Govt document says the country is working with ISPs to develop a plan to disconnect subscribers repeatedly accused of copyright infringement.Michael Geist, the noted professor of law at the University of Ottawa where he holds the Canada Research Chair of Internet and E-commerce Law, wrote in his blog late last week that he had come across a French government document that that cites Canada as a example of a country negotiating a three-strikes-and-your-out ISP policy towards illegal file-sharers. In particular, the latest Olivennes bill draft submitted by the Conseil d'Etat, states:
Now the Canadian government hasn't acknowledged any negotiations with ISPs regarding a proposal to disconnect the internet connection of those repeatedly accused of illegally sharing copyrighted material. Thus, as Geist points out, "...either the French are simply wrong (and should be corrected) or Canadian officials may have privately indicated a willingness to move in this direction." "The latter possibility is very troubling given the likelihood that new Canadian copyright legislation is likely to be introduced within the next few weeks." I guess we'll all just have to wait and see, but I don't think the French would simply make up the fact that Canada is considering a similar three strikes policy. I think some Canadian officials did privately indicate a "willingness" to enact such a proposal. |
 
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The Conservatives know that numerous Canadians will jump at even the slightest hint at copyright reform and the copyright minister was completely taken off guard by the protests at his riding when he (tried to) tabled legislation around copyright. They currently can't risk much more bad press at this point in time after Elections Canada raided their offices and the Cadman scandal because it might actually inspire the Liberal party to grow a spine and call an election.
In the two copyright debates that took place, the question of whether or not to ban people is simply absent from the conversation. What is present is whether or not making mod chip manufacturing illegal (Knopf debate on BNN), protecting DRM and TPM or giving consumers rights to their own legally paid for property, ratifying or not ratifying WIPO, and whether or not the copyright industry should or shouldn't have the right to sue everyone in the country in random order starting with the poor and defenseless (one reason why the RIAA never went after Harvard, admit it).
To go from these kind of debates all the way down the copyright extremists path to the step of banning people from the internet over copyright infringement allegations is something I have a hard time seeing because the government is sitting precariously right now and if the copyright bill dies with 'three strikes, your out' written all over, the protests we've seen in the past in Canada over copyright will be nothing in compared to the uprising you'd see if such a thing was officially brought to light as a legal proposal.
I won't rule it out as a possibility of it being in the legislation, but I'm a bit skeptical over the possibility that it will be actually in there. Currently, the debate is whether or not to enact the DMCA in Canada, not go beyond it.
I'm sure we can both agree that the idea of three strikes is a horrible one.