Online Backlash Postpones Introduction of Canadian Copyright Bill

The federal government had planned to introduce a bill in early December to update the Copyright Act to bring it in line with Canada's obligations under the two World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) treaties that it signed in 1997. Although Canada signed the WIPO treaties, it has neither formally ratified nor implemented either of them. For this, Canada has been the subject of some criticism, especially by some of its trading partners, including the United States. The US Trade Representative has cited Canada's inaction on these WIPO treaties as a reason to keep Canada on its "2007 Watch List" of countries that have problems with intellectual property rights protection or enforcement. The Federal Industry Minister, Jim Prentice, planned to introduce a bill 10 days ago to address these concerns. However, in anticipation of this, online commentators mounted a major opposition campaign. Critics such as Michael Geist started a protest group on Facebook that currently has more than 26,000 members, and several critics have used blogs to communicate their opposition to the bill. Demonstrations were organized, and 50 protestors confronted the Industry Minister at his Calgary riding office. Apparently as a direct result of these protests, the Industry Minister has postponed the introduction of the bill. Since Parliament is now in recess for the year-end holiday period, the bill cannot be introduced until Parliament reconvenes in late January, 2008. Although critics of the bill have characterized this postponement as a victory, not everyone views it positively. ACTRA, the union for Canadian English-language performers, stated that copyright reform is long overdue and that the critics were a "vocal minority". According to ACTRA, inaction on copyright reform will lead to reduced investment and innovation, and cause additional job losses in Canada's entertainment industry. Although these events illustrate the potential impact of social networking on the legislative process, it is ironic that they occurred before the text of the proposed bill was made public, and therefore no one beyond inner government circles knew with certainty what it was going to contain. It had been rumoured that the bill would have made it illegal to time shift television shows, share music and video files, and copy files onto CDs or MP3 players. It was also suggested that the bill would have mirrored the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which some view as a major concession to rights holders. Those critics claim that the DMCA has permitted individuals to be sued by large corporations for distributing music, and has reduced consumers' rights to copyrighted material. This is not the first time that substantial opposition has appeared against a Canadian copyright reform bill. In 2005 the previous Liberal government introduced its own copyright reform bill to implement the WIPO treaties, but the legislation died when an election was called. Critics accused then Toronto MP Sarmite Bulte, who helped draft the bill, of being too close to media companies, and she was defeated in the ensuing election. Clearly the battle over copyright reform in Canada is far from over. Cory Doctorow, co-editor of the technology blog Boing Boing, voiced this forceful opinion: "We will [oppose copyright reform bills] 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. " For a wide range of opinion and reaction, visit the following: http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/286004; http://tinyurl.com/262hku; http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/2454/159/; http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2007/12/10/tech-copyright.html; http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2007/12/12/tech-copyright.html; and http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2007/12/13/tech-copyright-delay.html Summary by: Andrei Edwards