[A2k] Canada: copyright reform bill critics eye victory

[Teresa Hackett (eIFL)]

http://www.cbc.ca/arts/story/2007/12/10/tech-copyright.html?ref=rss

Copyright reform bill critics eye victory

Last Updated: Monday, December 10, 2007 | 2:47 PM ET
CBC News

A controversial bill that seeks to reform Canadian copyright laws,
expected to be introduced early this week, may be quashed after a
groundswell of opposition erupted over the past week.

The government last week filed a notice indicating the bill would be
introduced this week, leading industry experts to expect it to happen on
Tuesday. But a spokesperson for Industry Minister Jim Prentice, who was
to introduce the bill, said it would not happen on Tuesday and could not
say if it would happen this week.

Minister of Industry Jim Prentice has said his proposed copyright reform
bill will bring Canada in line with its international
obligations.Minister of Industry Jim Prentice has said his proposed
copyright reform bill will bring Canada in line with its international
obligations.

The House of Commons will take a break until January after Friday's session.

Cory Doctorow, co-editor of influential technology blog Boing Boing and
a former director of the Electronic Freedom Foundation advocacy, on
Monday wrote that the government's plan is now in disarray.

"Word is that the minister had no idea that this would be such a big
deal for Canadians," he wrote. "Word is that the minister and his
advisers are scrambling, rethinking the entire matter because of the
public outcry."

At an open house in his Calgary constituency office on Saturday,
Prentice defended the bill to an angry crowd of about 50 by saying it
would bring Canada up to date with the World Intellectual Property
Organization treaty it signed in 1997. Canada signed the treaty but has
not yet implemented or ratified it, which has provoked criticism from
its trading partners, he said.
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Critics have said the proposed legislation will mirror the U.S. Digital
Millennium Copyright Act and take a hard line against the copying of
digital materials, making illegal acts such as the television time
shifting enabled by digital video recorders, file-sharing of music and
video files, and copying files to DVDs or MP3 players.

Michael Geist, the Canada research chair of internet and e-commerce law
at the University of Ottawa, has led the charge against the bill and has
accused Prentice of caving in to lobbying from U.S. entertainment
companies, who are seeking to curtail digital copying in all its forms.
He has also accused the minister of ignoring the wishes of regular
Canadians and for not including the public in his consultations.

Geist started a Facebook group to protest the bill a week ago, which
more than 12,000 people have so far joined. On his blog Monday, Geist
wrote that the group has resulted in hundreds of letters and phone calls
to Prentice and other MPs from every political party.

"Something exceptional happened this past week. Fair copyright in Canada
found its voice," Geist wrote. "It will be silent no more."

The previous Liberal government tried to pass its own contentious
copyright reform bill, C-60, in 2005 but it was quashed when the
opposition brought down the minority government in a no-confidence vote.

Doctorow said the public would continue opposing bills that strengthen
the rights of copyright holders at the expense of the people.

"We will do it a third time, a fourth, a fifth, and forever, until
Canada's politicians start drafting balanced copyright laws that protect
Canadian artists, scholars, critics, schools, libraries and the public
interest," he wrote.