Premier League and Dazn support site blocking order

A consortium of rights holders — including the top tier of English soccer, the Premier League, sports streaming service Dazn and industry trade groups for book publishers — wants the Federal Court of Appeal to uphold Canada's first ever site blocking order. In their application to intervene in the proceeding, filed late last week, the collection of right holders argue that the precedent-setting site-blocking order strengthens the rule of law by bringing Canada into an emerging global consensus on the protection of copyright online. "The important values of freedom of expression can be carefully preserved without undermining effective and useful online remedies that support legal frameworks required by the creative sectors to invest in the creation and dissemination of copyright works," the intervenors argue in the May 8 filing. Site-blocking, the filing continues, can be done in a way "in a way that fosters the rule of law in the Internet context, and compliance with Canada’s international treaty obligations in respect of copyright." TekSavvy Solutions Inc. launched the appeal in November after the ISP lost a Federal Court proceeding when Judge Patrick Gleeson issued an order -- requested by BCE Inc., Quebecor Inc.’s Groupe TVA, and Rogers Communications Inc. -- compelling a number of ISPs to block an anonymously operated "pirate IPTV" sports streaming website site known as GoldTV. In its appeal, TekSavvy argues that the Federal Court overstepped its authority in ordering ISPs to block GoldTV, and contends that the CRTC must first authorize any site-blocking under Section 36 of the Telecommunications Act. In March, the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) told the Federal Court of Appeal that the site-blocking order was a freedom of expression case under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In the intervention, lawyers representing the group argue there would be “an erosion in the belief that there should be payments for accessing and reproducing works” if the Federal Court of Appeal agrees with TekSavvy and BCCLA and strikes down the blocking order. “This would also undermine the rule of law that applies on the Internet as it does to everywhere else," the intervention states. In the filing, the group also argues that the issue of freedom of speech has been addressed by courts in other jurisdictions, jurisprudence that the intervenors will seek to bring into a Canadian court. "These issues have been extensively canvassed by foreign courts and international tribunals including the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), as well as by courts in numerous countries such as United Kingdom, Belgium, France, Norway, Netherlands, Germany, Finland, Spain, Norway, Portugal, and Sweden," the filing argues. If given leave to intervene, the international consortium "will provide valuable perspective on this issue by referring this Court to relevant international instruments and jurisprudence which addresses these fundamental issues," they argue. The Premier League, the filing adds, has particular experience. "The Premier League, since 2017, has pursued blocking injunctions in jurisdictions outside the United Kingdom, including in Norway, Singapore and Ireland," the filing points out. In its appeal, TekSavvy relied upon a report presented to the CRTC in the 2018 FairPlay Coalition proceeding by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression. That "analysis is flawed, is inconsistent with the international jurisprudence that the interveners will put before this Court including the jurisprudence from courts in the European Union, and should not be relied on by this Court," the proposed intervenors say they will argue if given the chance. What's more, the filing argues, the site-blocking order issued by the Federal Court is necessary for Canada to comply with its obligations under international trade treaties, including the recently authorized Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, known as CUSMA. "Under these treaties," the intervenors argue, countries "are required to provide legal incentives for ISPs to cooperate with copyright owners to deter the unauthorized storage and transmission of copyrighted materials or, in the alternative, to take other action to deter the unauthorized storage and transmission of copyrighted materials." — With reporting by Michael Lee-Murphy at mleemurphy@thewirereport.ca and editing by Adam Langenberg at alangenberg@thewirereport.ca

Premier League and Dazn support site blocking order

News | May 12, 2020

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Premier League and Dazn support site blocking order

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