FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Digital Security Coalition Concerned over Copyright Bill
IT security research and technology decries new liability for circumvention of technological protection measures
Ottawa, ON – June 20, 2005 – The Digital Security Coalition ( http://www.digitalsecurity.ca ), a coalition of Canada’s leading security research businesses, today expressed concern with Bill C-60, the government’s draft copyright legislation. The legislation proposes to introduce a series of new rights to benefit copyright holders, including prohibitions on the circumvention of technological protection measures (TPMs) and on tampering with rights management information (RMI). Rights holders use TPMs and RMI like digital locks to regulate access to and use of digital content.
“Security firms address security weaknesses by circumventing technological protection measures,” states Brian O’Higgins, Chief Technology Officer of Third Brigade, Inc. , and spokesperson for the coalition. “That is our business, and this bill needlessly complicates that business by introducing a new layer of risk and liability.”
"Burdening the Canadian technology industry with new laws is always dangerous,” states Bob Young, the Canadian co-founder and director of Red Hat Inc., and founder and CEO of Lulu Enterprises, Inc. “In this case, the government has simply not demonstrated a need for this dangerous legislation. There is no evidence that these new rights will benefit Canadians, Canadian companies, or the Canadian economy. In fact, the US experience with anti-circumvention laws suggests the opposite: anti-circumvention laws are bad for security researchers, bad for consumers and bad for competition.”
Mr. O’Higgins agrees. “These proposals are too broad, too vague, and too dangerous for security researchers. The best that can be said for this Bill is that it is not substantially worse than what the government first proposed back in March.”
“It’s like making screw-drivers illegal because they can be used to break and enter,” explains Mr. Young. “Good legislation targets the illegal act, not the legal tools an infringer might use. These proposals risk undermining Canada’s commitment to fostering an economy built on innovation and opportunity.”
Background
The government’s copyright bill proposes to amend Canada’s copyright laws to implement obligations arising from a pair of 1996 treaties crafted under the auspices of the World Itellectual Property Organization, or WIPO: the 1996 Copyright Treaty and the 1996 Performers and Phonographs Treaty, collectively known as the WIPO Internet Treaties. The treaties require member states to provide for legal protection against the circumvention of TPMs.
“A number of nations have already enacted legislation to implement their anti-circumvention obligations under the WIPO Internet treaties,” says David Fewer, legal counsel for CIPPIC, the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic of the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law. “The results have been very troubling from a technology perspective.” The American experience under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (the DMCA), the U.S. implementation of the WIPO Internet treaties, demonstrates that anti-circumvention rights are often used for reasons other than copyright protection, such as to reduce competition or segment markets. More troubling from a public policy perspective, however, are circumvention claims seeking to silence critical security research. Such attempts are at base motivated by a desire to maintain control over security research in respect of particular platforms or applications. “We should be learning from the American experience, not copying it,” suggests Professor Fewer. “The DMCA has had a demonstrably negative impact on security research in the United States. That is an undisputed fact. No one will benefit from the ‘liability chill’ these laws will create.”
The coalition intends to play an active role before the Parliamentary committee ultimately struck to review the bill.
The coalition’s website is at http://www.digitalsecurity.ca . Digital Security Coalition members include:
Third Brigade, Ltd.
Bob Young, co-founder and director of Red Hat, Inc., founder of Lulu, Inc., and owner of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats Football Team
Cinnabar Networks Inc.
AEPOS Technologies Corporation
Borderware Technologies Inc.
Certicom Corp.
Credentica
Elytra Enterprises Inc
Innusec, Inc.
Klocwork Inc.,
Q1 Labs, Inc.
Random Knowledge Inc.
Synomos Inc.
VE Networks, Inc.
– 30 –
For more information, contact:
Brian O’Higgins
Spokesperson for the Digital Security Coalition
Chief Technology Officer
Third Brigade, Inc.
Suite 500, 495 March Rd
Ottawa, Ontario, K2K 3G1
Phone: 1-866-684-7332
Ottawa Local: 613-599-4505
Mobile: 613-291-3812
Fax: 613-599-8191
Bob Young
Founder, CEO, Lulu, Inc., http://www.lulu.com
Co-founder, Director, Red Hat, Inc., http://www.redhat.com
Co-founder, Chairman, Center for the Public Domain, http://www.centerpd.org
Owner, Hamilton Tiger-Cats Football Club, http://www.ticats.ca
E-mail: bob -at- lulu.com
Lulu, Inc.
Suite 210
3131 RDU Centre Dr
Morrisville, NC, 27560
Tel: 919-459-5858 ext 227, or Annie ext 230
Fax: 919-459-5867
Cell: 919-604-3777
For more information on the legal background, contact:
David A. Fewer
Legal Counsel
CIPPIC (Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic)
Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa
57 Louis Pasteur Street
Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 6N5
Phone: 613-562-5800 ext. 2558
Mobile: 613-252-0655
Fax: 613-562-5417
For more information on the Digital Security Coalition, see http://www.digitalsecurity.ca .
For Bill C-60 and the government’s accompanying backgrounder, FAQ, and Ministers’ letter, see:
http://www.canadianheritage.gc.ca/progs/ac-ca/progs/pda-cpb/reform/index_e.cfm
For a Canadian overview of the policy implications of proposals to extend to Canadian rights holders rights to TPMs, see:
http://www.pch.gc.ca/progs/ac-ca/progs/pda-cpb/pubs/protection/protection_e.pdf and
http://www.pch.gc.ca/progs/ac-ca/progs/pda-cpb/pubs/protectionII/protection_e.pdf
For more information on the American experience under the DMCA, please visit:
http://www.eff.org/IP/DMCA/unintended_consequences.php