USTR’s Bully Report Unfairly Blames Canada Again

“The U.S. government has released its annual Special 301 report
in which it purports to identify those countries with inadequate
intellectual property laws. Given the recent history and the way in
which the list is developed, it will come as no surprise that the
U.S. is again implausibly claiming that Canada is among the worst
of the worst. As a starting point, it should be noted that the
Canadian government does not take this exercise particularly
seriously. As an official with the Department of Foreign Affairs
once told a House of Commons committee:

“In regard to the watch list, Canada does not recognize the 301
watch list process. It basically lacks reliable and objective
analysis. It’s driven entirely by U.S. industry. We have repeatedly
raised this issue of the lack of objective analysis in the 301
watch list process with our U.S. counterparts.

“This year’s report is particularly embarrassing for the U.S.
since it not only lacks in credible data, but ignores the
submission from CCIA (which represents some of the world’s largest
technology and Internet companies including Microsoft, Google,
T-Mobile, Fujitsu, AMD, eBay, Intuit, Oracle, and Yahoo) that
argued that it is completely inappropriate to place Canada on the
list. The technology giants reminded the USTR that “Canada’s
current copyright law and practice clearly satisfy the statutory
‘adequate and effective’ standard. Indeed, in a number respects,
Canada’s laws are more protective of creators than those of the
United States.”

Complete
Story