NAFTA 2.0, the return of the TPP, mobile phone surveillance, copyright term extension, class actions targeting movie downloads: Canadians' digital liberties have never been under more pressure than they are today. Digital liberties matter to Canadians. CIPPIC, Canada's public interest tech law clinic, stands on guard for Canadians' digital liberties.
Online Rights Canada is a new Canadian grassroots digital rights group, co-founded by EFF and CIPPIC, the excellent cyber-rights researchers at the University of Ottawa:
— Read the restOnline Rights Canada (ORC) is a grassroots organization that promotes the public's interest in technology and information policy.
Canada's two leading digital rights groups, CIPPIC (previously) and Citizen Lab (previously) have issued a joint report called Shining a Light on the Encryption Debate: A Canadian Field Guide , and every Canadian should read it.
Back in 2015, Canada's failing, doomed Conservative government introduced Bill C-51, a far-reaching mass surveillance bill that read like PATRIOT Act fanfic; Justin Trudeau, leader of what was then a minority opposition party, whipped his MPs to vote for it, allowing it to pass, and cynically admitting that he was only turning this into law because he didn't want to give the Conservatives a rhetorical stick to beat him with in the next election — he promised that once he was Prime Minister, he'd fix it.
The old Canadian Conservative government of Stephen Harper had many controversial policies (cough climate denial cough), with mass surveillance powers very near the top of the charts.
Canada Post claimed a "crown copyright" over the postal codes assigned to Canadian homes, meaning that Canadian organisations and businesses could only use this vital information if they paid — that is, they'd have to pay to access something their taxes already paid for, and the richer you were, the more access you could afford.
Michael Geist writes, "The Canadian federal court has released its much anticipated decision in Voltage Pictures v. Does, a case involving demands that TekSavvy, a leading independent ISP, disclose the identities of roughly 2,000 subscribers alleged to have downloaded movies without authorization. — Read the rest
Michael Geist sez,
— Read the rest
Canada Post has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Geolytica, which operates GeoCoder.ca, a website that provides several geocoding services including free access to a crowdsourced compiled database of Canadian postal codes. Canada Post argues that it is the exclusive copyright holder of all Canadian postal codes and claims that GeoCoder appropriated the database and made unauthorized reproductions.
Michael Geist sez,
— Read the restThe Internet battle against SOPA and PIPA generated huge interest in Canada with many Canadians turning their sites dark (including Blogging Tories, Project Gutenberg Canada, and CIPPIC) in support of the protest. While SOPA may be dead (for now) in the U.S.,
Last night I had the extreme pleasure of attending the Hugo Awards ceremony at the World Science Fiction Convention and of losing two Hugos to two of the nicest, most deserving people in science fiction: my friend and teacher Nancy Kress (Best Novella for "The Erdmann Nexus") and my friend and copyfight comrade Neil Gaiman (Best Novel for "The Graveyard Book"). — Read the rest
Law students at the University of Ottawa's Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) have created a great, 5-minute video explaining time-shifting and Canadian copyright law. In light of recent efforts to reform Canadian copyright law, this is perfect, informative material to show to your friends. — Read the rest
It's that time of year again — time to make some charitable donations while the giving spirit is on you and while you have the chance to shelter some of your income from the revenooers. I'm rerunning last year's Charitable giving guide for the end-of-year, with a few updates. — Read the rest
The University of Ottawa's Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic has just released a huge, deep report on the privacy implications of various DRM systems. They examine 16 different systems in depth and conclude that DRM is a grave threat to personal privacy. — Read the rest
It's time to donate — the time of year when you have to give your money to charity or turn it over to the gubmint. I've just done a marathon round of end-of-year charitable giving:
US Charities
Electronic Frontier Foundation: EFF always gets my largest annual donation. — Read the rest
Last night at an all-candidates meeting, the Canadian Member of Parliament who takes large campaign contributions from the entertainment industry and delivers American-style copyright laws in return was confronted by her constituents, who demanded that she account for her actions.
Sam Bulte is the Liberal MP for Parkdale/High Park, and is running for her third term in office. — Read the rest
Ren sez,
— Read the restI wanted to let you know that OnlineRights.ca (or "ORC"), a new Canadian grassroots collaboration between EFF and CIPPIC, just launched an online petition drive on Sam Bulte's copyright-for-cash scandal. People can voice their support for Michael Geist's "Copyright Pledge," which asks all politicians to swear off money from copyright lobbyists if they're involved in setting copyright policy.
Sam Bulte, a Canadian Liberal Member of Parliament, has been exposed in the national media for funding her campaign with large cash contributions from the entertainment industry and subsequently delivering Drconian, American-style copyright laws while in office.
Last week, I blogged about Bulte's unique, US-style campaign, wherein Bulte rewards her corporate contributors by making laws that extend their monopolies and undermine the public interest. — Read the rest
Michael Geist sez,
— Read the restA substantial group of Canada's security technology companies have sent a public letter to the Industry and Heritage Ministers to express concern about the potential for DMCA-like legislation in Canada. Years of discussions and no one bothered to ask these guys what they think.
Congrats to the Canadian Creative Commons project on launching its license today! Now Canadians have an easy way to license their works so that others can re-use them, share them, and improve on them.
The only fly in the ointment for me is this: I really wish they'd set up the licenses so that they constituted a blanket waiver of Moral Rights, but I can't fault them for making it optional. — Read the rest
Andrew sez, "The Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic is porting the Creative Commons licensing system to work under Canadian copyright law." Woohoo!
(Thanks, Andrew!)
