in Canadian copyright reform as thousands of people write to their MPs to express concern about the prospect of adding SOPA-style rules to Bill C-11 (there are even plans for public protests beginning to emerge). The interest has resulted in some completely unacceptable threats and confusion – some claiming that the Canadian bill will be passed within 14 days (not true) and others stating that proposed SOPA-style changes are nothing more than technical changes to the bill (also not true). Even the mainstream media is getting into the mix, with the Financial Post’s Terrance Corcoran offering his “expert” legal opinion that CRIA’s lawyers are likely to lose their lawsuit against isoHunt.

Given the importance of Canadians speaking out accurately on Bill C-11, ACTA, and the TPP, I’ve posted ten key questions and answers to sort through the claims. The first eight questions address the links between Bill C-11 and SOPA as well as proposed changes to the current copyright law. The final two question focus on ACTA and the TPP.

January 31, 2012 — 20 comments — News