Tech Company Lobbying Group Explains The Importance Of Letting Countries Make Their Own Policy Decisions On Copyright
from the good-for-them dept
The Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), which represents a variety of big tech companies, including Microsoft, Google, eBay, Oracle and others, has come on strong lately as a defender against the ridiculous and unnecessary expansion of overly aggressive copyright law. This is good news -- seeing as some of the companies it represents haven't always seemed so enlightened on the subject. I was lucky to meet with some CCIA folks about a month ago, and they definitely seemed to recognize that a more draconian copyright policy actually does much more harm than good to the companies whose interests they represent. You may recall that it was the CCIA, a few months back, that put out the marvelous report that used the same exact methodology that the big pro-copyright lobbyists have used to claim the "size" of the economic impact on copyright, to point out that the economic impact of fair use trumps that by a wide margin.So it's great -- if not surprising -- to see that the CCIA's filing to the USTR for the Special 301 report (pdf) actually matches much of my own filing, though from a more legalistic perspective (and focuses on Canada). The key points are the same, however: the Constitutional basis for copyright has never been that "more is better," but that we should be seeking the most effective ways to "promote the progress." Second, it notes that countries should be free to make their own policy decisions on copyright law, rather than being pressured into them by the US. It further notes that the USTR Special 301 process shouldn't be focused on legislative and policy issues, but merely enforcement of the law. Unfortunately, it's gotten far away from that.
There were a ton of great filings to the USTR that I've seen already, and hopefully the USTR really does pay attention to those beyond the usual crew of entertainment industry and pharmaceutical industry lobbyists, to recognize that this issue is a lot more complex than it has, at times, been treated in the past. Still, it's great to see a group like CCIA add its important voice to the discussion, too.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: canada, copyright, special 301, ustr
Companies: ccia
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Slowly but surely the monster will awaken ....
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Slowly but surely the monster will awaken ....
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
World copyright
The problem you see is simple. The internet is global and copyrights have to be too.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
geist's post...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: geist's post...
I've read this sentence six times and I still have no idea what you're trying to say. Nothing in this post was about Michael Geist or any of his posts. What, specifically, are you referring to?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Wait. They are not?!
It's a rare moment when I feel proud my country told the US to shove it up their arses.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Unless they are able to talk some small third world country into torturing software pirates.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]