[Ecommerce] Toronto Star: Copyright bill expected to target downloading

[Thiru Balasubramaniam]

http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/441634

Copyright bill expected to target downloading

Canada - Copyright bill expected to target downloading
June 11, 2008
THE CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA=96The federal government is expected to introduce legislation
Thursday that will seek to make it easier to prosecute individuals who
download copyrighted material from the Internet.

Industry Minister Jim Prentice said in an a release from his office
late Wednesday that he will table amendments to the Copyright Law in
the House of Commons on Thursday morning.

The bill, which will amend the existing Copyright Act, was first put
on the House of Commons order paper in December, but then was held in
limbo for the next six months as speculation built about what it
contained.

The long-awaited changes are a hot political potato for Prentice, who
must find a middle ground between business interests who want strict
protection for intellectual property, including recordings and films,
and Internet users accustomed to downloading material free.

There's speculation is that Prentice will try to come down the middle
as much as possible, imposing a $500 fine on individuals caught
downloading copyrighted files.

The current copyright law, which was intended to catch commercial
cheaters, carries a maximum fine of $20,000 for infringements.

If such a fine were to be included in the amendments, it would likely
leave both sides unhappy =96 industry groups that the fine is small,
consumers that the fine applies to each file download.

The current copyright law, which was intended to catch commercial
cheaters, carries a maximum fine of $20,000 for infringements.

University of Ottawa professor Michael Geist, who teaches technology
law, said he is concerned the amendments will mirror too closely the
restrictive legislation in the United States.

"I expect Minister Prentice to characterize the law as a Made in
Canada solution, yet the reality will be that the key provisions are
born in the USA," he said.

"In doing so, the new law will have serious negative effects for
Canadian consumers who could be locked out of their own purchased
content, as well as for privacy, education, and research."

Geist said he expects some provisions aimed at pleasing consumer
interests such as the legalizing of recording time-shifted television
shows, but that most of the new rules will be contrary to consumer
interests.

"Striking an appropriate balance in respect to copyright as between
consumers and industry is an important part of the equation," Prentice
has said recently.

Exactly where that balance will end up could affect everything from
how Canadians use their televisions to whether authorities will be
able to snoop on what people download through their Internet connection.

The video game industry wants the law strengthened to allow Internet
service providers to monitor high-speed downloads and shut down
transfers containing unauthorized copies of games and other files.

The government has also been lobbied by American industry groups to
follow the U.S. government's lead and restrict people from making
backup copies of compact discs and DVD's which they have purchased
legally.

Canada's current copyright law was drawn up long before personal
computers and iPods were in every home. As a result of outdated
wording and a few court cases, the existing law is a confusing stew of
rules that most people are not aware of.

The music industry says Canadians continue to make unauthorized music
downloads because the law does not clearly make it illegal. The
industry lost a court battle in 2005 when it tried to force Internet
service providers to provide the names of downloaders.

Other everyday acts, such as recording a TV show or taking music from
a compact disc and putting it on an MP3 player are illegal but are
never enforced, says Geist.



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Thiru Balasubramaniam
Geneva Representative
Knowledge Ecology International (KEI)
thiru@keionline.org


Tel: +41 22 791 6727
Mobile: +41 76 508 0997