Cyberpiracy North of the Border
Declan McCullagh,
CNet News.com,
Oct 27, 2003
By 'north of the border' the myopic headline writer means 'Canada'. No matter. This interesting interview with Michael Geist, the Canada research chair in Internet and e-commerce law at the University of Ottawa. The interview is mostly a pretty good summary of Canada's different approach to copyright law than is found south of the border. There's still a spin though. Geist asserts, for example, that the law " ... lets Canadians make private copies for noncommercial use... we justify the exemption by way of a levy that applies to blank media such as blank CDs and blank audio cassettes." Not so. We justify the exemption by recognizing the individual's right to listen to their won media. We pay for that exception via the levy. Two different concepts, and it takes a certain spun mind to see them as unified. What really comes out in the interview, though, is the requirement that some sort of due process be followed before any penalties can be applied against alleged infringers. Important. Very important.
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