No Canadian DMCA in 2007

The Canadian government will not debate the creation of DMCA-like legislation until at least 2008, writes legal expert Michael Geist. Amendments to the country's Copyright Act were expected for discussion in the House of Commons this month, but this can no longer happen, according to the press secretary for Industry Minister Jim Prentice. The bill will not be introduced tomorrow, and as parliament is breaking for the Christmas holidays after Friday, the soonest the legislation can be reintroduced is late January.

Prentice has given no indication of a reason for the delay, but his office has reportedly been inundated with messages and phone calls. The proposed bill has been sharply criticized by Geist and others, who say that it could theoretically violate speech and privacy rights, and make common technologies such as DVR time-shifting illegal. Canada has sometimes been seen by companies as a haven for file sharing, due to more tolerant laws.

Filed under: security
Other story tags: Canada, DVR, copyright, privacy, DMCA, Copyright Act