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MPAA Wants Obama To Target Canada Over CopyrightMichael Geist Blog

The election of Barack Obama has led to considerable speculation about what the change in administration might mean for U.S. pressure on Canada on intellectual property issues.  If the MPAA - the lead Hollywood lobbyist - has anything to say about it, the pressure will only increase.  Eighteen months after MPAA pressure led to a Canadian anti-camcording legislation and just weeks after the first successful conviction under the new provision, the MPAA has asked to Obama to target Canada (along with China, India, Mexico, Russia, and Spain) in its intellectual property trade policy.  

While groups such as the Computer and Communications Industry Association have urged Obama to stop alienating allies by "browbeating its trade partners", the MPAA lobby document makes it clear that the copyright lobby groups will continue to blame Canada, despite the fact that Canada is compliant with its international obligations.  Claiming that Canadian law is akin to China or Russia ought to be dismissed outright, yet the ease with which the Canadian government caved to pressure on the camcording issue has apparently emboldened the same lobby group to demand even more.

Full post as published by IP Law Daily on December 09, 2008 (boomark / email).