[d@DCC] Letter from office of Heritage Minister.

From: Russell McOrmond <russell _-at-_ flora.ca>
To: General Copyright Discussions <discuss (at) list.digital-copyright.ca>
Date: Thu, 14 Apr 2005 22:48:05 -0400 (EDT)

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   I typed the following from a letter I received in the mail.

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Dear Mr. McOrmond:

I am writing in response to your correspondence of March 7, 2005, 
forwarded by Mr. David Mcguinty, Member of Parliament, to the Honourable 
Liza Frulla, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Minister responsible for 
Status of Women, regarding copyright policy development.

Ms. Frulla appreciates being advised on your views and has noted your 
comments with respect to this matter.  Your concerns relate to the World 
Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) treaties on copyright, the WIPO 
Copyright Treaty (WCT) and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty 
(WPPT).

In December 1996, the WIPO Treaties were created at a Diplomatic 
Conference held in Geneva, Switzerland.  In December 1997, Canada signed 
but did not ratify the Treaties.  Since that time, the Treaties have come 
into force and currently there are 49 ratifications of the WCT and 46 
ratifications of the WPPT.  Some of Canada's major trading partners, 
including the United States of America and Japan, have ratified the 
Treaties.  The European Union, which now comprises 25 countries, is in the 
process of introducing legislation that will allow all of its members to 
ratify the Treaties.

In October 2002, the Government of Canada published a report entitled 
Supporting Culture and Innovation: Report on the Provisions and Operation 
of the Copyright Act.  The report states that "The government of Canada is 
committed to bringing the Copyright Act in conformity with the WCT and 
WPPT once the issues involved are thoroughly analyzed and appropriately 
consulted upon."  This document, also known as the Section 92 report, is 
available on-line at 
http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/internet/incrp-prda.nsf/en/rp00863e.html .

../2

Through analysis and in-depth consultations are essential to ensure that 
any legislation adopted will best serve the public interest of all 
Canadians.  To this end, parliamentarians have the mandate and have had 
the opportunity to listen to interested stakeholder and to review the 
issues.  In May 2004, following extensive consultations, the Standing 
Committee on Canadian Heritage tabled its Interim Report on Copyright 
Reform.  The report is available on-line by visiting the parliamentary Web 
site at 
http://www.parl.gc.ca/InfocomDoc/Documents/37/3/parlbus/commbus/house/reports/herip01-e.htm 
. The report includes a recommendation that Canada introduce the 
legislation necessary to ratify the WIPO Treaties.  On November 3, 3004, 
the Standing Committee re-tabled this report which requires the Government 
of Canada to formally respond within 150 days.

Please be assured that your continued active participation in the 
development of Canadian copyright law and policies is most welcome as it 
will help to ensure that the policies adopted remain in the best interest 
of all Canadians.

I trust that this information is useful.  Please accept my best wishes.

Yours sincerely,

Luc Rouleau
Director
Ministerial Correspondence Secretariat

c.c.:  The Honourable David Emerson, P.C., M.P.
   Mr. Charlie Angus, M.P.
   Mr. Paul Crête, M.P.
   Mr. Maka Kotto, M.P.
   Mr. Brian Masse, M.P.
   Mr. David McGuinty, M.P.
   Ms. Bev Oda, M.P.
   Mr. James Rajotte, M.P.

---cut---

Note: There was a typo in the message on the Heritage report which is 
actually at
http://www.parl.gc.ca/infocomdoc/Documents/37/3/parlbus/commbus/house/reports/herirp01/herip01-e.htm


   I find the letter very form-letter like, so suspect other people have 
received very similar letters.  It doesn't say anything, just repeating 
the same things we have been told many times already.  This includes the 
almost-funny joke of calling what happened just prior to the Interim 
report "extensive consultations".

   I'm not sure what letter Mr. Rouleau is replying to that was dated March 
7, but that may have been the date that Mr. McGuinty forwarded it to the 
Minister's office.  This is a day before the March 8 press release from 
the security companies about the harm to innovation from with 1996 WIPO 
treaties.


I'm drafting my reply at:
http://www.digital-copyright.ca/scratchpad/index.php?ReplyMinister20050412-RWM

   I believe that it is appropriate for this letter to be a bit more 
aggressive than the ones in the past, given we are heading into an election 
and this will be on everyones mind.  I will be copying the same people 
this letter was copied to, which includes the Heritage and Industry 
critics from the opposition parties.


"From the above quote I must conclude that either the Minister is not 
aware of the facts of the case, or that she wishes to amend the copyright 
act such that the legacy recording industry would no longer need to 
provide evidence of wrongdoing in order to launch lawsuits against 
children. Is this really the message that the Minister and the Liberals 
wish to go to elections with?"

-- 
  Russell McOrmond, Internet Consultant: <http://www.flora.ca/>
  http://www.digital-copyright.ca/blog/2 (My BLOG)
  Sign the Petition Users' Rights! http://digital-copyright.ca/petition/
  To protect Internet age creativity we must reform WIPO, not copyright!
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