I received the following response from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade to my submission to the ACTA consultation.

I find it frustrating that they continue to try to misdirect critiques with a suggestion that it is premature to speculate about any specific measure. My critique is primarily based on the lack of disclosure as well as the merging of entirely unrelated areas of policy (Counterfeiting, "piracy"/de-minimus infringement, Internet/etc issues). These problems were only confirmed by the response, something that is definitely not reassuring.

In an article for The Mark I suggest that we shouldn't blame Google when music blogs are shut down, since it’s the major record labels that are to blame.

By now you will have read many articles derived from the statements made by David Drummond, SVP, Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer at Google about China.

The primary issue that Google was bringing up was a simple and not politically hot one. Companies need to know that the government of countries they are trying to do business in will have laws and enforce them against those who attack the physical or virtual infrastructure of these businesses.

Many of the comments and articles about this incident suggested Google was trying to protect online free speech. I do not buy that argument in this case.

Read full article on IT World Canada's blog ...

Charlie Angus has sent a letter to International Trade Minister Peter Van Loan challenging him to explain how ACTA will impact Canada's domestic copyright policy. Full text of letter is on Charlie's website.

The following is my submission to the ongoing consultation by Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, on the so-called Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).

Available in HTML, OpenDocument and PDF formats

Interesting article by Jacqui Cheng in Ars Technica, reporting on an article by Michael Geist, about seemingly confirmed allegations of massive infringement by the major labels.

I think we should count out loud "one, two, three" for each CRIA member and ask why they are allowed to have an Internet connection. They are proponents of a "three strikes" rule, and such a rule should be applied to them first!

ACTA represents an attempt by a few businesses using outdated business methods to try to find a way around Clayton Christensen's The Innovator's Dilemma. They are doing this by lobbying for rules which will protect their existing business methods against emerging businesses which might transform the economy and replace the old ways of doing things. In their lobbying they are manipulating language to suggest what they are asking for is very different than what they are actually asking for, and they are trying to suggest that activities are devastating and must be stopped if someone else does something which the companies the lobbiests represent commonly do themselves.

>> Read full article on IT World Canada's blog.

Petitions

We have a number of petitions we are sending to the Canadian parliament. Please print and sign all of them. They are on paper rather than electronic so that they can be tabled in Parliament. It is best if you try to get the signed petitions to us so we can coordinate getting them to members of parliament, as signatures have been lost by members of parliament.

These petitions are generic in their wording, and not specific to any bill being tabled. They were as relevant to the historical Bill C-60 and Bill C-61 as they are for the bill expected to be tabled early in 2010.

EFF commentary by Gwen Hinze discusses the counterfeit treaty ACTA.

The Internet provisions have nothing to do with addressing counterfeit products, but are all about imposing a set of copyright industry demands on the global Internet, including obligations on ISPs to adopt Three Strikes Internet disconnection policies, and a global expansion of DMCA-style TPM laws.

DMCA-style TPM laws are a direct attack on property rights, and 3-strikes laws are invalid given we already have statutory damages which is "one *PROVEN* strike" laws. 3-strikes is all about punishment without proof, where the punishment doesn't fit the crime (cutting off legs for jaywalking).

The mis-labeled Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (which itself is counterfeit, as politicians have been entirely dishonest about the origins and content of the treaty) has again had parts of its secret contents leaked. Some details are on Michael Geist's blog.