This country is the illegal file-swapping pirate capital of the world, according to a report to be released May 29 by the Conference Board of Canada.
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Of course, this assertion would be much more believable if the report were not so shambolic.
Marked by instances of plagiarism and faulty research, the report, entitled Intellectual Property Rights In The Digital Economy, is completely dismissible – except for the fact that it was indirectly funded by the Ontario government.
For that reason, large rotten tomatoes and other smelly vegetables should be hurled at the report’s authors at Friday’s unveiling conference at the Sheraton Hotel.
Michael Geist, a law professor at the University of Ottawa and a true digital rights hero, outed the board’s gross incompetence on his blog this week.
The paper recommends that Canada tighten digital copyright laws and model itself after the United States.
Not coincidentally, at least 10 passages in the paper are close to identical to those in a document from a U.S. anti-downloading lobby group, Geist found. In some instances, only country names have been changed.
Ontario’s Ministry of Research and Innovation forked out $15,000 for a conference on digital media held last May. From that event came research for this disingenuous report.
This is not to say the government is misusing funds, but that the Conference Board owes us some accountability.
Instead, it has responded to the charges against it in the same mismanaged way it put together its so-called report.
The board, which claims to be independent and impartial, called the American lobby paper a source document. It amended one missed citation but overall denies the plagiarism charge, saying only that “some of the cited paragraphs closely approximate the wording of a source document.”
Geist also holds that some statistics on downloading in the paper are deceptively out-of-date.
Witness: The report cites 1.3 billion unauthorized downloads in Canada, a figure it took from a press release by lobby group the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA). That press release is based on a 2006 Pollara survey. “In other words,” Geist writes, “the Conference Board relies on a survey of 1,200 people conducted more than three years ago to extrapolate to a claim of 1.3 billion unauthorized downloads.”
The Conference Board has not responded on this point. Its report and the Conference Board’s response to criticism (it has not replied to questions from NOW) are beyond unacceptable.
The United States is currently and unfairly characterizing Canada as a place where digital pirates run wild, and this egregious report only reinforces that falsehood.
At a time when honest, meaningful discussion is so desperately needed on digital copyright issues, the Conference Board tried to pull a fast one. Don’t let it get away with this.
UPDATE: The Conference Board of Canada has recalled three reports, including the subject of this column, Intellectual Property Rights in the Digital Economy. It says it will conduct an internal review as to why it did not follow “the high quality research standards” of the Board. Who knows what it will present at the conference on Friday.
joshuae@nowtoronto.com
