Canada considers file-swap crackdown

[canadateck]

TORONTO — Those who enjoy swapping music, books and movies on-line may want to reconsider.

The federal government inched closer Thursday to cracking down on file sharing by announcing several proposed amendments to the Copyright Act.

The changes would include the signing of two World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) treaties and forcing Internet service providers to keep records of those who share high volumes of copyright-protected material such as songs, Hollywood movies and TV shows.

The amendments would "clarify that the unauthorized posting or the peer-to-peer file-sharing of material on the Internet will constitute an infringement of copyright," say documents released jointly Thursday by Canadian Heritage and Industry Canada.

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"It will also be made clear that private copies of sound recordings cannot be uploaded or further distributed."

The reforms, which will be introduced in the House of Commons later this spring, would give the music industry greater power to stop such behaviour through the courts via lawsuits. Currently, it is not illegal in Canada to upload material to programs like Kazaa and BearShare.

"Clearly, once we get implementation there'll be no doubt . . . it'll be illegal to engage in unauthorized file-sharing," said Graham Henderson, who heads the Canadian Recording Industry Association, which represents the country's record labels.

Adding Canada's name to the list of 50 countries already using the WIPO treaties would make it illegal to distribute and trade music on-line.

It would also become a crime to remove or circumvent copyright protections on CDs.

The amendments also ask that ISPs such as Rogers, Shaw and Bell "play a role in curbing the misuse of their facilities for copyright infringement."

ISPs would have to notify subscribers when illegal activity is detected via their Internet connection. They would also be required, as is the case in the United States and parts of Europe, to keep a log of such warnings in case of a lawsuit — although a court order would be needed to make the names and addresses known to prosecutors.

In pre-committee meetings the copyright amendments were approved by all political parties

http://www.globetechnology.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050324.gtcopyrightmar24/BNStory/Technology/

[romanacleph]

Maybe I didn't read this right....the law will be amended to criminalize uploading, but does it criminalize DOWNLOADING? I had understood from a previous court case (2003) in Canada that it was not ILLEGAL to D/L.

[HillJack]

I say bring it on - provided they get rid of all the b.s. levy's imposed on (it seems like) everything computer-related, so the majority of us are no longer paying for stuff we don't even do (why I have to pay a levy on blank media when on the 600 +/- CD's i've burned over the years, a grand total of 3 have music on them).

Mind you, knowing Canadian government, they'll do both, just because they can; pretty soon there will be a levy on air.

[romanacleph]

Just curious, if you obtain via gift or purchase, such taxed items from a US source, are you still taxed on them? For example, if you walk across the border, or, someone sends you a present from beyond Canadian borders?

Cheers

[BJ_M]

depends on the amount and other factors

[canadateck]

Music industry back in court to fight pirates
CTV.ca News Staff

Canada's record labels aren't giving up the fight to find out the identities of 29 people suspected of uploading vast amounts of music files. On Wednesday, the Canadian Recording Industry Association began an appeal hoping to overturn an earlier decision denying them the information.

The accused are charged with uploading files; that is taking official store bought recordings and making them available online for file sharing. It is these people who are in the crosshairs, and not the casual user who will download a file from time to time.

If the identities of the 29 suspects are revealed, Canada's recording industry could sue them to recoup money lost to free peer-to-peer downloading networks like Kazaa or LimeWire.
The three judges hearing the panel want the CRIA to prove the lower court judge made a mistake in interpreting Canada's copyright laws.

Last year, Justice Konrad von Finckenstein said he wasn't convinced with evidence linking network pseudonyms to specific IP addresses.

The evidence came from New York-based anti-piracy company MediaSentry. They used screen grabs showing a list of songs in a shared folder. But Internet service providers countered MediaSentry's evidence, saying IP addresses couldn't always be linked to a single computer.

Von Finckenstein sided with the service providers, saying, "It would be irresponsible for the court to order the disclosure of the name of the account holder of IP address 24.84.179.98 and expose this individual to a lawsuit by the plaintiffs."

"No evidence was presented that the alleged infringers either distributed or authorized the reproduction of sound recordings," the judge wrote. "They merely placed personal copies into their shared directories."

David Fewer, a lawyer representing the general public at the trial, says the big legal issue here is finding out how strong the evidence against a suspected copyright infringer has to be before their online privacy rights are overridden.

"This hearing is all about the test that the court will apply whenever somebody comes to it alleging copyright infringement," he says.

Meanwhile, Bell Canada, Shaw Communications, Telus Communications and Rogers Cable are fighting the CRIA's request to reveal the identities of suspected infringers. They say Canada's privacy laws prevent them from doing so unless there's a court order.

But Videotron has agreed to comply, saying its owner, Quebecor, is concerned about piracy in other parts of its business including television, newspapers and CDs.

iTunes is the leading vendor for legal file sharing, and they sell approximately one million songs per month at $0.99 a piece. But that pales in comparison to the 134 million songs downloaded illegally every month.
The film and television sectors are not part of the current case, but are watching the legal proceedings with interest. The future of their industries hangs in the balance too.

With files from the Canadian Press

[canadateck]

Von Finckenstein sided with the service providers, saying, "It would be irresponsible for the court to order the disclosure of the name of the account holder of IP address 24.84.179.98 and expose this individual to a lawsuit by the plaintiffs."

"No evidence was presented that the alleged infringers either distributed or authorized the reproduction of sound recordings," the judge wrote. "They merely placed personal copies into their shared directories."

This says alot,More then I have heard else where,.

[ROBERT BLACK]

It won't happen. Not for a considerable while. And certainly not with the current condition of the Federal Canadian government. As for Shaw,Rogers et all I think if they want to keep customers they know which route to take.

[BJ_M]

hey - thats my IP !!!

Videotron has always rolled over -- but didnt their empire get a lot of the ad scandal money ?








(j/k on the IP btw)