Piracy Archives

Murdoch urges reforms to stem online copyright free riding

James Murdoch, the head of News Corp.’s European and Asian operations, has urged governments to do more to protect copyright online. He is reported to have said “There’s no difference between stealing a bag of Pringles or a handbag, or stealing material on the Web”. He made these comments at the Abu Dhabi Media Summit.

Newspapers such as the Financial Times and the New York Times are looking at ways to monetize their content due to losses in advertising such as by charging for access over the Internet.…

View Post

A framework for voluntary graduated response in online copyright enforcement

More and more, graduated response systems are being debated and put forward as legitimate solutions to online file sharing. In a recent article, “Graduated Response and the Turn to Private Ordering in Online Copyright Enforcement“, Professor Annmarie Bridy of theUniversity of Idaho College of Law explains why “voluntary graduated response, as publicly controversial as it is, is squarely on the table as corporate rights owners and broadband providers discuss their respective roles in the future of online copyright enforcement.” …

View Post

The speech from the throne: a digital strategy and IP reform

Yesterday’s Speech from the Throne gives us an insight into the Government’s legislative plans. Many of the initiatives in the throne speech are clearly needed to help bring Canada into the 21^st century and to address the threats and opportunities that face us as Canadians and as citizens of a larger world community.

The Government placed significant emphasis on implementing new measures for success in the modern economy and in particular, for building the jobs and industries of the future.…

View Post

Misinterpreting the IPR 2010 Report

The Intellectual Property Rights Alliance just published its 2010 report reviewing countries’ rankings on various indexes measuring their respect for property rights. The aim of the report was to show the clear link between a country’s respect for property rights and economic prosperity.

According to the report, the link can be seen in all forms of property including intellectual property. Dealing with the latter, the report states:

“The modern economy relies not only on physical property rights but also intellectual property rights (IPRs).…

View Post

Canada again in the penalty box over poor IP laws and enforcement according to 2010 IIPA 301 report

Yesterday, the International Intellectual Property Alliance released its 2010 SPECIAL 301 REPORT ON COPYRIGHT ENFORCEMENT AND PROTECTION. The report notes that “its statement in the 2007 Special 301 report – submitted three years ago – remains, disappointingly, true today: “Canada remains far behind virtually all its peers in the industrialized world with respect to its efforts to bring its copyright laws up to date with the realities of the global digital networked environment. Indeed, even most of the major developing countries have progressed further and faster than Canada in meeting this challenge.”…

View Post

Reflections on the liberal roundtable on the digital economy

Last week, Liberal Industry critic Marc Garneau and Heritage critic Pablo Rodriguez hosted a roundtable on the digital economy in Ottawa. There were two panels. One was on our modern digital infrastructure. The other one was on copyright, broadcasting and the Internet. I participated in the copyright roundtable along with representatives from the ESAC, ACTRA, Rogers and Prof. Geist.

I commend Messrs. Garneau and Rodriguez for organizing this event. Developing a strategy for Canada’s digital future is a critical component of ensuring prosperity and opportunities for all Canadians.…

View Post

Stealing is not a form of flattery, nor is it sincere…

Take a look at Deadline Dames’ guest blog by Jeaniene Frost who wrote a good piece on e-pirating of books debunking 13 popular justifications for piracy. She closes with the following summary:

“If you take nothing else away from this very long post, I hope you remember this: e-piracy isn’t free.Someone always ends up paying for it, and sometimes, paying dearly in lost jobs. It will also cost readers in the long run, because the less money publishers make, the less willing they are to publish new authors.…

View Post

The fallout from iiNet: markets and laws failing in face of net piracy

Last week the Federal Court of Australia released its important decision in the iiNet case. As many commentators have pointed out, the court declined to require Australia’s ISPs to disconnect those of its subscribers who are repeat copyright infringers.

In the course of reaching this decision, the court made a number of important rulings about the liability arising from the use of BitTorrent networks including the following:

Seeders and peers that make music available for sharing are infringers under Australia’s making available right.

…

View Post

A reply to ACTA critics

Last week was another busy week for developments in ACTA. There were meetings in Mexico by representatives from Canada and its key trading partners to further flesh out how to address the worldwide problems with counterfeiting and piracy. Meanwhile, anti-copyright critics were busy filling the blogosphere and press attacking the proposed treaty.

Of course, the actual text of the treaty is not know by the public. So commentators have relied on their interpretations of leaked documents to try and derail it.…

View Post

The costs and benefits of graduated response in copyright enforcement

There recently has been a debate over the economic costs and benefits behind graduated response systems aimed at reducing online file sharing. Professor Geist, for example, recently posted a blog estimating the costs of a graduated response system. I believe the topic of the costs and benefits of graduated response mechanisms is an important one. Let us take a closer look at this topic and the assertion that graduated response cannot be justified because of its costs.

Until now, the roll-out of the Internet, which has contributed to the mass consumption of digital equipment at the end-user level, has ensured that digital information is the universal means through which the whole planet can easily communicate.…

View Post

Subscribe