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Canadian Anti-Piracy Report Welcomed

by Glen Shapiro, LawAndTax-News.com, New York

28 June 2007

The Canadian Anti-Counterfeiting Network (CACN) has applauded a report published by Parliament's Industry, Science and Technology Committee, entitled "Counterfeiting and Piracy are Theft".

CACN went on to urge the federal government to act quickly on the Committee's recommendations for strong measures against counterfeiting and piracy.

"The report boldly and unambiguously reinforces the need for the government to take proactive steps against criminal activities that cause billions of dollars in economic losses, feed money to organized crime, and pose a significant threat to the personal health and safety of Canadians," announced Doug Geralde, Chair of CACN.

Noting the report's unanimous, all-party support, Geralde added:

"It's heartening to see that Parliamentarians can set aside their partisan differences to respond so effectively to protect Canadians and battle counterfeiting and piracy. We thank the Committee's Chair and Vice-Chair for their inclusive, non-partisan leadership in making this happen."

The report made 19 recommendations, including:

  • New criminal provisions, including legislation making it an offence to manufacture, reproduce, import, distribute and sell counterfeit goods.
  • Stronger civil remedies for counterfeiting and piracy infringements.
  • Administrative monetary penalties for importing and exporting counterfeit and pirated goods.
  • Legislation imposing liability on individuals who distribute pirated digital works and who manufacture and/or distribute circumvention devices for commercial gain.
  • Canada Border Services Agency and law enforcement authorization to target, detain, seize, and destroy counterfeit and pirated goods on their own initiative.
  • The provision of adequate resources to the RCMP and Department of Justice to effectively address counterfeiting and piracy.
  • Ratification of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty.
  • The establishment of an Intellectual Property Crime Task Force composed of police officers, customs officers and federal prosecutors to work with intellectual property business leaders.

The report's recommendations chime with those made earlier this month in a separate report on counterfeiting and piracy issued by Parliament's Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security (SECU).

It is also the fourth time in recent years that a Parliamentary committee has unanimously called upon the Government to ratify the WIPO treaties, including previous calls by the Heritage Committee.

The Canadian Anti-Counterfeiting Network (CACN) is a non-profit coalition of stakeholders united in the fight against product counterfeiting and copyright piracy in Canada and internationally. Members include broad-based organizations and companies from a range of industries as well as law firms representing intellectual property rights holders.

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