ARCHIVED — Alan Falloon
Archived Content
Information identified as archived on the Web is for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It has not been altered or updated after the date of archiving. Web pages that are archived on the Web are not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards. As per the Communications Policy of the Government of Canada, you can request alternate formats on the "Contact Us" page.
COPYRIGHT REFORM PROCESS
SUBMISSIONS RECEIVED REGARDING THE CONSULTATION PAPERS
Documents received have been posted in the official language in which they were submitted. All are posted as received by the departments, however all address information has been removed.
Submission from Alan Falloon received on September 13, 2001 via e-mail
Subject: Grave concerns about DMCA like provisions in CPCDI
To Industry Canada, the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Intellectual Property Policy Directorate:
I am deeply concerned about the extreme provisions in the Consultation Paper on Digital Copyright Issues (CPCDI) that are aimed at protecting intellectual property.
These measures are very similar to the DMCA. They give unnecessary power to the publishers of copyrighted works at the expense of the freedoms of Canadian citizens. There are already laws that prohibit the theft of copyrighted material and intellectual property. People who use electronic means to steal IP can be tried under those laws. The CPCDI provisions will only stop legitimate research in to computer security and fair use of legitimately purchased material.
The CPCDI provisions serve no one but (largely American) corporate copyright interests. They are as over-broad as those of the DMCA. These provisions would amend the Canadian Copyright Act to ban, with few exceptions, software and other tools that allow computer copy prevention to be bypassed. This would violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantee of freedom of speech, and similar guarantees in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Such tools are necessary to exercise lawful uses, including fair dealing, reverse engineering, computer security research and many others.
I ask you to remove these destructive provisions from the CPCDI. The US experience with the DMCA has been universally negative, and I don't want Canada or is citizens to have to suffer under the same stigma of ignorance and oppression.
Sincerely,
Alan Falloon
(Address removed)
- Date modified:
