Copyright bill to enshrine digital locks, user rights

[Swede]

The Conservative government is vastly expanding the ability of businesses to digitally lock their products and prevent consumers from breaking those locks.

It’s one of the main provisions in a bill tabled today to amend Canada’s Copyright Act.

The bill will make it illegal to break these technological measures or devices that prevent unauthorized access to the copyrighted material, with fines of up to $1,000,000 and five years in jail.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/817865--copyright-bill-to-enshrine-digital-locks-user-rights?bn=1

[CHIMO]

1. Geist: Long-awaited copyright reform plan flawed but flexible

Copyright has long been viewed as one of the government’s most difficult and least rewarding policy issues. It attracts passionate views from a wide range of stakeholders, including creators, consumers, businesses, and educators and is the source of significant political pressure from the United States. Opinions are so polarized that legislative reform is seemingly always the last resort that only comes after months of delays.

The latest chapter in the Canadian copyright saga unfolded Wednesday as Industry Minister Tony Clement and Canadian Heritage James Moore tabled copyright reform legislation billed as providing both balance and a much-needed modernization of the law.

The bill will require careful study (suggestions that a quick set of summer hearings will provide an effective review should be summarily rejected) but the initial analysis is that there were some serious efforts to find compromise positions on many thorny copyright issues.

Unfortunately, the legal protection for digital locks - unquestionably the biggest and most controversial digital copyright issue - is the one area where there is no compromise.

http://www.thestar.com/business/media/article/818180--geist-long-awaited-copyright-reform-plan-flawed-but-flexible?bn=1