The Impacts of Canada’s Copyright Modernization: Talking Digital Locks on CBC Television

When Canada’s copyright law was amended, one of the biggest changes was protect for digital locks. Since 2012 it has been illegal in Canada to circumvent technological protection measures.

In this CBC television interview, on the Lang and O’Leary Exchange, I explain the adverse business impacts of locking consumers into particular platforms, or out of digital content.

Geo-restricted screen shot
Video is geo-restricted by DRM, by Jeremy de Beer

My comments on digital locks closely echo the sentiments of host Kevin O’Leary about digital locks:

“At the same time that the market’s moving away from this, this idiot law comes in.”

In response, I explain that technological protection measures still pose very real anti-competitive and consumer protection problems, as well as concerns about access to digital content.

Quite ironically, Canadians are geofenced out of the video of this CBC interview on Dailymotion. So, carefully navigating the copyright complexities, I’ve uploaded my interview myself to YouTube, where the clip is now openly accessible.