Canada, one of the shining lights in the copyright and intellectual property world, has a shadow approaching that may dim that for all. The name of that shadow? Bill c-61, which was formally introduced by Industry minister Jim Prentice an hour or two ago. One of the ‘highlights’ is the abolition of court’s flexibility in statutory damages, fixing it at $500 (CAD)
In three months time, the Canadian music, movie and TV industries will unleash their combined legal might on a little known BitTorrent tracker. A true David and Goliath battle, the QuebecTorrent case is one that Michael Geist says is “worth watching”, and will have wide implications for all of ‘online’ Canada.
A man from Quebec has become one of the first to be charged under Canada’s new anti-camcording legislation after being caught trying to record the movie ‘Dan in Real Life’. The man - who intended to upload the movie to the internet - faces up to 2 years in jail.
The Canadian police announced that it will stop targeting people who download copyrighted material for personal use. Their priority will be to focus on organized crime and copyright theft that affects the health and safety of consumers instead of the cash flow of large corporations.
Theaters in Canada have recently started using metal detectors and night-vision goggles to track down movie cammers. In addition, theater employees receive a $500 reward for every pirate they catch. The hunt is on!
The popular BitTorrent search engine Isohunt is back online, a week after its ISP decided to pull the plug.
The latest survey conducted for the Canadian Private Copying Collective (CPCC) is showing a major decrease in filesharing activity in Canada.
Canada may be facing its own DMCA according to Michael Geist, Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa. And, “given the strength of the copyright lobby, we may need protection from the next copyright bill,” he says.
With that in mind, tomorrow Giest launches 30 Days of DRM page and [...]
The revolution starts in Canada. Canadian musicians are rising up against p2p lawsuits, statutory damages, DRM and the prohibition of copying and sharing Music. They’ve started a new group called the Canadian Music Creators Coalition.
“Fans who share music are not thieves or pirates,” they state unequivocally. “Sharing music has been happening for decades.”
A lot of [...]
