The false link between locks and levies

The Bill C-32 legislative committee meets for the first time tomorrow with hearings likely to begin later this week.

Electronic books and the Canadian DMCA

As devices such as the Kindle and iPad become increasingly popular, more and more people will purchase their books electronically with DRM included.

Tony Clement launches national digital economy strategy consultation

Industry Minister Tony Clement has launched a national digital economy strategy consultation.

EU demands Canada completely overhaul its intellectual property laws

The EU is effectively demanding that Canada surrender its sovereignty over intellectual property law and policy.

Fix fair dealing, say library, education, creator, and consumer groups

More than 25 library, education, creator, and consumer groups have issued a public letter calling on Industry Minister Tony Clement and Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore to adopt a flexible fair dealing approach.

Writers' Union of Canada: Flexible fair dealing legalizes theft

The Charlie Angus fair dealing motion has stirred up considerable anger from the Writers' Union of Canada.

Official Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement responses begin to mount

As public outrage over ACTA mounts, there have been a series of official responses to questions posed by legislators or raised through access to information requests.

Liberals, Bloc, and NDP support motion to extend private copying levy

MPs from the Liberals, Bloc, and NDP today all supported a motion at the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage to extend the private copying levy to devices such as iPods.

NDP MP Charlie Angus introduces private copying levy bill, flexible fair dealing motion

NDP MP Charlie Angus has shaken up the copyright reform process today with a pair of proposed measures.

Canada leads U.S. in International Property Rights Index

The specific intellectual property rankings are also notable as they highlight the absurdity of the IIPA's ongoing campaign characterizing Canada as weak on IP.

ACTA confidentiality requirements revisited: Is the U.S. the key barrier?

After watching the Google DC debate on ACTA with its emphasis on the issue of transparency, it is worth revisiting the ACTA document spelling out confidentiality requirements among the negotiating countries.

Charlie Angus calls on Tony Clement to require Net neutrality checks

SaveOurNet.ca points to a letter written by NDP MP Charlie Angus to Industry Minister Tony Clement late last year on net neutrality.

Anti-spam, lawful access to die with Parliament prorogation

Reports this morning indicate that the government plans to prorogue Parliament, effectively shutting it down until March.

Canada and the WIPO treaties: Flexibility was always key

Yesterday I blogged about the origins of the WIPO Internet treaty, challenging Mihály Ficsor's claims that the treaty requires a ban on the distribution and manufacture of circumvention devices.

Ficsor attacks: WIPO treaty architect still fighting lost policy battle

CRIA lobbyist Barry Sookman's blog is home this week to a guest post from Mihály Ficsor, a well-known international copyright author who is the former Assistant Director General of WIPO.

Netherlands lead BitTorrent rankings, but what does that really mean?

TorrentFreak recently published the Top 25 Most Popular Torrent Sites of 2009, which charts the most-trafficked public, English-language sites.

MPAA: ACTA must include Internet provisions

MPAA Chair Dan Glickman appeared before a Congressional committee last week and left little doubt that ACTA is all about the Internet and copyright provisions.

Federal government overturns CRTC, giving Globalive the go-ahead

Industry Minister Tony Clement announced this morning that the Government has overturned the CRTC decision on Globalive, giving the go-ahead for the fourth national wireless carrier to enter the marketplace.

Canada to host ACTA meeting in 2010?

As public discussion and media coverage of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement continues to mount, it is worth considering whether Canada will play host to an ACTA meeting next year.

University of Ottawa adopts commitment to open access

There is some exciting news at the University of Ottawa as it has become the first major Canadian research university to announce a comprehensive open access strategy.

SOCAN's secret copyright submission posted on-line

The government has now completed posting all the submissions it received during the copyright consultation.

Electronic Commerce Protection Act passes House of Commons, moves to Senate

The Electronic Commerce Protection Act, Canada's anti-spam bill (Bill C-27) passed through the House of Commons yesterday as a motion to support sending the bill to the Senate received approval.

isoHunt files new statement of claim against Canadian Recording Industry Association

isoHunt, the Canadian-based Torrent search engine, has filed a follow-up statement of claim against the Canadian Recording Industry Association as it seeks a declaration that it is operating legally in Canada.

Federal government introduces mandatory child porn reporting legislation

Bill C-58 creates a mandatory disclosure requirement on Internet providers where they become aware of child pornography websites or have reason to believe a subscriber is using their service to violate child pornography laws.

Opposition mounts in Europe to three-strikes proposals for Internet access

Multiple reports today indicate that opposition is growing in Europe to plans for three-strikes policies that could lead to the termination of Internet access for some subscribers.

OECD confirms Canada among lowest sources of counterfeiting

The OECD has released new data on its global counterfeiting estimates, concluding that the share of counterfeit and pirated goods in world trade is estimated to have increased from 1.85% in 2000 to 1.95% in 2007.

Why the lack of ACTA transparency is not standard

In the face of widespread criticism of the lack of ACTA transparency, participating governments and music industry lobbyists have claimed that the transparency issue is much ado about nothing.

Auditor general wields Crown copyright to demand takedown

Crown copyright concerns were raised repeatedly during this summer's copyright consultation as many groups expressed the view that government works should be treated as public domain.

Government responds to IP enforcement criticism, proposes changes

One of the longstanding demands from lobby groups seeking reforms to Canada's IP enforcement rules has been changes to the Proceeds of Crime Program.

Liberals call for better Internet and wireless competition, Net neutrality

The Liberals have issued a noteworthy release calling for better competition and service for wireless and Internet services in Canada.

Anti-spam bill passes committee without copyright lobby spyware provision

Bill C-27, the anti-spam bill, passed through the Industry Committee late Monday with the bill largely intact.

Will the Liberals play the role of Opposition on lawful access?

While the Liberal party indicated late in the summer that it would more actively oppose the Conservative government, apparently that may not apply to Bill C-46 and C-47, the lawful access legislation.

Study finds Bill C-61 anti-circumvention provisions unconstitutional

A new academic article published in the Journal of Information Law and Technology by Professor Emir Aly Crowne-Mohammed and Yonatan Rozenszajn, both from the University of Windsor, concludes that the anti-circumvention provisions found in Bill C-61 were unconstitutional.

FCC-commissioned study assesses why Canada lags on broadband

The Federal Communications Commission has just posted a comprehensive study it commissioned on broadband policies around the world.

CFTPA warns against targeting P2P in copyright reform

The Canadian Film and Television Production Association's copyright consultation submission warns against targeting P2P as part of copyright reform.

Access Copyright: Reduce fair dealing, no taping TV shows or format shifting

The Government continues to post copyright consultation submissions (still lots to go one month after the consultation concluded) with many making for interesting reading.

ISP-funded report finds Canadian broadband isn't awful

Consultants Mark Goldberg and Giganomics released a new report this week on the state of Canada's broadband infrastructure.

CRTC calls for expanded copying for private use

The Government is still in the midst of posting copyright consultation submissions.

Yet another global study finds Canada lagging on broadband

Research teams from the Saí¯d Business School at the University of Oxford and the University of Oviedo’s Department of Applied Economics (supported by Cisco) have released a new study on global broadband quality.

Canadian Internet Registration Authority board elections open until September 30

I have been fairly critical of the Canadian Internet Registration Authority in recent months as I sense a discouraging drift away from its mandate of serving the broader public interest.

Why Canada is about to fall further behind the U.S. on tech policy

The U.S. is heading toward greater openness, whether in the network or within government.

U.S. Federal Communications Commission takes stand for Net neutrality

FCC Chair Julius Genachowski is delivering a speech this morning that takes a strong stand for a free and open Internet (the U.S. regulator has also launched OpenInternet.gov as a site to debate the issue).

(New) last day to submit to copyright consultation: More opinions posted

Today is the new last day to submit to the copyright consultation with the grace period expiring at midnight.

Government grants 48-hour extension for copyright submissions

The government has just announced that there is a 48 hour extension on submissions to the copyright consultation.

The missing copyright roundtable transcripts

The copyright consultation is days away from its conclusion and missing content from the consultation website has emerged as a problem.

Bell: Why don't content owners sue our subscribers?

The government has just posted the audio from the Toronto copyright roundtable held in late August.

The Toronto music industry town hall

Tonight the government held its second copyright town hall. Only it wasn't really a copyright townhall in the sense of bringing the community together to talk copyright in an open and balanced manner.

How does Canada's digital music market really stack up?

CRIA's Graham Henderson has posted an op-ed in the Georgia Straight in which he repeats many of his comments from an earlier copyright consultation roundtable.

Athabasca University issues public letter to students on copyright consultation

With three weeks left in the copyright consultation, Athabasca University President Frits Pannekoek has issued an open public letter to all students urging them to speak out in the consultation.

Canadian student groups speak out on copyright

Canada's two major post-secondary student groups have both filed their comments on the copyright consultation.