Anti-Piracy Laws Building Steam
Anti-piracy laws are gaining momentum across the Atlantic and beyond. The U.K. Digital Economy Act was given Royal Assent on April 8, 2010, and includes provisions in which copyright holders can send a “copyright infringement report” to ISPs with evidence of suspected infringement and the ISP must notify its subscriber within a month. More significantly, UK telecom regulator, OFCOM, will have the power to introduce various technical measures and suspensions of accounts if the ISPs do not make an impact on these potential infringers.
The U.K. Digital Economy Act was passed into law with growing criticism from various U.K. ISPs, who have already voiced their concerns about the new law. U.K. ISP Talk Talk, recently stated that the company will "continue to battle against these oppressive proposals during the follow-up process in parliament". Still, other jurisdictions are quickly following the U.K.'s lead. On April 23, 2010, New Zealand's Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Bill unanimously passed its first reading in parliament. Also, the Spanish government will soon be proposing legislation to block or shut down websites that offer links to unauthorized content.
Meanwhile, Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore, plans to introduce the government's latest version of its copyright legislation this spring. In the meantime, major music labels were busy responding to a motion by the three opposition parties calling for this country's blank cd/tape levy to be expanded to digital devices such as iPods. However, the governing Conservatives rejected the proposal as a "tax" on consumers.
One would think that with a growing number of foreign governments quickly putting pen to paper and implementing various anti-piracy laws, Canada would be set to follow suit. Then again, history has shown that Canada often fight digital pirates on their own time and at their own pace.
