UK Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt wants action to protect and encourage investment in intellectual property. In a Speech given to the Royal Television Society on September 14, 2011 he signaled that the UK was exploring all options available to do so. This includes making it more difficult for online sites that contribute to piracy to stay online and making search engines take reasonable steps to make it harder to access sites that a court has deemed contain unlawful content or promote unlawful distribution of content.
Archive for the ‘Digital Britain’ category
UK Culture Secretary calls for boldness in dealing with online piracy
September 15th, 2011UK to get even tougher with IP crime
August 4th, 2011Yesterday, the UK Government released a number of proposals to modernise the UK’s intellectual property laws. One of the reports is dedicated to outlining The UK IP Crime Strategy. The rational for the strategy is clear: counterfeiting and piracy are of concern both as a barrier to growth and because of the wider ills to which they have been linked, which include dangerous goods, online fraud and serious organised crime.
Reflections on the liberal roundtable on the digital economy
February 17th, 2010Last week, Liberal Industry critic Marc Garneau and Heritage critic Pablo Rodriguez hosted a roundtable on the digital economy in Ottawa. There were two panels. One was on our modern digital infrastructure. The other one was on copyright, broadcasting and the Internet. I participated in the copyright roundtable along with representatives from the ESAC, ACTRA, Rogers and Prof. Geist.
I commend Messrs. Garneau and Rodriguez for organizing this event. Developing a strategy for Canada’s digital future is a critical component of ensuring prosperity and opportunities for all Canadians.
Where is Canada’s plan for the digital age?
February 5th, 2010Earlier this week, MP Marc Garneau published an op-ed in the National Post asking “Where is Canada’s plan for the digital age?” A good question.
He pointed out that “a renewed vision is required for a digital economy”, that the “digital economy will be a defining part of our economy”, that technology “is changing our world” and that we must “evolve if we hope to prosper”.
Mr. Garneau is clearly right. Technology is changing our world and we either have to adapt or suffer the consequences. Just look at the changes the Internet, search engines, smart phones, iPods, and the myriad other innovative technologies have brought to every segment of our lives.
The costs and benefits of graduated response in copyright enforcement
February 1st, 2010There recently has been a debate over the economic costs and benefits behind graduated response systems aimed at reducing online file sharing. Professor Geist, for example, recently posted a blog estimating the costs of a graduated response system. I believe the topic of the costs and benefits of graduated response mechanisms is an important one. Let us take a closer look at this topic and the assertion that graduated response cannot be justified because of its costs.
Challenges for Digital Britain: broadband access, copyright and business models
January 25th, 2010Last week, the UK Minister for Digital Britain, Stephen Timms, gave a speech outlining the main challenges ahead for the government in moving forward with its Digital Britain initiative. He focused on three challenges, broadband; copyright; and new business models.
With respect to broadband, he outlined that the government had two major broadband projects: a commitment that every home in the country should be able to obtain a 2 Mbit/s broadband service – and so be able to use the applications which most people are using broadband for today; and a next-generation fund to support national scale investment in much higher speed services.
Graduated response and copyright: an idea that is right for the times
January 20th, 2010This is a copy of an article published in The Lawyers Weekly (January 2010) by Barry Sookman and Dan Glover.
In mid-2009, the Canadian government launched a nationwide consultation meant to canvass what amendments to the Copyright Act are necessary to support Canada’s participation in the global, digital economy, and to foster innovation, creativity, competition and investment.
There is no doubt that our copyright laws need amending. Amendments are required on a number of fronts. New exceptions are required to meet legitimate user expectations to access and use copyright content without infringement. Amendments are also needed to reduce online piracy and to support making licensed services available to the public.
UK launches consultations on copyright exceptions
December 13th, 2009The UK continues to move forward to modernize its copyright legislation. Fresh from tabling its Digital Economy Bill to address online file sharing, the government now plans to tackle the need for expanded copyright exceptions. It has done so with specific proposals for reform in its consultation document, Taking forward the Gowers Review of IP: Second stage consultation on Copyright Exceptions.
The UK consultation proposal is very relevant for Canadians given the consultation and reform process we are engaged in. We could learn much from the UK process. Here are some thoughts.
Process considerations
Graduated Response Mapped out in UK Digital Economy Bill
November 22nd, 2009The UK government continues to speed ahead with modernizing its copyright legislation to bring the UK into the 21st century. The latest development is the introduction the UK Digital Economy Bill.
Earlier this month the government published © the way ahead: A Copyright Strategy for the Digital Age. The report focused on the need to keep copyright consistent with public expectations and explored the desirability of making access to and use of works easier for consumers. It also recommended making orphan works easier to access and suggested extended collective licensing as a means of facilitating making works available to the public.
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