A UK judged ruled on Friday that the 23 year operator of the TVShack.net linking website could be extradited to the US to face a trial for alleged criminal copyright infringement. In rendering the decision the UK court made some important findings about the scope of UK copyright law. They included the ruling that organizing and providing hyperlinks to infringing content from a linking website can infringe the making available right.
Archive for the ‘Piracy’ category
Do linking sites infringe copyright?
January 18th, 2012Canada is market for TPM trafficking and bittorrent indexing sites says USTR report
December 23rd, 2011The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) issued a Special 301 Out-of-Cycle Review of Notorious Markets. In the review, the USTR identified markets that typify the problem of marketplaces that deal in goods and services that infringe on intellectual property rights and help to sustain global piracy and counterfeiting. Canada was listed in several of these markets.
According to the USTR “The scale and popularity of these markets can cause economic harm to U.S. and other IP right holders. In addition, products sold at these markets may pose possible health and safety risks to consumers.”
Copyright Bill C-11 gets second reading in the House of Commons
October 19th, 2011Yesterday Bill C-11 was given second reading in the House of Commons. The statements by the Government and opposition parties can be found here.
For the record, Industry Minister Christian Paradis said the following in speaking about the Bill in the House:
Mr. Speaker, as you know, this is the second time that the government has introduced this bill. During the previous Parliament and for almost a year, the Copyright Modernization Act—then known as Bill C-32—was carefully examined and debated by parliamentarians and stakeholders.
Belgium ISPs ordered to block The Pirate Bay
October 11th, 2011On September 26, 2011, the Antwerp Court of Appeal ordered two Belgium ISPs to block The Pirate Bay. The ISPs, Telenet and Belgacom, were ordered to implement DNS blocking on 11 domains to do this.
The legal basis for the order was Article art. 87, §1, al.2 of the Belgian Copyright Act. This provision transposes Article 8(3) of the EU InfoSoc Directive 2001/29/CE. This Article provides that
“Member States shall ensure that rightholders are in a position to apply for an injunction against intermediaries whose services are used by a third party to infringe a copyright or related right.”
Some observations on Bill C-11: The Copyright Modernization Act
October 3rd, 2011Last Thursday the Government of Canada introduced into the House of Commons Bill C-11, an Act to Amend the Copyright Act. In a press release describing the Bill, Heritage Minister James Moore and Industry Minister Christian Paradis, stated that the Bill will ensure that Canada’s copyright laws “are modern, flexible, and in line with current international standards” and will “protect and help create jobs, promote innovation, and attract new investment to Canada.”
Canada signs ACTA
September 30th, 2011Earlier today, Ed Fast, the Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway, signed the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. The press release announcing the signing stated the following:
“Counterfeit and pirated goods are an increasingly global problem that requires a globally coordinated solution,” said Minister Fast. “We all have an interest in combatting counterfeiting and piracy because these activities cost billions of dollars each year in revenue and trade losses, which translates into higher prices, lost income and lost jobs for people employed in a range of industries—from film and pharmaceuticals to electronics. Counterfeit goods also pose a real threat to the health and safety of people because the producers of goods such as drugs and auto parts evade the rigorous rules, standards and guidelines that are in place to protect consumers.”
Copyright and privacy bills to be introduced in House of Commons
September 27th, 2011The Government will likely introduce new Bills to amend the Copyright Act and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) within the next few days. The Parliament of Canada Notice Paper for Wednesday September 28, 2011 provides notice that the Minister of Industry and Minister of State (Agriculture) will introduce a Bill entitled “An Act to Amend the Copyright Act” and a Bill entitled “An Act to Amend the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act”. The actual notices are dated September 27, 2011, which means that the Bills could be introduced as early as this Thursday.
Signing Ceremony for the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) this Weekend
September 27th, 2011The Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a press release announcing that ACTA will be signed this weekend. Here is the text from the press release.
- On Saturday, October 1, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan will hold the signing ceremony for the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) at Iikura Guest House, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- The Agreement was inspired in significant part by Japan’s proposal at the G8 Gleneagles Summit in 2005 to create a new international framework against counterfeit and pirated products, in the context of the heightened awareness of the need for a higher degree of intellectual property protection. Its negotiation has been led by a strong initiative of Japan, the United States and other key partners.
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