The Obama Effect on IP

IP-Watch has a good analysis of the likely direction of the Obama administration here. IP-Watch also speculates on some Obama appointments here.

Although a Democratic administration is likely to be very sympathetic to the wishes of IP owners and rightly so, there is reason to hope that the Obama administration will take a more nuanced approach than we've seen in the past as a result of such factors as:

• Obama's commitment to affordable health care
• Obama's commitment to improving child education in order to improve competitiveness
  
• Obama's experience as an academic
• the very Internet savvy campaign he ran
• the need to balance traditional Democrat protectionist instincts with the pressing need to to restore America's lead in high tech R&D and even manufacturing
  
• the need for the USA to regain respect internationally by informed policy leadership and not by brute force trade hegemony
• the need to satisfy likely great expectations from Africa and developing countries in other regions
  
• more intellectual rigor and honesty in separating bogus terrorism and exaggerated counterfeiting issues from real trade and IP issues.
  

It's worth noting that Bill Clinton's IP point man, Bruce Lehman, has stated that the DMCA "didn't work out very well" under the last Democratic administration. Hopefully, Bruce's soul searching and public confessions will impart valuable wisdom to the new Democratic White House, whether or not he has part to play in it.

As I say, and without being political, there is now indeed plenty of reason to hope.




HK

Patry on RIAA - "Canada Insulted Again"

Here is an essential-reading posting from Bill Patry, great American copyright treatise author. It concerns the US Congressional International Anti-Piracy Caucus (IPAC) and the RIAA.

Here's an extract. "Chapter 12" refers to the US Copyright Act, and Chapter 12 is the guts of the dreaded DMCA, which Bruce Lehman, its architect, also now admits "didn't work out very well."

...Once chapter 12 is implemented into domestic law, it is U.S. corporate copyright interests that will shape what consumer goods can be used in your country and how citizens of your country will be able to access and use lawfully acquired copies of works. No legislature that is amending its copyright law should do so without understanding the momentous delegation of power they are handing to U.S. corporate interests.

This is not a piracy issue, it is nothing remotely resembling piracy. It is Orwellian to claim otherwise. The designation of Canada as a scofflaw because it hasn't implemented chapter 12 of title 17 is not only an abuse of language, but also a direct attack on the sovereignty of another country to determine what is in the public interest of its own citizens. Canada has more than adequate laws against real piracy, and as Howard Knopf had pointed out, its laws are more generous toward authors than is U.S. law. No legislature in the world should abdicate its responsibility to protect the public interest by vesting the private sector with the powers granted in chapter 12 of title 17. But Canadian abdication is exactly what is being proposed by U.S. interests, the false justification being that Canada is a pirate haven because it hasn't implemented the U.S. DMCA.

Canadian policy makers would be unwise not to listen to Bill Patry and Bruce Lehman - both of whom know the DMCA for what is.

Let's hope our Canadian "IP Caucus" is paying close attention.

HK

IIPA, DMCA, 301, and Canadian Copyright Sovereignty

Canada is now on the IIPA "priority watch list."

This is clearly a blatant bullying attempt to influence domestic Canadian copyright reform, and the allegations are very wrong - especially since Canada already provides much stronger copyright protection in many important respects than the USA.

But don't take my word for it....

Here's a brilliant take on the IIPA, DMCA and Canada, from Bill Patry. This is a MUST to read. Bill is the author of a new and very important seven volume treatise on American copyright law and has taken a great interest in Canadian issues...

As Bill reports:

So what are the IIPA’s beefs? The principal ones ostensibly concern Canada’s failure to implement the 1996 WIPO treaties. Examination of the IIPA’s 301 reports reveals, though, that what it has in mind is simply adoption of U.S. law, not amendments to Canada law that are consistent with the treaties obligations. The WIPO treaties modestly require only remedies for circumvention of Technological Protection Measures (TPMs) that involve the exercise of exclusive rights. Although the U.S. attempted to have the treaties include remedies for circumvention of access controls, other countries rejected the U.S.’s efforts. One would never know this from the IIPA’s reports, which mix the two together and lead readers to believe both are required; they are not.

...

The intense, negative reaction of Canadian citizens to IIPA’s efforts is well-taken. Why any government would want to adopt approaches that have been admitted to be a dismal failure in the U.S. by the law’s own ardent author, and that are not required by the WIPO treaties is a mystery.

Read all of Bill's blog. More to come on this for sure.....

HK

Richard Stallman on CDN DRM ("Digitial Restrictions Management")

The legendary “free software” ("free" refers to “liberty, not price”) proponent, Richard Stallman, has contacted me and expressed his appreciation of my post about how Canadian copyright law is already stronger and better in many ways than American law.

He has pointed out that hat "DRM" also stands for “Digital Restrictions Management” and has warned Canadians to take action to stop it. He has also written a letter to the editor of the Hill Times about this and about my piece in that publication dated November 26, 2007.

Canada should listen carefully to American experts such as Richard Stallman We must learn from American excesses and errors. Even Bruce Lehman, architect of the DMCA, has effectively told Canada so more than once.

What Richard Stallman says is very important and is watched and admired by many influential people. He is one of the illustrious pantheon of EFF Pioneeer Awards Recipients and recipient of many other honors and honorary doctorate degrees.

HK

More Media Coverage of "DMCA North" and Throne Speech

There's a well balanced article by David George-Cosh on the reference to copyright in the Throne Speech in the Financial Post/National Post today, October 20, 2007.

Several of the usual suspects were quoted or referred to, including Michael Geist, Graham Henderson, and yours truly.

The focus of the article is on what might be called "DMCA North", or the attempt of CRIA and the USA Government to import American style copyright law to Canada.

This is nothing if not ironic because, as Michael Geist has documented, the architect of the DMCA, Bruce Lehman has "acknowledged that "our Clinton administration policies didn't work out very well" and "our attempts at copyright control have not been successful."

Also, see Shane Schick for another piece that makes some good points on the Throne Speech in IT World Canada, here.

HK