15. Until the contemplated new legislation has been introduced and passed, SONY BMG is of the opinion that there is a legal vacuum around TPMs in Canada.
Excerpt from Sony BMG et. al. vs. Vladimir Louis Jaques et. al.; a document deleneating Sony canada’s reasoning as to why Canadians should not be compensated for the Sony Rootkit fiasco.
The document then goes on to say that for the actions in the US to apply to Canada, this country would have had to ratify the WIPO treaty of 1996, which mandated anti-circumvention legislation of TPMs. While this does seem like a rather weak substantiation, I’m not a legal expert, and so I am not in a position to question these findings. That said, I do wonder about the necessity of inserting such comments given the other, arguably more solid, reasoning listed in the document. This seems more a politicization of the document as a means to wedge the government into action.
Because of the other reasons delineated in the document, it is highly unlikely that BMG would of compensated Canadians even if such legislation were in place. This brings further the idea that this point was a subversive attempt to pressure the government, perhaps as means to highlight its dissaproval of the current silence on the state of copyright reforms.
While my stance is on the side of Sony at this point, in I agree that they are not entitled to compensate Canadians for the outcome of legal proceedings in the US, I remain cautious of comments such as argument no. 15.
You can download the full document from here.
PS. It’s not that I oppose the said legislation, I simply oppose using false claims to further a political goal. This applies to any party, whether they be a major label or M.A.D.D.