Rock responds to Heritage committee request on WIPO treaties
Industry Canada minister Allan Rock has given a non-committal response to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage about an accelerated timetable for implementing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Internet treaties (CNM, Nov. 7/03). In a November 6 letter to committee chair Clifford Lincoln, Rock writes: “I recognize the importance of the work that the Standing Committee will be undertaking in the coming months, as it reviews the provisions and operation of the Copyright Act. I also appreciate the Committee members’ desire to be apprised of the upcoming revisions to the Copyright Act in order to assess how this impact (sic) on the Committee’s work. As soon as possible, ministerial guidance will be sought on policy proposals that would address the WIPO treaties, as well as the other issues in the Government’s short-term agenda…Again, I wish to assure you that I am committed to making early progress on these issues.”