rights
Massive Protest Against UK Anti-Piracy Bill
The UK Government continues to push forward the Digital Economy Bill (DEB) that aims to protect copyright holders from online pirates. On 15th March the House of Lords approved the bill and handed it over to the House of Commons. To the absolute dismay of most outside the music and movie industries, some of the most controversial elements of the Bill are unlikely to receive any major scrutiny and will be dealt with quickly under the so-called “wash-up”, a short period between the announcement of an election and parliament being closed down.
Continue reading »Kiwi Govt Internet Filter Up and Running
ISPs Watchdog and Maxnet are the first to voluntarily begin filtering the Internet under the govt’s Digital Child Exploitation Filtering System. The New Zealand govt’s Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) has apparently already managed to push live its controversial Digital Child Exploitation Filtering System . Operated in partnership with the country’s ISPs, the system is intended to focus solely on websites “offering clearly objectionable images of child sexual abuse.” Surely all Kiwis are against child porn, but critics point out that the filter will do little to stop determined criminals and fear the list won’t be properly maintained.
Continue reading »Canadian Throne Speech Says Government Will ‘Strengthen’ Copyright
If you thought that the Canadian government will finally get at least a clue on copyright after protests, swarming riding seats and giving very clear signals through the copyright consultation, you have another thing coming if you heard the speech from the throne today. When the Conservative government of Canada held a copyright consultation to gauge what the public wanted in terms of copyright laws, Canadians were very clear about it. A graph from Michael Geist shows where Canadians stand on the issue and a vast majority are against another Bill C-61 (often referred to as the Canadian DMCA), against anti-circumvention laws, are for a stronger Fair Dealings, and stronger protections from liability for non-commercial use.
Continue reading »
