Straight.com, Vancouver’s Online Source has a featured commentary by The ESA Canada’s Danielle Parr entitled Canada’s video game industry needs copyright law that protects digital locks. Nothing groundbreaking here just the rhetoric and statistical misinformation we have all come to expect from corporate lobby groups trying to scare lawmakers into protecting their flawed and antiquated business models.
“Internet piracy of video-game software in Canada has undergone explosive growth, and we detected a stunning 300 percent increase in the number of games illegally downloaded via Canadian ISPs between 2007 and 2008 (and this reflects but a fraction of the total illegal downloads in Canada detected by the industry as a whole).”
This outrageous statement leads us to ask just how exactly did the Entertainment Software Association of Canada track and detect this “explosive growth” in piracy at the ISP level in Canada? It should be very worrisome to all Canadian consumers that their privacy is being compromised to permit an American lobby group to detect and monitor the flow of illegal downloads passing through Canadian ISPs.
Failing to protect TPMs under the law effectively means that the government is dictating the business model, which is bad news for business and for consumers.
Simply stated protections for TPMs and DRM do not work and they do not benefit consumers or creators in the ways they are intended to. Protecting TPMs only protects distributors and lobby groups at the expense of consumer access and creative innovation. By failing to bend to an American lobby group such as the ESA one can hardly think that the government of Canada can be seen as “dictating” any particular business model. By remaining technologically neutral and not integrating protection for specific technologies or business models into an amended Copyright Act (e.g. all-encompassing prohibition of circumvention devices and technologies) you end up with a flexible law that can adapt to protect the interests of both creators and consumers.
Given the ESA’s mis-aligned approach to copyright reform, the CCER encourages Canadian lawmakers to not ignore the opinions of typical Canadians as evidenced here. It would appear that The ESA is somewhat of a lone wolf in its desires to protect TPM’s as evidenced by the very low percentage of submissions to the Copyright Consultations that call for similar type legislation. One can only hope that these special interest lobby groups don’t continue to insult our intelligence or taint the media any further with their inaccurate, unfounded and most importantly false claims.
The CCER physically mails a copy of every letter submitted via our letter wizard to each of the ministers responsible for copyright reform in Canada
TorrentFreak has posted an article entitled: Prevent Canada from Becoming a Copyright Police State. In this article, Ernesto details how the old guard of corporate interests and lobby groups are threatening to direct copyright legislation in such a way to protect their antiquated and outmoded business models.
Well, TorrentFreak appears to have struck an especially sensitive chord amongst Canadians as the CCER has seen a tremendous boost in its Letter Writing Wizard submissions. Less than 24 hours ago @copyrightcanada tweeted “We’ve received over 1000 formal submissions!” Since this tweet went out CCER has received more than 1300 submissions to the official consultations on copyright via our letter writing wizard, more than doubling the number of submissions to the Government consultations on copyright thus far.
Although it is the middle of summer, and the Government’s Copyright Consultation website has not been well advertised and the Round Tables have been criticized as closed door and imbalanced, the opinions and passion of average Canadians cannot be ignored.
As a consumer of digital media and electronics you stand to be greatly impacted by changes to Canada’s copyright regime. Fortunately, the Government wants to hear from consumers and creators alike so that the interests of all Canadians can be taken into account. Until September 13, 2009 you can participate in the recently launched government consultations on copyright by visiting www.copyrightconsultation.ca and registering for an upcoming townhall meeting, webcast or by making a submission via email.
If we do not voice our concerns en masse we run the risk of having a draconian system of copyright rules imposed upon us. Imagine living in a country where corporations dictate how you consume information and media and utilize technology. Canadians need to speak out against such proposals and push for greater flexibility in the law to provide a balanced, fair approach on digital reforms. To that end, Michael Geist has just launched www.speakoutoncopyright.ca. The site is designed to inform and help foster greater participation by bringing together online discussion (ie. the Twitter #copycon stream), postings, videos, news reports, etc.
The Canadian Coalition for Electronic Rights has also updated its letter wizard allowing you to easily submit your concerns in both official languages directly to the government copyright consultations as well as those minsters responsible for modernizing Canada’s Copyright Act.
En tant que consommateur de médias numériques et électroniques, vous serez directement affectés par les changements du régime de droit d’auteur canadien. Heureusement, le gouvernement désire entendre la voix des consommateurs et des créateurs, afin que les intérêts de tous les canadiens soient pris en compte. Jusqu’au 13 septembre 2009, vous pouvez participer à la consultation publique sur les droits d’auteur que le gouvernement vient de débuter, en visitant le site http://droitdauteur.econsultation.ca. Vous pouvez aller en personne dans les assemblées publiques ou être présent durant les diffusions en simultané sur le web, ou à tout le moins exprimer votre position par un message ou email.
Si nous n’envoyons pas un message clair au gouvernement en exprimant notre opinion, nous risquons de nous faire imposer un système de droits d’auteur draconien: Imaginez vivre dans un pays où les corporations seraient en mesure de dicter comment vous pouvez utiliser vos médias et les technologies qui s’y rattachent…. Les canadiens doivent se lever pour s’opposer à l’approche proposée dans la réforme des droits d’auteurs, et exiger des lois flexibles pour un obtenir un juste équilibre. À cette fin, Michael Geist a fait le lancement du site www.speakoutoncopyright.ca. Ce site ontient une foule de renseignements et encourage les participants à discuter en ligne (par le flux Twitter #copycon), rapporter des nouvelles, écrire des commentaires, poster des videos, etc.
La coalition canadienne pour les droits numérique a aussi mis à jour la lettre que vous pouvez envoyer en français ou en anglais, directement au comité de consultation des droits d’auteurs et aux ministres responsables de la modernisation des droits d’auteurs canadiens.
As promised the Canadian Government has put into place some details for its nationwide consultation on copyright modernization. The official website has been launched, ironically running on open source software, reminding one of the old idiom, actions speak louder than words. Not the most pleasing website ever seen, nor the most technically advanced, lets hope what it lacks in usability is made up for in content and effectiveness.
The website proves to be a decent clearinghouse for its calendar of events, most notably the Round Tables and Town Halls. While criticism is emerging regarding the closed-door, invitation only Round Table sessions, one can only hope the audio and video from these sessions will be released in their entirety to make up for this lack of transparency. Regarding the Town Halls, while Clement had indicated that the consultations would be coming to ‘a pasture near you’ turns out that unless your pasture backs onto Toronto or Montreal, the Town Hall will not be so near you and your only option will be an email submission or webcast participation.
Although the Conservative Government is to be commended for seemingly making an effort to consult on copyright, a number of concerns remain. For instance reports that the government intends on fast-tracking this legislation is very worrisome. There is word that the Government is looking to get a copyright reform bill signed into law before Christmas. Seeing as parliament will not be sitting again until Sept. 14, 2009 this bill would need to successfully navigate multiple readings and committee hearings in both the house and senate prior to being given royal ascent all in less than 3 months, whereas most legislation takes an absolute minimum of 6-8 months.
So the time is nigh to mobilize the troops. Be sure to post your responses/comments to the topics, register for the Town Halls (Toronto, Montreal) either the webcast or actually attending and submit your formal submission here. Time will tell if Clement and Moore are truly committed to doing things differently, however, if we all speak out we cannot be ignored.
Ubisoft is set to receive a government grant to the tune of $263 million to set up a new game design studio in Toronto. Touted by the Ontario Government as a shift toward more high tech type jobs and projected to add as much as 800 jobs over the next 10 years, however, a number of questions linger. Ubisoft reported a profit last year of $111.5 million, but the Ontario Government feels it can justify sinking $263 million into this company?
We invite you to draw your own conclusions from the above but do not ignore the fact the Ubisoft is committed to substantial investment and operations in Canada. This then leads to our next question; if Canadian IP laws are really as lax as the ESA, CRIA, CMPDA and IIPA claim them to be, why would one of the largest and most respected games studios in the world want to expand operations and continue investmenting in Canada? After all, the International Intellectual Property Alliance claims:
Canada, virtually alone among developed economies in the OECD, remains almost entirely out of compliance with the global minimum world standards embodied in the Treaties…To underscore U.S. insistence that Canada finally take action to address the serious piracy problem it has allowed to develop just across our border, and that it bring its outmoded laws up to contemporary international standards, IIPA recommends that Canada be elevated to the Priority Watch List in 2009.
So does Ubisoft just have a backwards business model? Would a prominent, well regarded and growing video game developer really expand in a country where apparently piracy is the “scourge” causing “considerable economic and competitive damage to Canada’s manufacturing and services sectors and to Canada’s international reputation by the proliferation of counterfeiting and piracy of intellectual property.” Someone is clearly feeding the Canadian public and politicians false information. I would hedge my bets on Ubisoft having this one right and the lobbyists, special interest groups and lawsuit happy IP lawyers continuing to lack real world examples to back their outrageous blame Canada claims.
Over a year ago, following the introduction of Bill C-61 we posted two videos to YouTube relating to Canadian copyright reform. These videos originally aired on the Business News Network formerly Report on Business TV. One video featured Canadian copyright scholar/expert Howard Knopf squaring off against Stevan Mitchell of the Entertainment Software Association (Howard Knopf Coming To The Defense Of Canadian Consumers – YouTube).
The second video featured professor Jeremy de Beer sparring with CRIA lobbyist, Barry Sookman over the implications of Bill C-61 (Jeremy de Beer & Barry Sookman On Bill C-61 – YouTube). On June 22, 2009 YouTube notified us that these videos had been removed citing a copyright complaint from The Business News Network. One of the notifications from YouTube:
We have received copyright complaint(s) regarding material you posted, as follows:
* from Business News Network about Howard Knopf Coming To The Defense Of Canadian Consumers
Video ID: YFFdSJ1R9ZE
Just a few days prior to our videos being pulled Jesse Hirsh tweeted that YouTube had just pulled one of his videos. A BNN clip which had Jesse taking on a CRIA representative (Jesse Hirsh on RoBTV Regarding BitTorrent – YouTube). What was happening? Was BNN demanding every clip posted on YouTube be taken down or were they targeting clips relating to Canadian copyright reform only? A quick search of YouTube would indicate the latter.
It has been one week since the takedown of three important clips relating to Canadian copyright reform and YouTube still has dozens of live BNN & ROBTV videos (here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here).
Given the above evidence one can only assume that The Business News Network’s intended goal is to silence the debate surrounding Canadian copyright reform by suppressing the rebroadcast of clips which may be unfavourable for industry lobby groups. This also leads one to ask if BNN is acting at the request of a third party or at its own discretion. Since it is not evident that BNN is removing ALL of their content from YouTube and since we believe the clips we posted are part of a very important discussion we have reposted the videos:
UPDATE: Rose Noonan of the Business News Network has provided CCER with clear evidence that BNN is indeed targeting all YouTube content and not just that relating to the Canadian copyright debate. While this is a reassuring development it is at the same time troubling that in a time when many broadcasters are forging partnerships with YouTube BNN has chosen the forced removal of content.
It’s a good thing that Industry Minister Clement and Heritage Minister Moore have emerged as ministers who appear to be understanding of the opportunity offered by copyright reform. Both ministers concluded that they are determined to craft laws and polices and that look ahead rather than behind. It seems there is a role reversal underway in Ottawa as the Liberal Party has now concluded the following:
In relation to a recommendation on copy rights and antipiracy of intellectual property, the Liberal Party of Canada supports the recommendation as follows:
“That the Government of Canada immediately introduce legislation to amend the Copyright Act, ratify the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty (WCT) and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT), amend related acts and ensure appropriate enforcement resources are allocated to combat the scourge and considerable economic and competitive damage to Canada’s manufacturing and services sectors and to Canada’s international reputation by the proliferation of counterfeiting and piracy of intellectual property.”
Now we may know why the Liberal Party was so quiet on Bill C-61, given the above rhetoric, perhaps C-61 was not ’strong’ enough for their liking. The Liberal Party appears to be mired in the Dion-era, a splintered party that will try any policy direction in a desperate attempt to gain support. As long as Clement and Moore don’t turncoat on their latest indications for policy direction, the Liberals wont get the chance to make lasting copyright decisions anyway.
Industry Minister Tony Clement hosted Canada’s Digital Economy Conference today which brought together 150 of the country’s most notable corporate leaders. Although the demographics of the invited group failed to even remotely represent that of Canada (only 1 of the 18 speakers was female) the event appears to have achieved its primary goal which was to lay the groundwork for a national digital strategy.
Clement vowed to move forward with several aspects of a digital strategy including privacy legislation, improved broadband availability and most importantly copyright reform. In his closing remarks Clement commented that much has changed since the introduction of Bill C-61.
When we look at where we were with Bill C-61 for instance on copyright just about a year ago or more than that and where we are now. I think it at least a somewhat different environment, public policy environment, in just the space of a year.
Most notably the Minister of Industry confirmed that he and the Minister of Canadian Heritage, James Moore will be dedicating at least part of their summer to consulting Canadians on copyright reform. The duo will be traveling to “a city, town, village and pasture near you”. In addition one can only hope that Clement and Moore will also consider using conduits such as Facebook and Twitter to consult all Canadians on copyright reform and how it stands to impact them as consumers and creators.
Clement has certainly talked the talk, it remains to be seen whether he will walk that walk on this one. There is little doubt some sort of iteration of Bill C-61 will be presented by the Conservatives this Fall, will they learn from the mistakes of the prior Bills and will there be fair and open consultations accessible to every Canadian?
You can now follow the Canadian Coalition for Electronic Rights on Twitter. We intend on using Twitter to update Canadians on the latest developments relating to Copyright reform and its impact on your rights as a creator/consumer.
In an move to preserve any shred of credibility it may still have the Conference Board of Canada has decided to recall its Intellectual Property Rights in the Digital Economy report which blatantly copied language from the International Intellectual Property Alliance (software, movie and music lobby in the US).
Conference Board of Canada Statement
The Conference Board of Canada has recalled three reports: Intellectual Property Rights in the Digital Economy; National Innovation Performance and Intellectual Property Rights: A Comparative Analysis; and Intellectual Property Rights–Creating Value and Stimulating Investment. An internal review has determined that these reports did not follow the high quality research standards of The Conference Board of Canada.
