Title: S.41: Technological Protection Measures

Why not sooner?
Successive Canadian governments attempted to implement TPM protection in the Copyright Act, but all of these attempts were unsuccessful because of elections that killed the respective bills.  These bills were C-60 in 2005, C-61 in 2008, and C-32 in 2010.

Examples of TPMs that control uses of a work

Examples of TPMs for controlling use or copying of a work are:

- Software or hardware that “locks” a work so it can’t be copied or printed. There are some PDFs, including eBooks, that use this
- An encryption system that “scrambles” content so that it can’t be viewed or copied without authorization from the rights-holder

Examples of TPMs that control access:

- A username and password system
- Time-based access controls: for example, when you check out certain eBooks from a library, you may only have access for a limited time, like 14 days
- Payment systems, such as those on scholarly journal sites, that require a fee or subscription to access content

Q: The Canadian Copyright Act defines a technological protection measure as “any effective technology, device or component” that:
- Controls access to a work or that restricts any activity that violates the rights of a copyright holder (correct)
- Is completely effective in preventing this misuse of copyright protected materials
- Informs potential users that they are accessing copyright protected works
- Prevents the modification of works that are both covered under copyright and in the public domain

Q: Section 41.1 of the Copyright Act states that no person may:
- Circumvent a TPM
- Offer a service to circumvent a TPM
- Make, import, distribute, sell or rent any technology or device primarily intended to circumvent TPMs
- All of these (correct)

Q: Under which of the following conditions is it okay to circumvent a TPM?
- When the purpose of using the material is covered under fair dealing
- When a library or archive is attempting to preserve locked content
- If you are in law enforcement, working for the purposes of national security (correct)
- If you are a news reporter and you require access to a work in order to verify the facts of your story

Q: Controversy around TPMs in the Copyright Act often centers around the argument that:
- There should be exceptions to circumvention in cases where the digital lock is being bypassed for non-infringing purposes (correct)
- Anyone can get around a digital lock, so what is the point?
- TPMs mean that the rich get richer
- TPMs are really annoying

Q: Which of the following is not one of the seven reasons you can circumvent a TPM?
- You are engaged in research related to encryption technologies
- You need to prevent software from collecting personal information
- An evil mastermind is broadcasting a hypnotic mind-control signal over the airwaves which will brainwash millions and you need to stop them, by jingo! (correct)
- You have perceptual disabilities

Q: Canada implemented TPM protection in s. 41 of the Copyright Act in 2012 in order to comply with this international treaty:
- Berne Convention
- TRIPS Agreement
- World Copyright Treaty (WCT) (correct)
- Treaty of Versailles
- The Nairobi Treaty

Choose the correct statement.

Credits: S.41: Technological Protection Measures; by University of Alberta; 2019; licence CC BY 4.0