Consumer groups warn MPs against site-blocking pitches

OTTAWA — Consumer advocacy groups are cautioning MPs against proposals that would make site-blocking in Canada easier, after a push for those anti-piracy policies failed at the CRTC failed last month. Representatives from the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) and the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) warned MPs on the House of Commons industry committee Monday against proposals similar to FairPlay Canada’s CRTC ask for a new website-blocking regime to deal with internet piracy. John Lawford, executive director at PIAC, said “expedient judicial relief is available against intermediaries” already and warned against a “belt-and-suspenders” administrative regime that would extend “blanket” blocking orders in against all telecom providers. “The committee should not recommend the implementation of FairPlay-type proposals because the courts are better positioned to enforce copyright and balance enforcement against the public interest in freedom of expression, innovation and competition and net neutrality,” he said. “The blessing of any internet censorship in this domain will likely spread to other areas of government activity,” Lawford added. David Fewer, director of the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC), told MPs the Federal Court already has “broad remedial discretion” under the Copyright Act and “very broad” injunctive powers. “I would like to see the failure of these provisions before we go in and say they’re inadequate to the task,” he said. “We’re highly-skeptical of the efficacy and the strategicness of any kind of site-blocking mechanism to really address these kinds of issues,” he added. Those concerns were raised the same day that the Business Coalition for Balanced Copyright, which is made up of Canada’s big telecom companies and includes Alphabet Inc.’s Google Canada, and the Canadian Intellectual Property Council, both endorsed new amendments that would set-out court-ordered “relief” for rights-owners to block copyright-infringing websites. That’s something individual telecoms, such as BCE Inc. and Rogers Communications Inc., already proposed to the committee in September. After the CRTC’s decision to punt the FairPlay proposal, the issue was raised again in October at the Commons heritage committee. Last month, the CRTC rejected FairPlay Canada’s application asking for a website-blocking system, overseen by the regulator, on the grounds that it’s outside of its jurisdiction, dealing a blow to blocking proponents and forcing them to turn their policy pitch elsewhere. Gerald Kerr-Wilson, a lawyer at Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP representing the business coalition, told the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology Monday, which has been reviewing Canada’s Copyright Act, that it should be made “explicit” in the Copyright Act that the court can issue blocking orders. “The coalition strongly supports amendments that would make it easier for copyright owners to effectively enforce their rights. The Act should allow for injunctive relief against all of the intermediaries that form part of the online infrastructure distributing infringing content,” he said. Kerr-Wilson said the Copyright Act should also be amended so the CRTC can’t prohibit or overturn a blocking order. Scott Smith, senior director of intellectual property and innovation policy at the Canadian Intellectual Property Council, which is part of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, also endorsed amendments for “injunctive relief” through site-blocking and de-indexing court-orders, arguing internet “intermediaries” are “best-placed” to reduce the harms from online piracy. He said online piracy now includes “new forms that were not dominant last time the Act was reviewed,” and pointed to online streaming and pre-loaded set-top boxes. Smith cited the government’s own study on consumption of copyright, which said one-quarter of Canadians polled self-reported pirating content online, and pointed to a Sandvine Corp. report that said 10 per cent of Canadian households use illegal subscription services. Lawford, though, argued online piracy is shrinking, citing PIAC’s CRTC/FairPlay submission and attacked the Sandvine report. “Sandvine does stand to make money,” he said. “Of course if you pass a law similar to what’s being proposed, they’re going to sell the blocking equipment.” There was, however, some agreement among the various groups Monday against the prospect of a new broadband tax for ISPs – something that’s been proposed as a new remuneration measure to help artists struggling in the new digital economy. In September, the Screen Composers Guild of Canada had proposed to the committee that the Liberal government should create a new internet levy for Canadian households that surpass 15 GB of data usage per month – based on the assumption that users surpassing 15 GB means they are streaming media content. Both Kerr-Wilson and Lawford said such a tax would violate net neutrality or common carriage principles and constitute double-dipping. — With reporting by Kyle Duggan at kduggan@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

Consumer groups warn MPs against site-blocking pitches

News | November 6, 2018

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Consumer groups warn MPs against site-blocking pitches

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