The Songwriters Association of Canada has released an important new proposal calling for the legalization of peer-to-peer file sharing. The SAC has proposed the creation of a new right – the Right to Equitable Remuneration for Music File Sharing. The new right would make it legal to share music on […]
Fair Dealing by Giulia Forsythe (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) https://flic.kr/p/dRkXwP
Copyright
Ontario Chamber of Commerce Floats Counterfeit Numbers
The Ontario Chamber of Commerce is out today with a new report on intellectual property which recycles many of the demands of the copyright lobby – WIPO ratification, tougher penalties, and a handful of task forces. What makes the report unique, however, is its claims about the size and scope of the counterfeiting issue in Canada. The report includes the RCMP's discredited $30 billion claim and even though the RCMP has backed away from it, the report states that it is a "widely accepted" estimate.
The Chamber's press release trumpets $22.5 billion in counterfeiting losses for Canada of which it says $9 billion comes from Ontario. How did it arrive at this figure?
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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