There is little doubt that Industry Minister Jim Prentice's determination to introduce a Canadian DMCA over the objection of business, consumer, and education groups is driven, at least in part, by pressure from the United States. The U.S. argues that Canada must follow its DMCA model in order to implement the WIPO Internet treaties. Interestingly, according to documents I recently obtained under the Access to Information Act, the U.S. Copyright Office privately criticized the Canadian government in 2005 over Bill C-60, claiming it did not meet the U.S. standard. Canadian officials within the Department of Canadian Heritage proposed the following response to criticisms that the legislation did not cover devices that can be used to circumvent TPMs and preserved fair dealing:

Fair Dealing by Giulia Forsythe (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) https://flic.kr/p/dRkXwP
Copyright
What Prentice Could Say to the U.S.
Prentice’s DMCA Deception
With only two weeks left in the House of Commons calendar until the summer recess (technically the House could sit for an additional two weeks but few expect that to happen), Industry Minister Jim Prentice is likely to introduce his new copyright bill next week or during the first week […]
Prentice’s DMCA Deception
With only two weeks left in the House of Commons calendar until the summer recess (technically the House could sit for an additional two weeks but few expect that to happen), Industry Minister Jim Prentice is likely to introduce his new copyright bill next week or during the first week […]
Lessig on the U.S. Orphan Works Bill
The NY Times features an op-ed by Lawrence Lessig that criticizes the current orphan works bill in the U.S., advocating instead for a registration system after 14 years of initial protection.
Copyfight at the Library of Parliament Committee
It looks like Industry Minister Jim Prentice has yet another group that will be unhappy with his forthcoming copyright bill – the Library of Parliament. Macleans Kady O'Malley live-blogged a committee hearing today (short summary here) during which a fight over copyright broke out. The Library called for a special […]