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Canadian Court Maintains Right to Privacy

Posted by timothy on from the keeping-little-junior-in-mind dept.

TufelKinder writes "The Globe and Mail is reporting a Canadian court's decision to '[uphold the] 2004 decision to maintain privacy rights of on-line music swappers.'"

20 comments

  1. Privacy by Richie1984 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It's nice to see courts uphold a person's privacy, even if there is debate as to the morality of what they are doing. I do wonder how the MPAA/RIAA will react to this. Slashdot have already covered how America is trying to force the DRMA upon Canada and perhaps they will now step up their efforts? Or will this just further widen the gap between the American and Canadian governments, and cause more friction?

    --
    I'm not stressed. I'm just terribly, terribly alert.
    1. Re:Privacy by paulwalker · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Privacy is important indeed and this decision will have repercussions on the music industry especially as with modernisation people will have better internet connections, making big data transfer much simpler. How will the law evolve in the future when music/movie piracy will become so important....

  2. Excellent. by Travelsonic · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Due Process and no-bullshit attitudes strike again. Way to go Canada!

    --
    If you believe in privacy, and believe you have "nothing to hide" at the same time, you're a goddammed idiot
  3. In other news... by wsapplegate · · Score: 3, Informative

    ... Another court has upheld the right for Slashdot editors to post dupes every two or three days, and not to be bothered with the "search" feature of their own Website</sarcasm>

    --
    Xenu brings order!
    1. Re:In other news... by Travelsonic · · Score: 1

      ... Which brings us to the question of the week: Are the /, editors human?

      --
      If you believe in privacy, and believe you have "nothing to hide" at the same time, you're a goddammed idiot
    2. Re:In other news... by Monkeman · · Score: 1

      Slashcomma?

    3. Re:In other news... by Travelsonic · · Score: 1

      Now THERE's an idea! (it was a dumb typo on my part. Too bad /. doesn't have post editing.)

      --
      If you believe in privacy, and believe you have "nothing to hide" at the same time, you're a goddammed idiot
  4. freedoms! by cryptoz · · Score: 1

    It certainly is nice to be living in Canada these days. But seriously, do the laws in the US actually stop anyone from sharing music? At all? Like, yeah, it's great to know that here in Canada we're able to do it LEGALLY, but down there in the States, people still do it anyway, right?

    1. Re:freedoms! by FidelCatsro · · Score: 2, Informative

      Am i right in thinking that Canadians pay a levy on blank CDs etc which is supposed to compensate Copyright holders for any infringment. If so then there is nothing to withhold .

      --
      The only things certain in war are Propaganda and Death. You can never be sure which is which though
    2. Re:freedoms! by cryptoz · · Score: 1

      Ah, but very, very few of us buy blank CDs. More than 40% of my schoolmates have iPods and the other 50%-60% have mp3 players, NOT CD players. We just don't buy many CDs, it seems.

    3. Re:freedoms! by Joe+Random · · Score: 2, Interesting
      But seriously, do the laws in the US actually stop anyone from sharing music? At all?
      Of course. There are always people who are so frightened by the thought that they may be on the receiving end of a lawsuit that they seriously curb, or stop altogether, their file sharing. That many ISPs seem willing to reveal their users' identities simply to get the *IAA off their back simply adds to the FUD.

      And frankly, I don't see how the Canadian ruling will stop that. Based on what TFA said, it would seem that ISPs can be required to reveal their customers' identities, but only once the record industry presents a clear enough claim against them. They just aren't required to give out that information simply because the record industry says "gimme!" Note that they're not required to give out that information, but that doesn't mean that they won't give it out. Some ISPs may find it easier to just add a "no right to privacy" to their boilerplate, and then turn over any information asked for. I hope not, but it wouldn't surprise me.
      Like, yeah, it's great to know that here in Canada we're able to do it LEGALLY
      That's not what I got from the article:
      If record labels show they have a clear claim against people infringing copyright, "they have a right to have the identity revealed for the purpose of bringing action. However, caution must be exercised by the courts in ordering such disclosure to make sure that privacy rights are invaded in the most minimal way."
    4. Re:freedoms! by FidelCatsro · · Score: 2, Informative
      Yeah i see the notion was dropped from portable players
      A blank media levy was introduced in Canada in 1997, by the addition of Part VII, "Private Copying", to the Canadian Copyright Act. The power to set rates and distribute the returns is vested in the Copyright Board of Canada. The Copyright Board has handed the task of distributing the funds to the Canadian Private Copying Collective, which is a private organisation. The Copyright Board has retained the task of setting the rate of the levy.
      In Canada:
      The levy applies to "blank audio recording media", such as CD-Rs.
      The levy is paid by importers and manufacturers of such media sold within Canada (and typically passed on to the retailer, and passed on to the purchaser).
      The levy is collected regardless of the purchaser's end use of the media.
      Only copyright holders of sound recordings of musical works are entitled to a share of the proceeds. (Note that these copyright holders may be separate persons from the holders of the copyright in the musical works themselves; ie. the composer or performer. Holders of copyrights in sound recordings are those who record or authorise the recording of a song; often this is a recording label.)
      The Canadian Private Copying Collective has devised a scheme by which the proceeds are to be allocated to registered sound recording copyright holders. AS of July 30th, 2004 none of the collected funds had yet been disbursed.
      In conjunction with the levy, the Copyright Act allows individuals to make copies of sound recordings for their own private, non-commercial use. They may not distribute the copy.
      On December 17th, 2004, a Canadian judge ruled that the blank media tax no longer applied to MP3 players such as Apple Computer's iPod. Before this, the rates were $2 for players with less than 1 GB of capacity, $15 for players up to 15 GB, and $25 for players 15 GB and over.
      to quote the wikipedia articall
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blank_media_tax

      You know , i would really like music to be taxed ala the BBC ,Download all you want etc and pay for it in with a license fee which is completly opt-out .
      --
      The only things certain in war are Propaganda and Death. You can never be sure which is which though
    5. Re:freedoms! by 01000011011101000111 · · Score: 1

      Ironically, a music Tax (ala BBC) was something I've been predicting for some time now as the only possible way for the record industry to go... (Especially with the advent of city-wide wireless - imagine a pair of headfones that link wirelessly to all the music ever produced...)

      --
      Programming is an Art. I am an Artist. Does that mean I get to wear a daft hat?
    6. Re:freedoms! by FidelCatsro · · Score: 1

      Its the only way to go ,We have too many hyped up pop crap that people buy in droves because of the marketing. If we leveld the playing field and let people decide what they liked(which could easily be seen by repeate download rates) then i dare say the music world would be better for it .
      The artists would get a more representive pay cheque at the end of the day aswell( they get screwed over now anyway , no matter how hip they are).

      --
      The only things certain in war are Propaganda and Death. You can never be sure which is which though
    7. Re:freedoms! by ShieldW0lf · · Score: 1

      Perhaps the way to go is to pay artists for performances rather than recordings. As in, if you stop touring and sit home on your ass, you don't continue to get paid. Wow, what a revolutionary idea.

      --
      -1 Uncomfortable Truth
  5. Court, think of the children by Maxhrk · · Score: 0

    Please think of the children!

    This has to be said...

  6. no debate by ratboy666 · · Score: 1

    who cares what the riaa thinks? this is canada. second, the morality is not in question -- a levy is imposed, and the recording industry was very supportive. yes, this may cause "friction". please note that the levy is only distributed for music, but other content producers have been lobbying for a piece of the pie (which i support - i can't share my audio books and tv shows yet)

    ratboy

    --
    Just another "Cubible(sic) Joe" 2 17 3061
  7. Recording industry spin by tomhudson · · Score: 1
    If you were to read this turd, you'd think the courts ruled against file-swapping.
    International Recording Industry Hails Key Canadian Court Decision On Illegal File-Sharing
    ...
    IFPI General Counsel and Executive Director Allen Dixon said: "The decision confirms that ISPs must turn over the names of infringing customers; that data privacy rules cannot prevent copyright owners from taking action against infringement, and that unauthorized file sharing is not legal in Canada. We are delighted that the Court of Appeal has cleared up these important questions so quickly.
    ... Steve Jobs called - he wants his reality distortion field back.
  8. File Sharing is legal in Canada. by webworm99 · · Score: 1

    File Sharing is legal in Canada at least for Music. Everyone in Canada has paid for copyright usage. The reason is the regulators cited a long-standing rule in Canada, in which most copying for personal use was allowed. To repay artists and record labels for revenue lost by this activity, the government imposes a fee on blank tapes, CDs and even hard disk-based MP3 players such as Apple Computer's iPod, and distributes that revenue to copyright holders. However, if the recoding industry wins. They would have to refund money back to everyone that paid for copyright usage. The recoding industry is trying welch on their deal with Canada. It will be very hard for the recoding industry to prove violation of copyright law, since everyone has permission.

    1. Re:File Sharing is legal in Canada. by tomhudson · · Score: 1
      I agree. The original deal was made when blank CDs cost $35 a DISK, and worm drives were $5,000 each. The recording industry never figured they'd see sub $50 burners and blank dvds at $0.30 each.

      But that's their problem ... not mine, not yours. They made a deal, and now that conditions have changed, tough shit :-)