michaelgeist

Actually, it's the longstanding name of my (very mediocre) fantasy baseball team :)

Thanks for the question. I was a advocate against ACTA throughout the negotiation process. While the final agreement was not as bad as initially contemplated, there remain significant concerns on substance, process (ie. how the agreement was reached with little transparency) and its impact on other agreements.

I appeared before the INTA Committee at the European Parliament to discuss my concerns. A video of my opening remarks is at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzieTzart5s

I also wrote a report for the committee that expands on the concerns. That is at

http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6477/125/

I've tried to raise awareness on many digital policy issues, particularly in Canada. Given that I've had many appearances before House of Commons committees and been quoted regularly in the House, there may be some influence. That said, any influence is strongly correlated to broader public participation on digital issues. We've seen that happen on a number of occasions in Canada, including on copyright and lawful access.

Good question. The issue was before the Federal Court of Canada earlier today in the Voltage - TekSavvy matter. The court is expected to rule in a few weeks, which will provide a better sense of how to balance some of these issues. Certainly the existence of a statutory damages cap of $5000 for all non-commercial infringement should make it hard to demand large settlements for alleged infringements.

Big issue with some connection to the our limited IXPs. CIRA's CEO Byron Holland has an excellent post arguing that more Canadian exchange points would reduce reliance on the US backbone. That post is here

http://www.circleid.com/posts/20130621_nsa_prism_and_internet_exchange_points_in_canada/

(note that I am a CIRA board member)