Canadians Caught as Copyright Consultation Nears Conclusion
The Canadian government is conducting ongoing public consultations on copyright reform. In a guest post for TorrentFreak Prof. Michael Geist of the University of Ottawa explains why Canadian Internet users should speak out on copyright today.
How Does Canada’s Digital Music Market Really Stack Up?
CRIA's Graham Henderson has posted an op-ed in the Georgia Straight in which he repeats many of his comments from an earlier copyright consultation roundtable. Henderson points to U.S. sales and new services Europe such as Spotify and Nokia's Comes With Music to support his claim is that Canada is falling far behind its counterparts in the digital music sales and services. In Canada, he says the choice is just between iTunes and illegal (it is rather amazing to see the person who launched Puretracks now ignore it).
Yet Henderson's claims simply don't stand up to scrutiny. First, digital music sales as a percentage of total sales in Canada is ahead of every major European country. While the U.S. is indeed ahead of Canada, the IFPI reports that Canada is ahead of France, Britain, Spain, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Austria, Sweden, Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Norway, Poland, Portugal, and Russia. Canada also leads countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, and South Africa (percentage of digital sales are highest in countries where physical sales are virtually non-existent such as Indonesia and China). In fact, of the top 20 global markets for recorded music, the IFPI says that Canada ranks 5th for the percentage of digital sales. Overall, Canada's digital market stands 7th worldwide, while ranking 6th for all recorded music – in other words, about what you would expect. Not exactly the laggard that CRIA claims.
Second, Canada trails the U.S. in the digital sales as a percentage of total sales, but digital music sales growth in Canada has outperformed the U.S. for the past three years according to Nielsen Soundscan data. Indeed, the IFPI notes that Canada's growth rate is ahead of the global average. In comparing with the U.S., Canada is starting from a lower base, but Apple iTunes launched much later in Canada and it has failed to seriously target French language music sales (effectively cutting out a chunk of the Canadian market).
Third, recent reports note that services like Spotify are promoted by the major labels who hold an ownership stake, but artists actually receive very little. Moreover, Canada has been home to new services such as SpiralFrog, which launched in Canada before the U.S.
Fourth, Canada's private copying levy has provided hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation for personal, non-commercial copying that may include downloading. Given that revenue, it should come as little surprise to find that many groups representing artists are focused on retaining or expanding the levy as their key issue, not the reforms promoted by CRIA.
Visualizing Canadian Lobbying
This is a great post that maps current Canadian departmental lobbying priorities.
Prevent Canada from Becoming a Copyright Police State
Canada is planning to reform its copyright law and if the entertainment industries have their way, the rights and privacy of consumers will be thrown overboard. It’s time for all Canadian BitTorrent users to stand up against the increasing power of the anti-piracy lobby, before it’s too late.
OECD Says Canadian Wireless Rates Third Highest in the Developed World
The Globe reports that a new OECD report finds Canada pays among the highest wireless prices in the world. The OECD numbers say that for a “low-use” basket (defined as including 360 minutes of voice calls, 396 text messages and eight video messages per year), Canada ranked 20th most expensive out of 30 countries last year. For “medium-use” (780 voice minutes per year) Canada ranked 28th out of 30. And for “high-use” (1,680 voice minutes per year) the country ranked 19th.
Canadian Press on a Canadian Pirate Party
With the Pirate Party popularity spreading in Europe, the Canadian Press covers attempts to establish a similar party in Canada.
Deibert and Rohozinski on a Canadian Cyberwar Strategy
Ron Deibert and Rafal Rohozinski have an op-ed in the National Post in the need for a Canadian cyberwar strategy and the potential to establish "a foreign policy that explicitly includes cyberspace as a means for projecting Canadian values."
Five Strikes And Counting: the Future of Digital Britain/Europe/Canada?
Re Sarkozy’s latest revamp of HADOPI, I don’t think I can face saying anything except, oh good grief Charlie Brown. Still I suppose judicial oversight IS actually what we want (if it’s real and not just rubber stamp)t, so it’s kind of good news :) (we…
Canada Confirms ACTA Participation
The U.S. announcement of its plans to continue with the ACTA negotiations was actually part of a joint statement from all ACTA partners. The Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs has posted a similar statement, noting its plans to participate in the Morocco meeting in July 2009.
Billboard Reports Canadian Copyright Consultation This Summer
Billboard reports what has been long rumoured (and was indicated by a Clement spokesperson in April) – the government will launch a consultation on copyright this summer with the goal of bringing forward a bill by the end of the year.
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