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COPYRIGHT REFORM PROCESS
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Submission from Liam Quin received on August 5, 2001 7:46 PM via e-mail
Subject: Change to the copyright law
Changes to the copright Law
http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/SSG/rp01100e.html mentions that you are soliciting comments.
I am a software developer, a Canadian citizen, a representative of Canada on international standards committees, and a published author.
Copyright law must continue to protect the rights of authors, artists, and other creators of intellectual property law.
It must also continue to respect the rights of individuals to make fair use of the material.
That must include digital information, however disseminated.
An electronic book that forbids copying to the extent of fair use, or that does not allow the creation of a backup, or that ceases to function if a computer is upgraded, cannot be considered acceptable.
Delivery of electronic digital content is in its infancy, and legislation at this time must be supportive of consumers' rights, not set precedents that will disenfranchise the poor, the less computer-literate or those citizens who are not employed in software corporations. We must also ensure that availability of digital content does not limit the operating systems or applications that people must use.
I would like to suggest that Canada lead the world in requiring the use of open published standards for all electronic books or other media: for textual content, for example, this would mean XML or SGML, or PDF if it can be impelemnted without software patent infringement. But rather than a list of formats which will become outdated and is restrictive, the law should simply require that any content distributed under copyright must be delivered in a format that is pubilcly documented and freely implementable. This will not hinder market competition, since quality of implementation is still significant, but it will prevent corporations from taking away rights of fair use from people.
This is a field in which I have some experience, and I would be very
interested in further involvement.
Thank you for your time.
Liam Quin,
Toronto
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