Thread: Canada is a "haven for pirates" says Microsoft

Canada is a "haven for pirates" says Microsoft
3 May 2007 17:29 by DVDBack23

Corporate giants Microsoft and Apple recently asked the US Government to place Canada on its high priority piracy list arguing that the country was not doing enough to prevent the piracy of it's products.

The government however decided against it and Canada was placed instead on the lower priority list for the fourth year in a row.

It joins other countries such as Belarus, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Hungary, Indonesia, Italy, Jamaica, South Korea, Kuwait, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

The International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) which represents companies like Apple and Microsoft, stated in their reoprt that "Canada’s long tenure on the USTR Watch List seems to have had no discernible effect on its copyright policy. Almost alone among developed economies in the OECD, Canada has taken no steps toward modernizing its copyright law to meet the new global minimum standards of the WIPO Internet Treaties, which Canada signed a decade ago. Its enforcement record also falls far short of what should be expected of our neighbor and largest trading partner.

"Pirates have taken advantage of the gaps in Canadian law to make it a leading exporter, both of camcorded masters that feed audio-visual piracy worldwide, and of devices – illegal in most global markets besides Canada – that are intended to circumvent technological protection measures used by the publishers of entertainment software. Canada lacks effective border controls on pirated products, and most of its other enforcement efforts suffer from insufficient resources and a lack of deterrent impact.

"To underscore U.S. insistence that Canada take action to address the serious piracy problem it has allowed to develop just across our border, and that it bring its outmoded laws up to contemporary international standards, IIPA recommends that Canada be elevated to the Priority Watch List in 2007."

After the government declined the IIPA's request, the group expressed disappointment adding that Canada "continues to stand almost alone among developed countries in its failure to implement the obligations of the two WIPO digital treaties, and weak enforcement in both hard goods and Internet piracy continues to cause great damage to legitimate rights holders, both of Canadian and US copyright products."

Source:
TheInquirer


http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/9598.cfm

It is hard to feel sorry for Microsoft. If they would act like an american company and hire american workers maybe american people would care about their problems. As far as I am concerned Microsoft can take their problems to same country they hire all thier engineers from.

LMAO, How does it feel Bill Gates to have your government stand up for you!! you wanted a global corporation, you got one!!

So what would have happened if Microsoft were to have relocated to Canada a few years ago (when they were under the scrutiny of US FTC)... would that mean that the pirates wouldn't be pirates anymore? Would that make the US citizens pirates? Hmmmm... just trying to sort this stuff out, pay no attention...

Besides, what would the technical support staff say to the customers when they call in: 'Just click the a-boat menu option' !

After reading this article three times to try to parse out its meaning, it appears to me that what the Canadians are doing is perfectly legal under Canadian law.

Apparently, Microsoft and its Hollywood masters are ticked off because Canada has yet to pass a draconian Digital Copyrights Management (DCRM) law like the US did recently.

DCRM is one of the new "features" in Microsoft's VISTA product that allows the software to inspect your computer for files it doesn't think you ought to have, then remove or disable them.

It's also the "feature" that prevents you from playing High Definition content on your computer, unless you've recently bought a new, DCRM compliant monitor.

While it's no surprise to see Microsoft involved in this, I am disappointed to see Apple also involved. After decades of using a PC, I was looking to Apple for a VISTA alternative.