Conference Board ‘report’ scandal escalates
p2pnet news view | P2P | Politics:- An independent study commissioned and then ignored by the Conference Board of Canada is, “fuelling further debate over the research organization’s most recent report on copyright in Canada,” says the Ottawa Citizen.
Ottawa law professor and internet activist Dr Michael Geist delivered a stinging, itemised break-down of what he called the Conference Board of Canada’s Deceptive, Plagiarized Digital Economy Report, said p2pnet yesterday.
Borrowing heavily from a document inspired principally by the major Hollywood studios and Big 4 record labels, the ‘report’ claims Canada is the file swapping capital of the world.
Geist pointed out the similarities in a paragraph-by-paragraph comparison and predictably, in a bid to try to justify the ‘findings’, the board is angrily denying his allegations.
Now, another University of Ottawa law professor, Jeremy de Beer (right), was commissioned by the board last spring to conduct independent research on copyright legislation, says the Ottawa Citizen.
He delivered his findings in the fall, says the story, going on »»»
The working paper was reviewed by researchers at the board while they were compiling data to complete their copyright report.
De Beer’s findings ran counter to many of the board’s conclusions and was not mentioned in the board’s final report called Intellectual Property Rights in the Digital Economy, which was released Friday.
“In addition to the Ottawa Citizen story, there is coverage from the CBC along with a stinging article from the Vancouver Sun’s Gillian Shaw titled ‘Will the Real Blackbeard Please Stand Up’, which asks ‘could it be a report accusing Canada of being the pirating capital of the world used pirated material?’ – says blogs Geist today, adding:
“Moreover, there is mounting international coverage with postings in Germany and Italy.
“Despite the outrage over the issue, the Conference Board of Canada seems determined to stand its ground, ignoring the factual inaccuracies, the violation of plagiarism principles for appropriate citation, and its own commissioned research.”
The report is largely based on the findings of the International Intellectual Property Alliance 2008 Special 301 Report, notes the Ottawa Citizen, adding:
“De Beer’s research challenges the 301 report by stating, ’such sources have been exposed as lacking creditability,’ in the working paper provided to the board called Copyright and Innovation in the Networked Information Economy.”
Stay tuned.
Ottawa Citizen – Debate intensifies over independent think-tank’s report on copyright, May 27, 2009
p2pnet – Conference Board denies Geist allegations, May 26, 2009
Geist – Conference Board Plagiarism Story Front Page News For Second Day, May 27, 2009
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May 27th, 2009 at 11:26 am
No matter what happens to the copyright laws, nobody is going to make us start paying for
file sharing. No one in their right mind would actually PAY for most the crap they download.
We are NOT customers. Most of the artists are lucky we even spent the time to steal their
crappy stuff. If we had to pay, it wouldn’t be heard by anybody.
May 27th, 2009 at 11:39 am
I hope this inspires other groups to commission reports, maybe then, with enough independent reports, the **AA can be proven WRONG not just by ‘heretic’ file sharing ‘thieves’ but by actual neutral research, by multiple independent analysts and researchers. Maybe then, Congress will wake up and realize they’ve been lead by the nose.
Wouldn’t this look good for Canada if that were to happen?
“Canada, once hailed Pirate Capital, responsible for copyright reform that makes sense in the digital age. Canada’s newest policies protect consumers, customers, and artists from abuse of power by corporations, while protecting the temporary privileges (formerly known as “rights”) of the creators of content and IP. Now other countries are following suit, including even the US where the whole debacle started.”
Let’s hope this is more than a little flatulence in a windstorm.
May 27th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
This is just yet another screaming indicator of an unfair playing field, with kangaroo courts and paid for politicians. They’ll be passing more laws under the cover of darkness that will further trample the rights and freedoms of honest people, criminalizing them, in the name of outdated economics toward an attempt to gain a monopolistic strangle hold on a “digital economy” they don’t at all understand. The digital era is only an “economy” such that the people are willing! No laws or restrictions will change that.
It’s pathetic to see a bought “think tank” recommended more restrictions than there already is that can’t and don’t and never have worked. When the economy only exists in their mind at the cost of our rights and freedoms, then it’s time for (r)evolution.