Thursday, February 14, 2008
Business coalition opposes harsh copyright reform
From the CBC website:
"A who's who of powerful companies and business associations have banded together to push for less restrictive copyright reform, driving a stake into the heart of the federal government's argument for its new copyright bill."
Among other things, the Business Coalition for Balanced Copyright is calling for:
-A clause that prevents copyright owners from going after people or companies who circumvent for non-commercial reasons the technological protection measures placed on content. A record label, for example, should not be able to sue a consumer who gets around copy-protection measures in order to transfer a song to an iPod.
-No surcharges on downloadable content. Copyright owners have been pushing for downloads to be considered as "communications to the public," and say they should therefore be subject to an additional fee. The coalition believes such a charge would unfairly double the delivery cost of online music, films, games and other software.
-An exemption for violating copyright as part of legitimate business practices, such as when a broadcaster copies a show for its archives.
-No liability for internet service providers for the actions of their users.
LINK to CBC
ArsTechnica has a piece as well:
LINK to Ars
"A who's who of powerful companies and business associations have banded together to push for less restrictive copyright reform, driving a stake into the heart of the federal government's argument for its new copyright bill."
Among other things, the Business Coalition for Balanced Copyright is calling for:
-A clause that prevents copyright owners from going after people or companies who circumvent for non-commercial reasons the technological protection measures placed on content. A record label, for example, should not be able to sue a consumer who gets around copy-protection measures in order to transfer a song to an iPod.
-No surcharges on downloadable content. Copyright owners have been pushing for downloads to be considered as "communications to the public," and say they should therefore be subject to an additional fee. The coalition believes such a charge would unfairly double the delivery cost of online music, films, games and other software.
-An exemption for violating copyright as part of legitimate business practices, such as when a broadcaster copies a show for its archives.
-No liability for internet service providers for the actions of their users.
LINK to CBC
ArsTechnica has a piece as well:
LINK to Ars
