Copyright Reform

Election nixes copyright bill

Greg Meckbach — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 15:27:00 GMT

IT World Canada published a story on Bill C-61, asking politicians and legal experts to speculate on the fate of the copyright reform bill. Blogger Michael Geist thinks copyright will be high on the agenda of a new government, though legislation is unlikely to be tabled right away. Find out why some readers signed our petition asking the federal government to change the proposed copyright law amendment.

Election nixes copyright bill

Greg Meckbach — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 14:36:00 GMT

IT World Canada published a story on Bill C-61, asking politicians and legal experts to speculate on the fate of the copyright reform bill.

Blogger Michael Geist thinks copyright will be high on the agenda of a new government, though legislation is unlikely to be tabled right away.

Find out why some readers signed our petition asking the federal government to change the proposed copyright law amendment.

How does Bill C-61 address fair dealing

Greg Meckbach — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:30:00 GMT

A recent article published by the Geneva-based BP Council examines Bill C-61 and its possible effect on universities.

The main issue cited by the article is the concept of fair dealing, whereby users make a single copy of copyrighted works for the purpose of studying.

It raises the question of whether Bill C-61, if implemented into law, would put an unfair burden on educational institutions using electronic copies of copyrighted works not for illegal resale, but for the purpose of education.

Copyright law south of the border

Greg Meckbach — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 19:25:00 GMT

Barack Obama’s announcement he has chosen Senator Joe Biden as his running mate has spawned a flurry of activity in the tech media, due to Biden’s support of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

News.com published a story summarizing Biden’s previous support of aggressive anti-piracy legislation in the U.S.

In July, 2002, for example, he wrote a letter to the Attorney General asking him to prosecute individuals and organizations who use peer to peer networks to facilitate “mass piracy.”

A wiki on Bill C-61

Greg Meckbach — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:24:00 GMT

The Fair Copyright for Canada Montreal chapter has a good wiki on Bill C-61, the Act to Amend the Copyright Act.

This caters mainly to the consumer but includes a comprehensive summary of what you can and cannot do when copying photos, books, journals and music.

The section on digital locks provides clear direction on what the bill, if passed into law, would prohibit.

New Zealand’s approach to copyright

Greg Meckbach — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 14:24:00 GMT

In his blog 61 Reforms to C-61, Michael Geist cites the example of New Zealand, which gives special rights to “trusted third parties” authorized to circumvent technical protection measures on copyrighted works.

Geist, a law professor at the University of Ottawa who runs the Fair Copyright for Canada group on Facebook, has made a total of 39 reforms as of Wed. Aug. 13.

On Day 36 of his blog, Geist notes there is no identification of “authorized circumventers,” whereas New Zealand has included librarians and archivists.

Liberal pol wants further study of Bill C-61

Greg Meckbach — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 14:23:00 GMT

Marlene Jennings is concerned about the restrictions in Bill C-61, the Act to Amend the Copyright Act, tabled by the federal government last June, on the circumvention of technical protection measures.

Jennings is the House of Commons deputy opposition leader, a former member of the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology and Liberal Member of Parliament for the Montreal riding of Notre-Dame-de-Grace—Lachine.

In a letter posted on the Facebook group Fair Copyright for Canada, she expressed her hope Bill C-61 would be amended before it’s passed into law.

“Anti-circumvention measures and penalties must be linked to the efforts of those who violate copyright for commercial purposes, and not just the technology itself ..” Jennings wrote.

“Even the few exceptions to anti-circumvention measures in the bill are deceptive since the software programs needed to pick the digital lock in order to protect privacy or engage in research are prohibited. This is a part of the bill I hope will be amended when the bill gets to committee so that only deliberate infringement of commercial copyright is punished, not the possession of the technology to do so.”

She described the bill as a “highly technical piece of legislation” and hopes it will be sent to committee for further study, prior to second reading.

“Should the government decide not to do so, I believe that significant amendments will still be possible in committee after second reading. It will not, in my view, hinder a wide consultation by the Committee.”

Liberal politician campaigns against Bill C-61

Greg Meckbach — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:22:00 GMT

Hedy Fry, a Liberal Member of Parliament, recently took part in a round table discussion on Bill C-61.

Fry, who represents the riding of Vancouver Centre in the House of Commons, warned Bill C-61 “has many unintended consequences.”

As a member of the House of Commons’ Canadian Heritage Committee, Fry was one of the politicians leading the charge to have a copyright bill in the first place.

At a meeting of the committee Feb. 14, Fry said: “When you write a play or a song and someone picks it up on an iPod or on whatever and there’s piracy going on and all of those things, that is really harming the creator, the artist. Therefore, I think we need to be at that table. We need to inject this perspective into any discussion on any copyright legislation.”

The Liberals have been publicly chastising the minority conservative government without actually defeating them (lest they end up winning a majority of seats in a subsequent election), so you have to take her comments with a grain of salt. As reported earlier in ComputerWorld Canada, Fry’s Liberal colleague Dan McTeague was also pushing for the legislation (albeit not necessarily in its current form).

It will be interesting to see what amendments the Liberals propose to Bill C-61 when it comes up for Second Reading.

Don’t criminalize security research! Change Bill C-61

Greg Meckbach — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 14:20:00 GMT

Industry Minister Jim Prentice tabled Bill C-61, an Act to Amend the Copyright Act, in June.

If passed into law, Bill C-61 would make it illegal to circumvent or bypass technologies that control access to material protected by copyright. It would also make it illegal to provide, market or import tools designed to enable circumvention.

Therefore, we have posted a petition on the right side of this page asking the government to prohibit the circumvention of technological measures only in cases where the party is circumventing them for the purpose of copyright infringement.

If you sign the petition, you are asking for an amendment to Bill C-61 that would change section 41.1 of Bill C-61 to read: “No person shall circumvent a technological measure within the meaning of paragraph (a) of the definition “technological measure” in section 41 for the purpose of violating the rights of a copyright owner …” and to remove sections 41.1 through 41.21.

As it stands, Bill C-61 would make circumvention illegal, regardless of whether you are actually doing this to violate copyrights - except in very specific circumstances.

Red Hat founder concerned over Bill C-61

Greg Meckbach — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:18:00 GMT

Bob Young, CEO of online publisher Lulu Inc., has expressed concern in the past over the effects of copyright legislation on open source development.

Young founded Ref Hat Inc. in 1993, hails from Hamilton, Ont. and owns the Hamilton Tiger Cats football team.

His long history with open source development has him concerned about the provisions of Bill C-61 prohibiting software that circumvents technological measures (AKA technical protection measures, or TPMs).

Despite an exemption in Bill C-61 that allows users to circumvent TPMs for the purpose of making software interoperable, Young told ComputerWorld Canada Thursday this could have unintended consequences.

“I don’t want to come across as being hugely anti- (Bill C-61) but I am concerned about one particular feature,” Young said. “It errs on the side of making technology illegal as opposed to making behaviour illegal.”

Because technology could change over the next few years, it’s hard to predict the effect of making circumvention tools illegal.

“It’s the equivalent to making screwdrivers and pliers illegal because they can be used to break and enter instead of making the act of breaking and entering illegal,” Young said.

“The road to hell is paved with good intentions, and while I admire the effort to try and restrain copyright theft, that particular piece of the act I don’t think is well architected. I think it’s the wrong way to go in stopping copyright theft.”

What if a TPM no longer works?

Greg Meckbach — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:17:00 GMT

On his blog about copyright reform, University of Ottawa Law professor Michael Geist says Bill C-61 should allow people to circumvent technological measures that are no longer supported or no longer work.

Geist writes: “Given the frequent changes in technology, it is a question of when, not if, technologies become obsolete.”

In his 23rd entry in the series titled “61 reforms to C-61, Geist says the law “should not impair consumers and libraries.”

What the politicians are saying

Greg Meckbach — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:16:00 GMT

If you look through transcripts of parliamentary proceedings, you figure out very quickly the big push for bill C-61 came from politicians who were concerned about the lack of a Canadian law ratifying WIPO.

During a meeting of the Heritage Committee Feb. 14, Liberal Hedy Fry said:

“I think we have heard repeatedly on this committee that one of the greatest challenges to copyright is the advent of digital media, and that this in fact seems totally insurmountable and uncontrollable because people are downloading intellectual property of creators and artists on iPods and everything they can. That has left us with a huge copyright vacuum.”

“When you write a play or a song and someone picks it up on an iPod or on whatever and there’s piracy going on and all of those things, that is really harming the creator, the artist. Therefore, I think we need to be at that table. We need to inject this perspective into any discussion on any copyright legislation.”

The result of this meeting was a recommendation that Bill C-61 be referred to a Special Joint Committee made up of members or associate members of the Standing Committee of Canadian Heritage and of the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology before second reading

When Bill C-61 was introduced in June, one of the first questions came from Bruce Stanton, Conservative MP for Simcoe North:

“Mr. Speaker, we know that copyright reform in Canada is long overdue. Canadian consumers need to have reasonable use of the latest technologies without fear of infringing copyright law. Under the current laws, Canadians run the risk of being sued for the everyday use of the products and services that they buy. Could the Minister of Industry confirm to the House that the bill he tabled today ensures that Canadian consumers will no longer be treated like criminals for the everyday use of things like time shifting their television programs or copying CD music to their iPods?”

In his reply to Stanton’s question, the word “No” does not appear. Industry Minister Jim Prentice said the bill “seeks to strike a balance between consumers and their rights on the one hand, and on the other hand those who are creators in our society.”

He added the bill was “welcomed” by The Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the Entertainment Software Association of Canada, the Business Software Alliance, ACTRA, the Canadian Film and Television Production Association, the Canadian Publishers’ Council and the Canadian Intellectual Property Council.

Enforcing electronic copyright

Greg Meckbach — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:15:00 GMT

On our Enterprise Insights blog, Russell McOrmond has three excellent entries on locks, levies and lawsuits.

If you want to get perspectives from musicians (including John Philip Sousa and Steven Page) on copyright, check out McOrmond’s blog entries.

How copyright reform could change education

Greg Meckbach — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:13:00 GMT

David Truss has posted a comment on how Bill C-61 could affect schools.

He describes the act to amend the Copyright Act as “scary.” For example, they must “Take measures to ensure that any digital reproduction cannot be communicated to anyone else outside the institution …”

Industry Canada responds to Bill C-61 concerns

Greg Meckbach — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:13:00 GMT

In an interview with ComputerWorld Canada Monday, an Industry Canada official defended Bill C-61, which critics contend would discourage security researchers.

Though the bill prohibits the circumvention of technological measures, it includes exemptions which are “very favourable to the high tech sector,” said Albert Cloutier, director of the copyright and international intellectual property policy directorate at Industry Canada.

A more detailed report is available at this link.

“The government believes the rights holders need these new measures to protect their materials in order to give them the confidence to develop new business models and offer more to consumers in the digital environment,” he said. “The measures have to be strong enough to ensure these objectives are not undermined.”

But University of Ottawa professor Michael Geist said Bill C-61 is still overly restrictive.
“The cleanest way of addressing this is the approach that was taken under Bill C-60, where the government at the time recognized that rather than engaging in a laundry list of exemptions, simply said it’s only a violation of the law to circumvent where you’re doing so for the purposes of copyright infringement,” he said.

Brian O’Higgins, chief technology officer of Ottawa-based Third Brigade Inc., agreed.
“The problem is when you start going down the route of exemptions and then you try to draft language around it, you start to look silly after a few years because the exemption that you thought was nice and good turns out to be very narrow and you didn’t intend it to be so narrow, because technology keeps changing,” he said.

O’Higgins is also spokesman for the Digital Security Coalition, a group of vendors (which also includes Certicom) that is lobbying the government to reconsider Bill C-61.
Any problems with the exemptions under Bill C-61 can be worked out later, Industry Canada contends.

“The review of the bill by a parliamentary committee will provide an opportunity to debate amendments,” Cloutier said. “The bill gives the government the power to add new exceptions by regulation once the impact of this digital locks protection can be tangibly measured, so the government can make course corrections if that’s necessary. I have to say, so far no one has raised specific problems with the way the proposed exceptions would operate.”