Canadian Privacy Commissioner Voices Concerns over Amendments to Copyright Legislation

The Privacy Commissioner of Canada (Commissioner) has asked the Minister of Industry and the Minister of Canadian Heritage to ensure that the privacy rights of Canadians be taken into account in framing possible amendments to the Copyright Act. In her letter dated January 18, 2008 and made public recently, the Commissioner objected to the use of technical protection mechanisms to prevent copyright infringement which would involve the collection, use and disclosure of personal information without consent in violation of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). In particular, the Commissioner warned of the use of Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology for purposes beyond controlling the copying and use of content, such as collecting detailed personal information about the computer user and transmitting it back to the copyright owner. The Commissioner also expressed privacy concerns over the previously proposed "notice-and-notice" scheme by which private sector organizations could require an ISP to retain personal information and extend retention periods. Under this scheme, copyright holders would send a notice to an ISP about an alleged copyright infringer on the ISP's network, require the ISP to send the notice to the alleged copyright infringer and then require the ISP to retain records on network use for certain time periods. For additional discussion on Copyright Act reforms, see the E-TIPS® article, "Online Backlash Postpones Introduction of Canadian Copyright Bill" in Vol 6, No 13, December 19, 2007. For the full text of the Privacy Commissioner's letter, visit: http://www.privcom.gc.ca/parl/2008/let_080118_e.asp For a paper (on the Privacy Commissioners' web site) on the topics of DRM, technical protective measures and rootkit software, visit: http://www.privcom.gc.ca/fs-fi/02_05_d_32_e.asp Summary by: Lauren Lodenquai