Copyright lobby spyware amendments dumped
p2pnet news view P2P | Politics:- With the Industry Committee now scheduled to contact its final clause-by-clause review of Bill C-27 on Wednesday, sources in the Liberal Party advise that its MPs plan to withdraw several controversial copyright lobby-inspired amendments to the computer program and spyware provisions.
Since first reported on Friday, thousands of emails and letters protesting the proposals have been sent to Industry committee MPs from all parties.
Sources indicate that the Liberals will withdraw three motions actively promoted by the copyright lobby:
- a new definition of computer program that would have excluded surreptitiously installed DRM from the ambit of the bill
- an exception to a ban on the “collection of personal information through any means of telecommunication, if the collection is made by accessing a computer system or causing a computer system to be accessed without authorization” in cases related to investigations of breach of agreements or laws
- an exception for telecom providers to the requirement to obtain express consent before users install programs on their computers
While anything can be happen over the next 24 hours, the decision to withdraw the motions – in combination with the Conservatives reversal on several exceptions that watered down the bill – should mean that the Electronic Commerce Protection Act is preserved as a consumer protection bill as it gets through committee.
However, the lobbying to water down the bill will no doubt continue as the bill moves to the floor of the House of Commons and then on to the Senate.
Michael Geist – Michael Geist’s Blog
[Geist is the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa. He can be reached by email at mgeist @ uottawa dot ca]
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi
October, 2009
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October 22nd, 2009 at 4:09 am
Michael, could it be that the enforcement and spying elements were dropped in full knowledge of the agenda in two weeks time at the Korean ACTA conference?
Could it be that the legislators (read lobbyists) considered they have some latitude in encouraging the sense of a win, whilst behind closed doors they will still be pushing for full intrusive and privacy breaching anti counterfeiting trade (cough cough) agreement global legisalation?