Cablegate: Canada Ipr: One Step Forward, 26.2 Miles to Go

VZCZCXRO0818
OO RUEHGA RUEHQU RUEHVC
DE RUEHOT #0850 3081958
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O R 041957Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY OTTAWA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0038
INFO ALL CANADIAN POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS OTTAWA 000850

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR WHA/CAN AND EEB/TPP/IPE
USTR FOR MELLE, SULLIVAN AND REEVES
COMMERCE FOR JENNIFER BOGER, GERI WORD, AND EMILY BARRIGAN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON ETRD KIPR CA
SUBJECT: Canada IPR: One Step Forward, 26.2 Miles To Go

1. (SBU) The Canadian Department of Justice on November 3 proposed
amending Canadian regulations in order to include offenses against
the Copyright Act under Proceeds of Crime provisions. This change
will allow law enforcement officials to seize assets that were paid
for with money gained from activity in violation of Canada's
Copyright Act. It will act as an incentive for law enforcement to
investigate copyright crime and a disincentive to commit these
crimes. According to Chris Grey, Director of the Canadian
Intellectual Property Council, while this is forward progress, the
Government's action does nothing to address industries' key issues
of copyright modernization and improved enforcement and is only a
small step forward.

2. (U) The full text of the proposed amendments can be found at:
http://gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p1/2009/2009-10-31 /html/reg3-eng.html

3. (SBU) Comment: Amending these regulations is an easy and
non-controversial action for the Government of Canada and we agree
that the amendments, while positive, are underwhelming. This small
step does not change the pressing need for the Government to
quickly act on prior commitments to implement the WIPO internet
treaties and increase Canadian law enforcement officers'
authorities to stop the flow of counterfeit goods. End Comment.
JACOBSON

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