Industry committee  I think there are a number of ways you can try to address it. I agree with you; the problem in Texas is enormous. It's the reason you have companies like Samsung sponsoring and paying for hockey rinks in Texas, quite literally, in that eastern district. They appear so often before those courts that they want the potential jury pool to be familiar with and think nicely of a company like Samsung.

Industry committee  That's a terrific point. It's one that Balsillie has made quite frequently as well. It points to the fact that, with all respect, the trade negotiations around intellectual property in Canada have been almost entirely defensive. It comes back to the question we had earlier. It has been all about trying to fend off, in a sense, some of the pressures we faced from other jurisdictions.

Industry committee  I don't recall the particular post. I write a lot of posts. It may well have come within the context of copyright, to bring back Mr. Masse's point around some of the copyright issues.

Industry committee  I'm not sure what you mean by—

Industry committee  Do you mean Canada, as compared internationally?

Industry committee  I think we have success stories, but I think there are lessons to be learned from other countries as well. As an example, I'm just back from Israel where I teach a course between my University of Ottawa and the University of Haifa. Its focus is on global technology policy. One of the focal points was talking a lot about cyber and cybersecurity there.

Industry committee  A lot of the trade and a lot of the IP where the imbalance comes from, from a Canadian perspective.... There are really two sources. One is on the copyright side and that can be attributed to things like Hollywood movies and stuff like that. On that front, my argument, and I believe many would agree, is that we need to continue to ensure that Canadian copyright policies reflect Canadian national interests.

Industry committee  As you may know, I've been critical of the provisions in the trans-Pacific partnership around copyright and of some of the patent provisions that we see in CETA. Part of it stems from the fact that the bargain we've been sold in some of these areas simply hasn't sorted out. Take pharmaceuticals: almost two decades ago, Canada instituted changes in our patent rules to increase our level of patent protection in return for clear commitment in terms the amount of R and D that the large pharmaceutical companies would be making in Canada to try to address some of the imbalance that you just highlighted.

Industry committee  I would just start by noting that I think everybody agrees that respect for copyright in educational institutions and respect for the creators is important. One really nice thing about open access, especially in many disciplines in which virtually everything now is published as open access, is that the author has given permission to use these works.

Industry committee  That highlights another area of IP abuse, in this case really copyright abuse. As many of you may remember, the 2012 copyright reforms, which will be the subject of much discussion with the copyright review that starts later this year, included a fairly innovative approach known as “notice and notice” in terms of trying to find a mechanism to ensure that rights holders had a mechanism to address allegations of infringement online while at the same time trying to safeguard the privacy and free speech interests of Internet users, trying to find a way to balance.

Industry committee  I can start by saying that there clearly has been, over the last number of years, an increased emphasis in this area. Certainly, I feel it on my own campus at the University of Ottawa, and we see it through incubators that exist in a number of communities across the country or on individual campuses.

Industry committee  Thank you very much, and good morning. As you heard, my name is Michael Geist. I'm a law professor at the University of Ottawa where I hold the Canada research chair in Internet and e-commerce law. My areas of specialty include digital policy, intellectual property, and privacy.

Information & Ethics committee  I think the general principles do serve us quite well. But what we've experienced, especially as new technologies have emerged in recent years, is specific privacy legislation or regulation trying to address new concerns, whether identity theft, or spam, or some of the national security issues that have arisen.

Information & Ethics committee  What I would say makes sense for Canada is to open up the trade negotiations. If there was were a fundamental problem with the way the Conservative government, with all respect, negotiated CETA and the TPP, it was that it was done with an enormous amount of secrecy and then presented on a take-it or leave-it basis.

Information & Ethics committee  I'll give it a try. I don't doubt Michael and Colin may have responses, and David, too. I'll quickly say that it is readily apparent that these issues have entered into the realm of trade negotiations. We saw it unquestionably within the Trans-Pacific Partnership, within the TPP.