CIMA proposed SOPA-style anti-piracy provisions

The Canadian Independent Music Association (CIMA) last year proposed an amendment to the Conservatives' copyright reform bill that is raising comparisons to two controversial anti-piracy bills in the U.S. Congress. CIMA proposed in 2011 that the Conservative government amend its copyright reform bill to include a new provision for “injunctive relief” that would “permit a court to make an order blocking a pirate site such as The Pirate Bay to protect the Canadian marketplace from foreign pirate sites, as can now be done in the EU under Article 8(3) of the EU Copyright Directive," according to a brief submitted to the former Bill C-32 legislative committee last spring. Bill C-32 died on the order paper last year due to an election. The government has reintroduced it as Bill C-11, which is expected to move to committee next month. Michael Geist, an advocate for user rights in copyright and the Canada research chair in Internet and e-commerce law at the University of Ottawa, posted a link to CIMA's proposals on his blog Monday, noting that as Bill C-11 returns to “the legislative agenda at the end of the month, Canada will be a prime target for SOPA style rules.” In the U.S., Wikipedia and others blacked out their websites last week in protest to the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House of Representatives (H.R. 3261) and the Protect IP Act in the Senate (S. 968). The bills would provide rights holders the power to seek court injunctions forcing Internet service providers, search engines and other Internet companies to block foreign “rogue” sites that provide or facilitate access to illegal digital media content or traffic in pirated goods like watches or pharmaceuticals.

CIMA proposed SOPA-style anti-piracy provisions

Briefs | 01/23/2012 10:01 pm EST

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