Hip and Trendy Justice ?
Reflections on a decision of the Federal Court of Canada legalizing music file-sharing online

By Hervé FISCHER, FIAM President

How hip can you get?! Little did we know how trendy and avant-gardist Canadian justice could be. To everyone’s surprise, and despite the fact that the industry, the majority of the general public and myself deem these acts to be illegal, the Federal Court of Canada recently legalized the downloading and sharing of music files online.

Section 28 of the decision sets out that under the current Canadian copyright law, the mere fact of placing a copy (of an MP3 file) on a shared directory in a computer where that copy can be accessed via a P2P service does not amount to distribution. Before it constitutes distribution, there must be a positive act by the owner of the shared directory, such as sending out the copies or advertising that they are available for copying. But no such evidence was presented by the plaintiffs in this case, the principle being that the victim of theft has nothing to say given that he did not publicly offer to distribute what was stolen... Way too simple !

The Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) lodged formal complaints–to no avail–against 29 Canadian Web users who turned to the Kazaa software application to share music files using pseudonyms (but whose IP addresses were recorded). It appears that these 29 users were far from limiting their activities to private and discreet usage, given that they apparently distributed thousands of music files on the P2P networks. However, Canadian Internet service providers, such as Telus and Bell Sympatico, showed no willingness to expose their clients. Vidéotron, owned by Quebecor, also the parent company of Archambaultzik which sells music online, seemed to soften and wish to cooperate with the CRIA. But since last March 31, when the court rendered its decision, it appears that the problem is no longer a problem, at least as far as the current legislation is concerned, and according to justice Konrad von Finckenstein, who justified his decision by referring to legislation governing the photocopy of books.

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FIAM in China to prepare the 4th World Summit on Internet and Multimedia
André G. Côté, FIAM Executive Director, was in China in May to prepare the 4th World Summit on Internet and Multimedia : Multimedia and the Digital Future : Linking China and the World, to be held in Beijing from October 18 to October 20, 2004. Mr. Côté held a conference on May 23 entitled New Network Media & Traditional Media:Innovation of Network Age. He also held a press conference on May 24 along with our partners for organization of the Summit :, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade - Beijing Sub-council, the People’s Government of Beijing Municipality (Xuanwu District), the Beijing Multimedia Industry Association and the Shanghai Multimedia Industry Association.

In the meantime, all are getting ready for the Summit. All Associations are invited to contact FIAM as soon as possible to prepare their participation to the Summit and organize delegations for the Trade Exhibition. Please don't hesitate to contact us to let us know what are your interests and preoccupations regarding the issues you would like to see discussed during the Summit at summit2004@fiam.org.

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Canada
Alliance numériQC will hold a gaming summit in Montreal. Alliance numériQC, the business network of the multimedia content industry in Quebec, will organize a meeting for the gaming industry, The Montreal Game Summit, on November 3-4, 2004.
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Switzerland
Swiss Media : Internet in the street ! For its 10th anniversary (1995-2005 ) SwissMedia will hold an event called INTERNET DANS LA RUE which wishes to democratize Internet and reduce the digital divide between users and non-users.
(Read more )

Australia
AIMIA's Disappointment Over Federal Budget
The Australian digital content industry is disappointed at the Federal Government's failure to recognise the potential of the sector in the recent budget, according to the Executive Director of the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association, Louise van Rooyen.
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One American out of two prefers gaming to TV. According to a recent Ipsos-Insight study conducted for the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), one American out of two prefers gaming to TV. The Study was conducted in 1400 american homes (owning a game console or PC used for games).
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Canadian Delegation at the GITEX. After continuous success, and for the 8th consecutive year, Canada will again be organising a national pavilion at one of the World's most important Information & Technologies exhibition. The event will be held at the Dubai World Trade Centre from October 03-07, 2004, and organised by the Canadian Consulate-Dubai. The Gulf Information and Technology Exhibition (GITEX) has for many years been the preferred forum for the IT industry in the Gulf and the Middle East, and a platform for Canadian firms to promote their capabilities and expertise in the IT industry.
(Read more)

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