p2pnet news view Politics | Freedom:- Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper and US president Barack Obama are scheduled for a sit-down tomorrow and according to the Toronto Star, with Obama will be, “a raft of his most powerful political deputies”.

The pow-wow will kick off with a “15-minute one-on-one meeting,” then a “restricted” meeting with senior officials, followed by a working lunch with officials, says CTV.

At the top of the agenda will be the worsening economic crisis and given that Hollywood and the Big 4 record labels claim world economies depend on them and their ‘product,’ will the double act of Tom Perrelli and Don Verrilli, two RIAA henchman who are now among those in charge of the US Department of Justice, be included in Obama’s entourage?

And if they are, will Canada’s, “regrettable but well-deserved reputation as a safe haven for Internet pirates” be included in topics for discussion?

According to entertainment industry’s International Intellectual Property Alliance(IIPA) ’special’ 301 ‘report,’ “A number of the world’s most notorious and prolific BitTorrent sites for online piracy are hosted or have operators based in Canada.”

It goes on »»»

Multiple, and often connected, Internet sites in Canada are used as a massive international distribution vehicle for pirated audio-visual material. No other developed country is farther behind the curve in combating copyright infringement in cyberspace. No Canadian enforcement authority currently has adequate resources, training and legal tools to tackle the problem effectively.

Meanwhile, most copyright industry sectors report serious offline piracy problems as well.

Recommending that Canada be “elevated” to the ‘Priority Watch List’ in 2009, “As we enter the thirteenth year following negotiation of the WIPO Internet Treaties, in which Canada played an important and positive role, Canada, virtually alone among developed economies in the OECD, remains almost entirely out of compliance with the global minimum world standards embodied in the Treaties,” says the report, initiated and largely funded by: Vivendi Universal, EMI, Warner Music and Sony BMG’s RIAA; and, Time Warner, Viacom, Fox, Sony, NBC Universal and Disney.

It states »»»

In 2008, its government finally tabled a bill (Bill C-61) that would do part of the job of meeting global standards; but Parliament was dissolved for new elections before any action was taken.

The report conveniently neglects to mention the reason the Canadian DMCA failed to see the light of day was because of outrage exhibited by Canadians across the country.

“While significantly flawed [the bill failed to meet movie and music industry requirements], particularly with regard to the role of service providers in combating online piracy [they haven't yet agreed to act as corporate copyright cops], Bill C-61 is likely to provide a starting point for future consideration of copyright reform in Canada, and we discuss a number of elements thereof in this submission,” says the IIPA arrogantly.

“Canada should be encouraged to enact a new version of the bill, with major improvements in several areas [as per our instructions], this year, says the ‘report’.

This will, “entail introduction of a new bill no later than this spring [or else],” it states.

WTF? What gives this America commercial outfit the right to tell Canadians not only what to do, but when to do it?

It adds »»»

Canada’s enforcement record also falls far short of what should be expected of our neighbor and largest trading partner, with ineffective border controls, insufficient enforcement resources, inadequate enforcement policies, and a seeming unwillingness to impose deterrent penalties on pirates.

Canada’s Parliamentary leadership and government, at the highest levels, have acknowledged many of these deficiencies, but have done very little to address them. As a consequence, the piracy picture in Canada is at least as bleak as it was a year ago.

Only two of America’s top 10 trading partners (China and South Korea) surpass Canada’s record of appearing continuously on a Special 301 list every year since 1995. To underscore U.S. [read Vivendi Universal, EMI, Warner Music and Sony BMG; and, Time Warner, Viacom, Fox, Sony, NBC Universal and Disney] insistence that Canada finally take action to address the serious piracy problem it has allowed to develop just across our border, and that it bring its outmoded laws up to contemporary international standards, IIPA recommends that Canada be elevated to the Priority Watch List in 2009.

‘… best friend and next-door neighbour’

Corrupt corporations whose only interest is in making their shareholders richer than they already are have the effrontery to lecture a sovereign nation as though it’s a naughty schoolboy?

And supposed Canadian leader Stephen Harper lets them get away with it?

Obama’s first foreign trip is, “going to begin with our best friend and next-door neighbour Canada,”  the Toronto Star has Gordon Giffin, a former US ambassador to Canada, saying.

“That’s an awfully important signal to send within 30 days of taking power, especially when we have all this strife at home.”

Speaking of signals, I hope when Harper meets Obama tomorrow, he’ll tell the US president loud and clear he’ll absolutely not accept this kind of insulting hectoring and lecturing from hard-core commercial entitities with no role in the governance of Canada, or anywhere else, and which consider lies and extortion legitimate business tools.

However, I’m not holding my breath.

UPDATE:- I’ve just emailed deputy press secretary Bill Burton [wburton@who.eop.gov], saying:

“The entertainment industry’s International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) has accused Canada of being a ’safe haven for pirates’.  http://www.iipa.com/rbc/2009/2009SPEC301CANADA.pdf

“Will this be raised during the discussions between president Obama and prime minister Harper?”

Jon Newton – p2pnet

February , 2009

---

Use free p2pnet newsfeeds for your site. It’s really easy!
Subscribe to p2pnet.net | | rss feed: http://p2pnet.net/p2p.rss | | Mobile – http://p2pnet.net/index-wml.php

---

Net access blocked by government restrictions? Use Psiphon from the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto. Go here for details.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 18th, 2009 at 2:35 pm and is filed under Freedom, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

HOME

Viewed 3187 times