Lawsuits in Canada !

[zorankarapancev]

Music industry ready to launch dozens of lawsuits in Canada

The lawsuits will target high-volume music traders — people who store several thousand MP3 song files on their computers and make them available through the Internet for others to download. At least 20 individuals are being pursued, though the recording industry has previously said it would go after 30 to 40 individuals. Nine customers of Rogers Cable have been targeted. Seven customers at Bell Sympatico are affected, as well as three at Telus, which is based in Burnaby, B.C. Nine customers of Rogers Cable have been targeted. Seven customers at Bell Sympatico are affected, as well as three at Telus, which is based in Burnaby, B.C.

Bell Canada, Rogers Cable, Telus Corp. and Shaw Communications Inc. are among major Internet service providers being told to expect federal court orders early next week that would require them to identify Internet subscribers who are allegedly pirating this music.

"We believe this application amounts to a civil search warrant, and we do not think that the music companies' application should override our responsibility in law to protect the rights of our customers to maintain their privacy," chief executive Jim Shaw said in a statement."We intend to ask the court to preserve the privacy of our customers."

David Bennett, director of marketing for Rogers Hi-Speed Internet, said his company has "some concerns" about the terms of the motion.

Telus said it would be seeking an adjournment so its customers have more time to respond.

Bell Canada was less committal. "We're not going to share our strategy at this time," spokesperson Don Blair said. "We're still evaluating our options."

"Real live kids and their families should not become collateral damage in test cases where the law is uncertain and the industry is desperately seeking scapegoats," said Howard Knopf, an intellectual property lawyer in Ottawa.

[MikieV]

...edit...

The lawsuits will target high-volume music traders people who store several thousand MP3 song files on their computers and make them available through the Internet for others to download.

...edit...

"Real live kids and their families should not become collateral damage in test cases where the law is uncertain and the industry is desperately seeking scapegoats," said Howard Knopf, an intellectual property lawyer in Ottawa.

Interesting use of the term "scapegoat".

I especially like the assertion that this will impact "Real live kids", as if only kids are doing this? 8) Or is it: Don't allow any of this, because some of them may be "just kids"?

It will be interesting to see how this goes. If they can't press these cases, then everyone else (with less content to share) should be able to rest easy.

Another interesting point will be, how many of those "several thousand MP3 song files" are copywrited? Legal answer will probably be "all of them" since if the artist hasn't specifically waived the rights, it is automatically in force (at least in USA?).

Note: "?" means I'm talking out my butt, with no sound legal knowledge implied!

Mike

[Gazorgan]

Different definition of "Fair Use" in Canada than in the US or UK. Although as I recal MP3 sharing isn't legal, but having a copy of a CD is (they pay 'for the rights' with a piracy excise on blank media, the main reason costs are so high up their besides the excahnge rate!).

[coyote]

The law up there also states its legal to download...just not upload. Good reason to have different upload and download directories.

[jaxxboss]

As far as making them available for others to download, well the same can be said for leaving your door unlocked and making available your cd's for others to come into ur house and copy them and then leave.
Will that be the next step? If i want to store my bought cd's in a folder thats my business, if someone online is gonna go into my folder and grab something, then get that person, not me.

Yea, its all a crock what I just said, but thats my argument in court and it could work....unless they read this post

[MikieV]

As far as making them available for others to download, well the same can be said for leaving your door unlocked and making available your cd's for others to come into ur house and copy them and then leave.

WhooHoo!

What's your address? I want to swing-by with a spindle of blank CDs! :P :P :P

Edit Is your place BYOB? (Bring you own burner).

Mike

[BJ_M]

notice: i'll be offline for awhile due to unforseen things ...










just kidding

[zorankarapancev]

The Canadian Recording Industry Association must wait until at least March 12 before finding out the online identities of 29 alleged music pirates.

Justice Konrad von Finckenstein, weighing the complexity of the issue, concluded that more information was needed to understand whether the Internet service providers could technically comply with the order and what impact this would have on federal privacy laws.

CRIA wants the names, addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses of the alleged pirates, but all it has so far are the IP addresses that are assigned to their online computers.

Calling it a "fascinating" case, he adjourned the proceeding for 24 days but ordered the five service providers to preserve all historical customer data related to the request.

CRIA, anticipating an adjournment, issued a statement minutes after the decision.

"While the court has decided to adjourn for a couple of weeks, we see this as progress, due legal process that will, in the end, allow us to file suits against flagrant copyright infringers," said CRIA general counsel Richard Pfohl.

CRIA lawyer Ronald Dimock of Dimock Stratton Clarizio LLP said the accused will have 30 days to file statements of defence after being sued, giving them plenty of time to hire legal counsel and weigh their options.He added that the court order was "time sensitive" because the 29 alleged music pirates, if given enough notice, could have an opportunity to erase directories and files on their computers that could otherwise be used as evidence.

But Justice von Finckenstein, who was commissioner of the Competition Bureau before being appointed a federal court judge last August, seemed to reject this argument. He said that the accused music swappers may already know who they are because of publicly available court documents and media reports that list their online "pseudonyms."

Downloading songs for free is generally considered to be legal in Canada because of a levy consumers pay on blank recording media. Far less clear is where the law stands on people who make songs available on the Internet for others to download.

"This is too serious an issue, too serious an order, to have it go without having a proper argument," said Watson, adding that Telus will not be "enlisted without limit as the music industry's detective." Telus was not in the business of keeping historical records on customers in the way that a bank may keep historical financial data on its clients, he added. "This is not simply the case of walking to a filing cabinet, making a photocopy and handing it over."

Shaw, the only service provider directly challenging CRIA's motion, echoed many of the concerns raised by Telus. Lawyer Charles Scott from Lax O'Sullivan Scott warned the court to be "careful, cautious and circumspect" before casting aside the personal privacy rights of consumers and opening them up to expensive lawsuits many will be forced to settle. Regarding the technical ability to comply with a court order, Scott said Shaw's cable network "dynamically" assigns IP address to computers on its network, meaning those addresses are regularly re-assigned to other customers and don't provide a reliable historical record of a particular subscriber.

Scott added that the information and conclusions that come out of a historical record is "expert evidence at best and speculation at worst."

Stay tuned.

[BJ_M]

further to the above -- it was shown that 3 names (handles/IP's) on the list never had accounts with the ISP and were not the correct range of IP for that ISP (in B.C.)

[aggies11]

Down with static IP's!....


One reason to go back to dialup...

Aggies