News

  • CIPPIC responds to Bulte Report on Copyright Reform
    - 2004-06-21 -
    Together with the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), CIPPIC issued a highly critical response to the Interim Report on Copyright Reform released by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage last month. CIPPIC and PIAC state that the report ignores key evidence and submissions by public interest groups, and lacks reasoning for some key recommendations. They call for rejection of the report and for a more balanced approach to copyright reform in Canada. News Release: Public Interest Groups Make Internet an Election Issue
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  • ICANN invites public comment on WHOIS database
    - 2004-06-20 -
    In response to growing problems of abuse by marketers and others of publicly available personal information in the "WHOIS" database (contact information for those registering domain names), ICANN is considering ways in which the privacy and accuracy of registrant information can be improved. Comments on any of the three ICANN Task Force reports are due July 5, 2004. CIPPIC comments.
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  • CIPPIC submits comments to ICANN on WHOIS database
    - 2004-06-17 -
    CIPPIC calls for greater privacy protection of personal information stored in domain name registries (the "WHOIS" database) in its comments filed today, in response to three policy papers recently released by ICANN. CIPPIC\'s view is that the public benefits of a completely open WHOIS database (the current situation) are outweighed by the costs of this approach in terms of spam, privacy invasions, and an incentive for registrants to provide inaccurate data in order to protect their privacy.
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  • CIPPIC asks parties and candidates for views on tech law issues
    - 2004-06-01 -
    CIPPIC is asking all five major political parties for their views on seven important current issues involving the Internet, free speech, public access to copyrighted works, and privacy. See our Election 2004 webpage for more information.
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  • B.C. Privacy Commissioner invites comment on USA Patriot Act
    - 2004-05-28 -
    In response to labour union and public outcry over the outsourcing of administration of B.C.\'s Medical Services Plan, the B.C. Privacy Commissioner has invited comment on the privacy implications of the USA Patriot Act for British Columbians\' personal information, when databases of personal data are outsourced by government to US-linked private companies for adminstrative purposes. Comments are due August 6, 2004. Request for Submissions CIPPIC\'s submission Other submissions
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  • CRTC issues telemarketing decision
    - 2004-05-21 -
    The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission imposed new rules on telemarketers, and called for legislative change to give it greater enforcement powers so that a national do-no-call list could be properly implemented. The decision covers unsolicited telephone and fax calls, but not spam. CRTC News Release Rules
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  • CIPPIC granted leave to intervene in file-sharing appeal
    - 2004-05-18 -
    The Federal Court of Appeal today granted CIPPIC leave to intevene in CRIA\'s appeal of the lower court decision. CIPPIC will file written argument later this summer, and will make oral argument during the hearing, which has yet to be scheduled (will likely be in the fall).
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  • Heritage Committee issues interim report on Copyright Reform
    - 2004-05-12 -
    House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage released its interim report on copyright reform, urging the government to ratify WIPO treaties without further delay and to adopt legislative reforms designed to strengthen copyright holder\'s rights. Report
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  • Industry Canada announces Spam Action Plan
    - 2004-05-11 -
    The Canadian government announced a six-point action plan to address spam. The plan covers legal, technological, business practice and consumer education approaches to this growing problem. A multi-stakeholder Task Force will oversee implementation of the action plan over the next year, with a report due in spring 2005. News Release.
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  • Parliament gives private companies right to collect personal data for national security reasons
    - 2004-05-06 -
    The new Public Safety Act (Bill C-7), passed by Parliament and given royal assent on May 6, 2004, amends numerous other Acts in ways that bolster the federal government\'s ability to protect national security. Of particular interest to privacy advocates are the amendments to PIPEDA, which create three new exceptions to the general rule against covert collection of personal data by private companies: organizations can now collect anf use personal information without the individual\'s knowledge or consent where a) for the purpose of making a subsequent disclosure as required by law, b) either CSIS or the RCMP make a request for the collection and the data relates to a national security interest, or c) the organization thinks that the information might be relevant to national security interests and intends to disclose it to a law enforcement agency.
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