Proposed DMCA-like amendments to Canadian copyright law are drawi...
Proposed DMCA-like amendments to Canadian copyright law are drawing opposition from Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart. The bill’s proposal to authorize use of DRM could raise privacy concerns, she said in a letter to Minister of Industry Jim Prentice and…
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Minister of Canadian Heritage Josee Verner, the amendments’ advocates. The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act keeps businesses from collecting, using or disclosing personal data unless it’s “appropriate in the circumstances,” narrowly tailored, and the subject consents, she said. DRM that doesn’t phone home is privacy-friendly, but previous bids to amend the Copyright Act contained anticircumvention provisions barring consumers from blocking transmission of their information through DRM, she said. Stoddart cited Sony BMG’s infamous CD DRM that secretly installed itself on user PCs, transmitting data on the IP address, user attempts to copy the music, and other personal information. Any legislation should avoid legalizing that, she said. Stoddart also warned against reviving old proposals to require ISPs to forward copyright- infringement notices to subscribers and keep their network- use records a year. Any measure must have a threshold for issuing notices and limits on data collection and retention, she said. Bill critics are targeting MPs backing the amendments but who seem vulnerable to academic pressure. Michael Geist, Canada research chairman of Internet and e- commerce law at the University of Ottawa, compiled a list of MPs who won their last elections by 10 percent or less in districts that are home to universities. The “Copyright MPs” include 11 Liberals, 10 Conservatives and six minor-party members. The amendments to Canada’s Copyright Act are “anti- education,” and should stir not just professors but also students to action, Geist said: “In some ridings [districts], less than 1,000 votes -- roughly the size of some large first-year courses -- is needed to swing the entire riding.” For example, in 2006 Conservative MP Rod Bruinooge won his Winnipeg South district, which includes the 30,000-student University of Manitoba, by 111 votes, Geist said. “If you are Prime Minister Stephen Harper, how many ridings are you prepared to put at risk” for the bill, he asked. “While there may be relatively few Canadians who will vote for a party because of copyright, a growing number might vote against a party because of it.”