In annually released and updated ‘eduactional materials’, Revenu Quebec has been educating Quebec youths as to tragic impact of CD Piracy, ignoring not only the fact that such copying has been legal in Canada for almost a decade, but also that copyright holders are compensated for blank CD sales. In a manual PDF (see p. 6) designed …
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The CRTC released a decision allowing Bell to impose user based pricing on its wholesale customers. This is problematic for a number of reasons. First, it exacerbates the lack of competition already present in the wireline Internet industry by effectively making usage based pricing a non-competitive issue. Second, it is unfair as much of the bandwidth in question will …
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While the CRTC grapples with issues of ISP discrimination against applications, services and users, the US has introduced legislation intended to guarantee Americans will not face such discrimination unless it is justified. Specifically, the proposed Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2009 will prevent ISPs from degrading bandwidth based on application unless such degradation is justified. …
Canada’s Privacy Community has written to the Ministers responsible for Canadian copyright policy, urging them to consult broadly prior to introducing copyright legislation that may undermine Canadians’ privacy and security rights. The letter follows earlier correspondence from the Privacy Commissioner of Canada that observed that any copyright bill that includes anti-circumvention laws and ISP subscriber data retention …
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The Privacy Commissioner of Canada has again raised concerns with the federal government with respect to the potential privacy implications of proposed revisions to the Canadian Copyright Act. In a letter dated January 18, 2008, the Commissioner notes that both anti-circumvention laws and ISP subscriber data retention obligations raise significant privacy concerns for Canadians, and invites …
Read more “Privacy Commissioner of Canada Links Copyright Reform and Privacy”
In September 2007, the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic published a report entitled “Digital Rights Managment Technologies and Consumer Privacy.” The report focuses on the Canadian marketplace and discusses the implications of the use of digital rights managment (DRM) technologies on consumer privacy. The findings in this report are especially relevant given that …
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On Wednesday, May 16, 2006, we sent an open letter and Background Paper to Minister of Canadian Heritage Bev Oda and Industry Minister Maxime Bernier voicing our concerns with the use and proposed legal protection of “digital rights management” (DRM) technology in Canada. In our letter, we offer to work with policy makers and politicians on this issue, and …
Read more “Canada’s Privacy Community Speaks Out on DRM, Privacy and Copyright”
In separate letters to Minister of Canadian Heritage Bev Oda and Industry Minister Maxime Bernier, Canada’s privacy commissioners have voiced their concerns with the privacy implications of DRM technologies and proposed legislation to offer such technologies legal protection. Privacy Commissioner of Canada Jennifer Stoddart, David Loukidelis, Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia, and Dr. …
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