Archive for the ‘TPMs’ category

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Canada is market for TPM trafficking and bittorrent indexing sites says USTR report

December 23rd, 2011

The 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.”

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Posted in C-11, Copyright, DRMs, Piracy, TPMs, c-32, copyright reform

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Copyright Bill C-11 gets second reading in the House of Commons

October 19th, 2011

Yesterday 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.

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Posted in C-11, Copyright, Piracy, TPMs, WIPO Treaties, copyright reform

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Some observations on Bill C-11: The Copyright Modernization Act

October 3rd, 2011

Last 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.”

This is a preview of Some observations on Bill C-11: The Copyright Modernization Act. Read full post.

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Posted in Copyright, Fair Dealing, Fair Use, Graduated Response, ISP Liability, ISP exceptions, Piracy, TPMs, Three Strikes, WIPO Treaties, c-32, copyright reform, fair dealing for education, geist, p2p piracy, statutory damages, wct, wppt

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Canada signs ACTA

September 30th, 2011

Earlier 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.”

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Posted in ACTA, Copyright, Counterfeiting, ISP Liability, Piracy, TPMs, p2p piracy

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Signing Ceremony for the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) this Weekend

September 27th, 2011

The 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.

  1. 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.
  2. 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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Posted in ACTA, Piracy, TPMs

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C-32 and the BlackBerry PlayBook: A reply to Michael Geist

April 25th, 2011

Michael Geist’s recent blog post “The PlayBook Tax: Why the Conservative’s Copyright Plans Create a Hidden Cost for RIM’s PlayBook” makes the claim that “the Conservative plan for copyright reform (as found in Bill C-32) establishes a significant barrier that could force many consumers to pay hundreds in additional costs in order to switch their content from existing devices” to RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook. He calls this a “PlayBook tax” and claims switching costs apply to “any digital content with a digital lock”.

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Posted in Copyright, DRMs, Libraries, TPMs, c-32, copyright reform, geist

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The Liberal Digital Canada Plan and Copyright

April 11th, 2011

Earlier today, Marc Garneau and guest commentators Michael Geist and Steve Anderson had a live online chat about the Liberal Digital Canada Plan.  A transcription of the chat is available here.

The Liberal Digital Plan says the following about copyright:

Fair balance Between Creators and Consumers.

Digital technology offers many new opportunities, but enjoying content without compensating its creators shouldn’t be among them. At the same time, consumers should have freedom for personal use of digital content they rightfully possess. Liberals have worked to pass effective copyright legislation, including a private copying compensation fund instead of any new tax on consumers.

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Posted in ACTA, Copyright, Fair Dealing, TPMs, berne three step test, c-32, copyright reform, notice and notice

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Teachings from the Blizzard WoW case

December 20th, 2010

Last week the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals released its decision in the MDY INDUSTRIES, LLC v BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT, INC case.

The case involved Blizzard, the creator of World of Warcraft (“WoW”), a popular multiplayer online role-playing game in which players interact in a virtual world while advancing through the game’s 70 levels. MDY developed and sold Glider, a software program that automatically plays the early levels of WoW for players. MDY had brought an action for a declaratory judgment to establish that its Glider sales did not infringe Blizzard’s copyright or other rights. Blizzard asserted counterclaims for copyright infringement, violation of the DMCA’s TPM provisions, and tortious interference with contract. The district court found MDY liable for secondary copyright infringement, violations of the DMCA and tortious interference with contract. The Ninth Circuit reversed the district court except as to MDY’s liability for violation of the DMCA and remanded for trial on Blizzard’s claim for tortious interference with contract.

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Posted in Copyright, TPMs, copyright reform

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Key issues on the legal protection for TPMs under Bill C-32

December 8th, 2010

There has been considerable debate about the appropriate scope for legal protection of TPMs under Bill C-32. I dealt with this issue in a speech I gave today at the  Insight Conference:  RIGHTS and COPYRIGHT, Bringing Canada into the 21st Century.

The questions I discussed were the following:

  • Does Bill C-32 properly implement the WIPO Treaties consistent with approaches used by Canada’s trading partners?
  • Does Bill C-32 permit circumvention of TPMs to permit copying for fair dealing, educational and other purposes?
  • Does Bill C-32 have a flexible framework to permit new exceptions to be made by regulation?
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Posted in Copyright, Piracy, TPMs, WIPO Treaties, berne three step test, c-32, copyright reform, p2p piracy, wct, wppt

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Separating copyright fiction from facts about C-32’s TPM provisions

November 24th, 2010

Earlier this week Prof. Geist wrote an opinion piece in the Toronto Star in which he purported to separate “copyright facts from fiction”. His opinion piece, Separating copyright facts from fiction, followed by another blog post this week, The False Link Between Locks and Levies, are two in a series of blog posts and opinion pieces written by him recently that purport to expose as inaccurate statements made about Bill C-32 by various individuals and organizations. See: Responding to ACTRA: Group Calls C-32 a “Disaster” and Proposes Six Part Fix; Copyright Fear Mongering Hits a New High: Writers Groups Post Their C-32 Brief; In Search of A Compromise on Copyright; EU: ACTA Digital Lock Rules Don’t Cover Access Controls.

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Posted in ACTA, Copyright, TPMs, WIPO Treaties, c-32, copyright reform, wct, wppt

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