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: Michael Geist

Conservatives Promise to Re-Introduce Canadian DMCA

By Michael Geist

The Conservative Party has released its platform and it devotes a half-page to copyright that leaves little doubt that it plans to bring back Bill C-61 and continue to support ACTA.  According to the platform:

A re-elected Conservative Government led by Stephen Harper will reintroduce federal copyright legislation that strikes the appropriate balance among the rights of musicians, artists, programmers and other creators and brings Canada's intellectual property protection in line with that of other industrialized countries, but also protects consumers who want to access copyright works for their personal use.  We will also introduce tougher laws on counterfeiting and piracy and give our customs and law enforcement services the resources to enforce them.  This will protect consumers from phoney and sometimes dangerous products that are passed off as reliable brand-name goods.

Of course, Bill C-61 did not strike the appropriate balance and tens of thousands of Canadians told Harper just that over the summer.  Unlike the Liberals, NDP, and Greens, no Conservative has supported the copyright pledge, which now makes sense given this platform commitment.

Full post as published by Michael Geist on October 07, 2008 (boomark / email).