More and more, graduated response systems are being debated and put forward as legitimate solutions to online file sharing. In a recent article, “Graduated Response and the Turn to Private Ordering in Online Copyright Enforcement“, Professor Annmarie Bridy of the University of Idaho College of Law explains why “voluntary graduated response, as publicly controversial as it is, is squarely on the table as corporate rights owners and broadband providers discuss their respective roles in the future of online copyright enforcement.” The article explains, “in the context of evolving network management technology and its impact on intermediary liability rules, why the time may be ripe for broadband providers and corporate rights owners to renegotiate their respective roles in the project of online copyright enforcement.”
Posts Tagged ‘Graduated Response’
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.
The fallout from iiNet: markets and laws failing in face of net piracy
February 8th, 2010Last week the Federal Court of Australia released its important decision in the iiNet case. As many commentators have pointed out, the court declined to require Australia’s ISPs to disconnect those of its subscribers who are repeat copyright infringers.
In the course of reaching this decision, the court made a number of important rulings about the liability arising from the use of BitTorrent networks including the following:
- Seeders and peers that make music available for sharing are infringers under Australia’s making available right.
- The transmission of copyright files as part of a BitTorrent swarm constitutes a transmission (communication) to the public by participants in the stream and is infringing.
Debating graduated response at the Center for Democracy and Technology
February 5th, 2010The US Center for Democracy and Technology recently hosted a debate about the pros and cons of graduated responses systems. The debate can be seen below.
As Canada considers its options for copyright reform, we should be focusing not on whether we should implement graduated response, but on how we ought to do it.
France, the UK, and New Zealand have shown the way. Representatives from Belgium and now Turkey have also expressed support for implementing such a regime. Yesterday’s iiNet decision in Australia shows that self-regulatory approaches may not work out as expected. And, economists like Professor Bomsel tell us that graduated response is the best way to internalize the externalities associated with copyright infringement to address online file sharing that is hurting creators and the creative industries.
A reply to ACTA critics
February 2nd, 2010Last week was another busy week for developments in ACTA. There were meetings in Mexico by representatives from Canada and its key trading partners to further flesh out how to address the worldwide problems with counterfeiting and piracy. Meanwhile, anti-copyright critics were busy filling the blogosphere and press attacking the proposed treaty.
Of course, the actual text of the treaty is not know by the public. So commentators have relied on their interpretations of leaked documents to try and derail it.
When the criticisms are examined, it will be readily apparent that certain ACTA critics misapprehend what has been disclosed and make assertions or reach conclusions that cannot be justified based on the leaked documents.
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.
ITIF Report: Strategies for Reducing Digital Piracy
January 1st, 2010Earlier this month, The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF) published a paper called Steal These Policies: Strategies for Reducing Digital Piracy. The aim of the paper is to advance a policy in which illegal sources of digital content is reduced while legal content becomes more accessible. The executive summary provides the following overview of the problem as follows:
Getting the straight goods on ACTA, check your sources
November 28th, 2009There has been a lot written about what ACTA might finally look like. A good deal of it is intended to tarnish ACTA based on misleading interpretions of what is currently known. I discussed this in a recent post, Fear Mongering and Misinformation Used to Slag ACTA.
Another recent blog posting, Talking About Nerd Stuff: RE: Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, reviewed some of the anti-ACTA hype and came to the correct conclusion that simply relying on secondary and tertiary summaries of ACTA would give people a mistaken view about what is really known about the treaty. According to the blog:
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.
Fear Mongering and Misinformation Used to Slag ACTA
November 18th, 2009Last week saw a lot of digital ink spilled over speculation about what the Internet Chapter of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is going to contain. Some opponents of ACTA including Prof. Geist helped to leak the contents of a two page confidential memorandum that contained a written account of an oral report on what was still being negotiated.[i]
Based on this two page preliminary document, ACTA opponents began a frenzied propaganda campaign against ACTA. Prof. Geist led the feverish attack writing articles, blogs, tweets, giving a speech in Washington, and press and radio interviews.[ii]
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