Digital Copyright Canada

With respect, I think the criticism in this case is best placed at 
the government's feet, not the Supreme Court.  The Court was simply 
interpreting the law -- read the statute and it is hard to really 
argue with their decision.  They did not address the constitutional 
issues because the litigants didn't raise them until the issue 
arrived at the Supreme Court.

Moreover, ascribing threats to the SCC decision making process is 
simply insulting.

IMHO, if the court ruled in the opposite manner, the government would 
have simply amended the legislation to reflect its stated intention.

MG

>Well, for the first time in my life, I'm ashamed to be Canadian. I 
>had watched this issue develop with great hope, as the attempts to 
>outlaw American satellite were struck down each time by a provincial 
>court, B.C., Ontario, and Quebec. The Quebec judge called the 
>DirecTV signal "public domain", and ironically, I was actually 
>PRAISING Quebec for once on an issue. Now it seems the light at the 
>end of the long dark tunnel has gone out. I had actually thought of 
>setting up my own dish I had bought in the US so that I could watch 
>Season 6 of Stargate SG-1 on the SciFi Channel, as we're still in 
>re-run hell here in Canada (now it seems I can't).
>
>The Supreme Court has decided on total prohibition of American 
>satellite services. This sets a VERY dangerous precedent, in regards 
>to our quest to prevent the same draconian copyright law in Canada 
>as in the USA. In the proposed copyright reforms, we've argued at 
>the consultation sessions against total prohibition of circumvention 
>devices, especially for legitimate uses, such as education. I fear 
>the government will now use this decision to justify the total 
>prohibition of circumvention devices, regardless of their legitimate 
>uses, and that the movie and recording industries will use this as a 
>hammer as they do now in the US. I'd like to see what the Liberals 
>and/or BCE offered and/or threatened to do to the Supreme Court 
>Justices, if they did not rule in BCE/Liberals favor. I'm also 
>curious about what sort of motive/justification Justice Ian Binnie 
>had in voting for BCE, as he seemed to rule in favour of balance 
>between creator and public in the Theberge case 
>(http://news.globetechnology.com/servlet/GAMArticleHTMLTemplate?tf=globetechnology/TGAM/NewsFullStory.html&cf=globetechnology/tech-config-neutral&slug=TWGEIS&date=20020418) 
>- I thought he would have voted for a balance between government and 
>public in the Satellite Issue.
>
>This is a sad day for Canada indeed.
>
>My thoughts
>
>-Fergal
>
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Professor Michael A. Geist
University of Ottawa Law School, Common Law Section
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e-mail:	mgeist@uottawa.ca
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Digital Copyright Canada

Re: [Cdn-DMCA] Effect of the Supreme Court Ruling on American Satellite on the Copyright issue

All Canadian Citizens are "Rights Holders"!