p2pnet - rss feed: Canada arouses corporate ire
p2pnet.net news:- “Canada’s chronic failure to modernize its copyright regime has made it a global hub for bootleg movies, pirated software and tiny microchips that allow video-game users to bypass copyright protections, the International Intellectual Property Alliance complains in a submission to the U.S. government,” says a Globe & Mail shock horror story which might well have been written by an IIPA hack rather than G&M reporter Barrie McKenna.
The industry, “paints a grim picture of Canada as a country where copyright pirates operate with impunity because of lax laws, poor enforcement and a laissez-faire attitude,” it states, also saying:
“The time has come for the United States to send a stern warning to Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government, which has failed to deliver on a promised overhaul of copyright laws and a policing crackdown, said the Washington-based group that represents companies such as Microsoft, Apple and Paramount Pictures.”
It goes on, “The industry groups feel very strongly that we need to ratchet this up,” IIPA legal counsel Steve Metalitz said. “The disturbing thing is that the Canadian government doesn’t seem to take this very seriously.”
The movie, music and software cartels regard themselves as virtual nations with status sufficient enough to be able to address Belize, Venezuela, China, Turkey, Indonesia, Ukraine, Russia, you name it, on equal footing.
Backed by the US administration, they routinely use international police forces and other public tax-payer funded agencies on company bidnes, and hector governerments which don’t immediately toe corporate-drawn lines.
Instead of telling the hard-core commercial trade units such as the MPAA and RIAA to go to hell, the governments jump right to it, according them almost diplomatic standing and privileges.
“The United States first placed Canada on a lower-priority watch list three years ago,” says the Globe & Mail, continuing, “Elevating Canada to the ‘priority watch list,’ as the U.S. industry now wants, would put it among a select group of notorious copyright pirates, such as Belize, Venezuela, China, Turkey, Indonesia, Ukraine and Russia.
“Canada’s long tenure on the USTR watch list seems to have had no discernible effect on its copyright policy,” the group lamented in a submission this week to U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab, George W. Bush’s trade czar,” says McKenna. “Once put on notice, failure to address U.S. concerns could result in trade challenges at the World Trade Organization, plus possible sanctions.
The cartels are clearly gearing up for a major push aimed at forcing Canada into line with other now subservient nations.
In Canada, Cineplex’s Ellis Jacob is for the moment acting as point man.
“Piracy is very troubling,” says Jacob in another Globe & Mail piece. “The movie studios have sent out letters of concern and are thinking seriously about delaying the release of movies in Canada, which would be a travesty for the consumer.
“We need the co-operation of the industry and we need the laws changed, which we are working on with the federal government. It is of urgent concern because Canada is responsible for 20 per cent of the camcording that takes place worldwide. If you go into a store and shoplift a couple of DVDs, you can be charged and fined and all that other good stuff. If you come into our theatre and use a camcorder, there is not a lot we can do, other than basically issue you a trespass notice.”
Unlike in the United States “and most other developed countries,” videotaping movies in theatres is not illegal in under-developed Canada and, “Likewise, there is no law in Canada that specifically bans mod chips and other piracy tools, as there is in the United States,” McKenna observes.
Expect a gravely worded warning to Canada’s intransigent government from the CRIA’s (Canadian Recording Industry Association of America) Graham Henderson any day now.
“The government of Canada is working actively on the copyright file and will take the time necessary to ensure that revisions to this important framework legislation have been fully thought through,” says Industry Canada spokesman David Dummer in the G&M story.
The IIPA’s owners will be gratified to learn that.
Meanwhile, “Canadians should not be deceived into thinking that our laws are failing to meet an international standard, no matter what U.S. lobby groups or the Globe and Mail say,” says Michael Geist. “Rather, Canadians should know that our approach - and the criticism that it inevitably brings from the U.S. - places us in very good company,” namely, “the majority of the world’s biggest economies”.
Stay tuned.
Also See:
Globe & Mail - U.S. group wants Canada blacklisted over piracy, February 14, 2006
a travesty - Ellis Jacob Meets the Pirates!, February 13, 2006
very good company - Trade groups attack Canada, February 15, 2006
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February 15th, 2007 at 2:23 pm
Bwahahahah!
February 15th, 2007 at 2:44 pm
First 65 percent of pirated films originate in Canada, then 50 percent, and now 20 percent. I always assumed that incinsistancy escalated in the OPPOSITE direction.
February 15th, 2007 at 3:22 pm
“Piracy is very troubling,” says Jacob in another Globe & Mail piece. “The movie studios have sent out letters of concern and are thinking seriously about delaying the release of movies in Canada, ”
How stupid ARE these people.
Doing this will encourage what they claim to wish to prevent.
Taking careful aim at their own foot.
February 15th, 2007 at 10:00 pm
Before long, I expect United States copyright-law to hold sway throughout the world.
And the leaders of the U.S. still wonder why their country is so detested, all over this globe.
February 16th, 2007 at 1:35 pm
I doubt they could be that stupid.
I would believe, however, that they are setting a stage and laying a trap.
February 16th, 2007 at 5:43 pm
February 17th, 2007 at 5:28 am
“I doubt they could be that stupid.”
I would not count on that. Money, power, and especially greed can make people do really strange things sometimes, often things that are not at all in the interest of self preservation.
Personally, I would really love to see the entertainment industry go ahead and try to delay releases here in Canada. I cannot think of anything better for the P2P cause to be honest. I can just imagine our response too. For starters, Canadians can and do buy from stores all over the world, so nobody would really be affected that way. Online commerce makes this all very easy. Being the friendly, social people that we are, I am sure there would always be someone a person can borrow media from. The wife and I lend our movies to friends and family all the time for instance, and we often borrow stuff from them as well. Obviously, more and more Canadians would turn to P2P for their entertainment fix as well, including many people who never used to. Really, the only people that would be hurt most likely are the retailers and rental outlets (Walmart, Futureshop, Blockbuster, Rogers Video, etc), definitely not an area of the industry they should aspire to alienate.
The US needs to realize that the mindset of your average Canadian joe is quite a bit different here than it is across the border, and is a large part of the reason why we would not really be all too bothered should they try this delay tactic they are considering. We have a tendency to pull together in order to help each other through even the most difficult of times, while the US believes in more of an “every man for himself” approach to things (not to mentioned armed lol). As Canadians, we have always been taught that one must always share if they are to be considered a good person. That requires being both generous and kind, and is why we often feel the we are not doing anything wrong. It is all part of what tends to make Canadians unique from many other nations.
March 3rd, 2007 at 2:05 am
I’ve been copying music ever since my first DAT deck and cassette deck, as well copying movies since my first VCR. That must make me number 1 pirate. the IRA and MPA never had any way of keeping track of the amount of recordings I made. So now that they do, they need payment?