US Group Calls Canada a Top Copyright Violator

eldurbarn tips a CBC story reporting that the US-based International Intellectual Property Alliance claims Canada has joined Russia and China among the biggest violators of US copyright law. Quoting: "The group's report is the latest to urge the US government into pressuring Ottawa to reform copyright laws." As we have previously discussed here, the current Conservative government had planned to introduce a new copyright law, but dissent from the privacy commissioner and a groundswell of public protest delayed that action. eldurbarn adds, "What makes this story so important now is that this pressure is being applied at a time and in a manner that may cause the Canadian government to fall, forcing an election." Meanwhile, on the other side of the rapidly heating debate, Michael Geist blogs about the forces arrayed against a Canadian DMCA. The Business Coalition for Balanced Copyright, which includes a who's who of the telecom, Internet, retail, and broadcast communities, has outlined a list of its copyright reform demands.

Comments

FUCK copyright law.

[jez9999]

Seriously, isn't that what you want to hear a politician just come out with? I'm so sick of greedy pricks in suits going around attacking anyone and everyone for infringing on their precious IP, and getting quoted in the media. Ignore them, for god's sake.

Re:FUCK copyright law.

[alan_dershowitz]

There are some politicians in Canada who don't seem to understand that their country is a signatory to the World Intellectual Property Organization treaty and are under obligation to meet a minimum criteria for copyright law harmonization with other signatories. Maybe they do understand and are simply peeved about it. As a sovereign country they are free to do as they please, but we believe that they can either remain signatories to the treaty or disregard treaty obligations for their own standards, but not both.

This is just gold!

[Necrotica]

So Canada is accused of being one the greatest violators of U.S. copyright law. So what? We're Canada! As long as we're not breaking our own laws, I could care less what the U.S. thinks. We're also guilty of not giving the people the right to bear arms. Are you going to criticize us in the press for that too?

Re:Do you smell that?

[betterunixthanunix]

Economists love to talk about "loss" due to an item not being sold. Yes, according to economists, accountants, and the companies they work for, you can turn a profit and still take a loss. You could sell your entire stock, but it would be considered a loss if you could have sold it all twice as fast.

It is basically changing the meaning of the word, "loss." The record companies "lose $511 million per year due to copyright infringement" actually translates to, "had all the songs that were downloaded in a given year been purchased at the current market rate, the record companies would have made $511 million more than they did." For someone who is aware of the economist's meaning of "loss," this is obvious and the record companies don't seem that badly off (imagine if they said that they were actually spending $500 million more than they were taking in; they would be going bankrupt). For someone who is not aware of it, it is deceptive -- it makes it sound like the record companies are in serious financial peril, which is about as far from the truth as claiming that 2+2 = -8 i. That's what the companies want, of course.

Of course, even the economic sense of the word "loss" is dishonest, because the sales probably wouldn't have happened, especially in the case of students or people living in China (where the price of a CD is, for some people, equivalent to 1 week's pay).

Re:Sovereignty is overrated.

[Em Adespoton]

You make a good point actually... Canada should respond with the fact that the US is in violation of Canada's gun laws, and that most illegal weaponry found inside Canada has been smuggled in from the US due to their shoddy (or in some cases absent) control regulations. It should further be pointed out that this actually affects people's lives, not just their livelihoods like IP violations.

THEN the discussion can turn to such harmonious issues as softwood lumber, fish and steel :)

When all that has been straightened out, there might be place for some discussion about harmonizing BOTH US and Canadian IP laws with WIPO (and not by changing the WIPO rules to reflect US law like has been done in the past).