US Group Wants Canada Blacklisted Over Piracy

An anonymous reader writes "Following up on an earlier story, the IIAA wants to add Canada to a blacklist of the worst intellectual property offenders. A powerful coalition of U.S. software, movie and music producers is urging the Bush administration to put Canada on an infamous blacklist of intellectual property villains, alongside China, Russia and Belize. 'Canada's chronic failure to modernize its copyright regime has made it a global hub for bootleg movies, pirated software and tiny microchips that allow video-game users to bypass copyright protections', the International Intellectual Property Alliance complains in a submission to the U.S. government."

Comments

Cue the music

[esampson]

Oh, sure.
 

Blame Canada

Re:Cue the music

[kfg]

The funny part is that until the 1970s it was the US that was the "rogue" nation on the international blacklist (and even had the gall to be proud of it), because it still held somewhat to the quaint ideas delineated in the Bill of Rights which are antithetical to a "guild" system of intellectual property.

Europe is the crucible from which "modern" (it's really fuedal, thus old fashioned, but what the hell. Nobody remembers anything before last Thursday anyway) copyright law was cast, but it's the converts that are almost always the biggest PITA fanatics; especially if there's money and power in it for them.

KFG

Re:Cue the music

[Telvin_3d]

Well then, make sure your MP knows that you do not support the actions of the current heritage minister Bev Oda. As the person who sets policy for copyright in Canada she has been cught accepting large sums of money ('campaign funding') from American entertainment companies. At the same time, she has refused to meet with almost any groups who represent actual Canadaian artists. Michael Geist has some great reporting on the issue. Check out http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/1564/ and http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/1529/ to start, but there is much more there.

Re:Cue the music

[narrowhouse]

Really that is exactly the point, some industries would like as many countries as possible to have almost identical copyright and patent policies. Lately those industries have had the most luck influencing U.S. law so they have decided to make those laws the template. It isn't the "Americans" that are pushing this, it is a collection of huge corporations that are trying to keep from having to fight the same court battles over and over. If they can convince the U.S. government to pressure other countries to bring their laws "in line" with the U.S. laws they make their own lives a lot easier. If Canada keeps it's own laws it will be a force these industries have to deal with directly, if Canada bows to pressure they fade into the background, another "me too" country they never have to work with. Australia should think about that too.

Re:Cue the music

[ScrewMaster]

More to the point from my perspective as an American, most of the companies involved in this are not American, or even based in the United States. Personally, the very idea of our political leaders accepting bribes^H^H^H^H^H^Hcompaign contributions from foreign interests in exchange for modifications to our legal system smacks of high treason. Of course, that doesn't make this any less the responsibility of the citizenry of this country to fix ... as soon as we figure out how. Voting doesn't seem to work so well anymore.

Re:Cue the music

[xsbellx]

Then maybe you would like to explain the US totally ignoring softwood lumber rulings from WTO. When will you Americans learn you cannot have it both ways.

Re:Cue the music

[Original Replica]

Voting doesn't seem to work so well anymore.

We could throw the complete inventory of a franchise music store into Boston Harbor. and maybe a few politicians as well.

Re:Cue the music

[Jerry]

And more to the point: Why does the American government allow corporations to dictate foreign policy?

Re:Cue the music

[Hemogoblin]

Dr. Geist has a blog entry on the IIPA report here.

Heres a good bit: "The U.S. approach is quite clearly one of "do what I say, not what I do" (fair use is good for the U.S., but no one else), advising country after country that it does not meet international TPM standards (perhaps it is the U.S. that is not meeting emerging international standards), and criticizing national attempts to improve education or culture through exceptions or funding programs. Moreover, it is very clear that the U.S. lobby groups are never satisfied as even those countries that have ratified the WIPO treaties or entered into detailed free trade agreements with the U.S. that include IP provisions still find themselves criticized for not doing enough.

Canadians should not be deceived into thinking that our laws are failing to meet an international standard, no matter what U.S. lobby groups or the Globe and Mail say. Rather, Canadians should know that our approach - and the criticism that it inevitably brings from the U.S. - places us in very good company."

Re:Cue the music

[Tablizer]

Why does the American government allow corporations to dictate foreign policy?

1. Because they can.

2. Because they can buy the best lobbyists.

3. Because voters who don't pay attention let them.

Re:Cue the music

[Robber Baron]

John Howard is so far up Bush's ass he wont be able to taste anything but shit till his 80'th birthday Actually no, it should be "he's so far up Bush's ass he can see Tony Blair's feet".

Re:Cue the music

[stygian]

Throwing the politicians in....

From the environment's point-of-view, this might not be such a good idea.

The release is backwards

[davmoo]

Apparently the editors of that press release got it backwards...its the US that has a "copyright regime". What they meant to say was Canada has "realistic and fair copyright laws, and we cannot accept that".

My Favorite quote

[grasshoppa]

"The problem of unauthorized camcording of films in Canadian theatres is now nearing crisis levels," the group complained.

Crisis levels? People are dying?

No, it's a fucking camcorder recording of a hollywood movie. All the bad things about watching the movie in the theator in the privacy of your own home.

If this is really a problem, it's because the movies suck and early word getting out about how bad the movie is is hurting sales. Simple solution to that; Stop making crap movies.

Piracy is a problem with video games?

[tomstdenis]

You mean the industry that rakes in more than the movie and music industries ... COMBINED?

You mean the one that rakes in more and more profits each year?

Yeah, piracy is just SUCH a problem, crippling that industry...

And Canada doesn't need any new policy since it's already a civil offence to violate the copyright of another.

Height of ignorance & arogance

[UnknownSoldier]

"failure to modernize its copyright regime" ??

Canada's copyright system is MORE modern then the US. Common sense tells us that there is no difference "If I loan a CD to a friend to listen to", or "make a copy for him to listen to." I guess we should ban libraries too since the artist is not getting "his fair share."

Copyright & Intellectual Property Rights (which are neither property nor rights) are artificial rights from a world where only people care about greed, instead of sharing knowledge.

What price do you put on a patent that could cure cancer? Why is it OK to profit off the sick & dying? Have we really made that little progress in the past million years, that we still cry & whine like a 2 year saying "mine" -- simply because we were the first to come up with an idea, that we could care less about our fellow human beings??

Copyright: Because it's _such_ a crime against humanity, that people want to share what they find entertaining with others, for free!

--
Because its easier to get mod'd down for having the courage to look at the facts, then ignore Forgotten Christian History.

Let's go over this slowly

[rumblin'rabbit]

So they want Bush to blacklist Canada, their biggest trading partner (last I heard), their NATO ally, whose troops are now fighting in Afghanistan against the Taliban, possessor of the second largest petroleum reserves in the world, and whose government is one of the very few who are not overtly hostile to the Bush administration?

Over video games?

Cool.

Re:in other words

[grcumb]

'Canada's chronic failure to modernize its copyright regime has made it a global hub for bootleg movies, pirated software and tiny microchips that allow video-game users to bypass copyright protections'

Translation: "We have a stranglehold on the music and movie industries, we want control over video game consoles, as well."

No, a better translation would be:

The Conservative government needs a stick to shake at the Canadian public in order to cow them into accepting a digital media market that is more conducive to the desires of their corporate master. Conveniently, the media associations and their government cronies are happy to provide one.

Actually, that would be not too bad.

[alexandreracine]

Let's say Canada is on the black list. Then all countries on the black list would only do business togeter and not with the US anymore. Would the US make that mistake? Stoping billions in profits just for some millions lost? That would be so funny (MPAA, etc, shooting themself in the foot). But that would proove a point. When Canada and all others would be on the list, and music and movies would still be on the net, it is at that time, that the shooting in the foot would begin.

Let's start adding them up...

[Kjella]

...but I don't know where to start, by size or notority.

SE Asia is pretty much one big pool of piracy all around.
China is a huge one, they don't seem to care about IP at all.
Ukraine seems to be the most fucked up of the former Soviets.
Russia isn't far behind, with allofmp3 and all.
All the remaining ex-Soviet states are notorious too.
East europe in general has a long track record of piracy.
West europe got the fastest lines and places like The Pirate Bay.
South America is quite rampant too, last I checked.
Australia banned the region coding crap, didn't they?

Anyone know if the Middle East and Africa qualifies? Haven't heard much but I bet they do. Now they want to add Canada to this "exclusive" list? I have a much simpler proposition: Take the list of countries. Remove US and maybe their pet dog, UK. The remainder is their list of copyright villains.

I can see this as only good.

[Lordpidey]

By allowing pirates within their shores, Canada is surely helping alleviate global warming. I thank them.

I think

[AlphaLop]

As an American Citizen I really hope Canada Man's up and tells the USA to go screw itself. America needs to worry more about the problems we have at home and less on other countries internal politics when they are not a threat to the U.S.'s safety.

To the best of my knowledge, copyright infringement going on in other countries in no way affects our safety (besides the weak "it funds terrorists" argument that seems to be the defacto excuse for everything around here anymore).

The only people that would benefit from the massive expense and sacrifice of civil liberty that would be necessary to enact such a stupid idea would be the media fat cats..... And they can go and (insert witty thing here) themselves for all I care.

Oh Put A Sock In It

[The Real Nem]

The last article was completely overblown, and this is even worse.

Once put on notice, failure to address U.S. concerns could result in trade challenges at the World Trade Organization, plus possible sanctions.

Need I even go into the many ways the US has violated our free trade agreement. How are different copyright laws even a violation?

...and tiny microchips that allow video-game users to bypass copyright protections...

Maybe because the copyright protections violate our basic copyright freedoms? There's no DMCA here.

The industry paints a grim picture of Canada as a country where copyright pirates operate with impunity because of lax laws, poor enforcement and a laissez-faire attitude.

In case you haven't noticed, we're lax in all areas of law. How has incarceration helped to reduce US crime rates? Why should copyright violation be a criminal offense? The last article was even so bold to say:

Frith says government bureaucrats try to placate him by saying that under the Copyright Act exhibitors have the ability to charge someone criminally. "But here's the catch. Under the Copyright Act, you have to prove that an individual camcording in the theatre is doing it for distribution purposes. That's almost impossible."

So camcording is a criminal offense, you just have to, shock, prove your case rather than assume guilt. I guess this article is *technically* right when it says:

Unlike in the United States and most other developed countries, videotaping movies in theatres is not illegal in Canada.

What else did they complain about proving?

We don't want to have to prove the economic loss from distribution. We want it to be a Criminal Code activity to be caught camcording. Period.

Is that 15th century thinking I hear? Are they going to blacklist every liberal country?

"Highly organized international-crime groups have rushed into the gap left by Canada's outmoded copyright law and now use the country as a springboard from which to undermine legitimate markets in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and elsewhere," the group said.

Please, the UK and Australia wouldn't even have these type of laws if the US and *AA and friends hadn't strong armed them into it. Are these the only shinning examples they can find?

""Chronic" failure", you say?

[Jon.Laslow]

I live in BC, the pot capital of North America, and all I can say is the only Chronic failure that I ever see is when someone tries to light up and either their out of Butane or didn't roll properly. Then again...

(catchpa: underway)

Re:As a Canadian to Bush

[alienmole]

Canada should put the USA on some kind of a rogue counties list , for terrorism, meddling in the internal affairs of other countries, being way too fat and making crappy movies.

Actually, quite seriously, this is the way to go. The grievances we all hear that other countries have with the U.S. are often raised, but never to a level at which the U.S. government really has to answer to them or think about them. The U.S. people have failed to keep its government in check, it's up to the rest of the first world (and perhaps other countries) to step up and help do so.

Time to fight back

[G1975a]

How's aboot we withold Canadian bacon, maple syrup and cheap pharmacy drugs from Americans?