HYER: GOVERNMENT MUST INTERVENE IN CANADA POST LAWSUIT
“Two things have become obvious from this; First, we have to be wary about online voting. And second, our poisoned federal political culture has to be fixed ...before our elections are." MP Bruce Hyer, Thunder Bay-Superior North
Copyright ownership of postal codes would harm small biz, NGOs, economy
OTTAWA, ON – Bruce Hyer, MP (Thunder Bay-Superior North) is calling on the Harper Government to intervene in a Canada Post lawsuit in order to foster innovation and small business growth in Canada. In what could become a landmark legal case, the crown corporation has sued Geolytica, Inc, an Ottawa-based small business that had compiled a postal code list through an ingenious method of crowdsourcing.
“Canada Post is claiming copyright ownership over all Canadian postal codes, and now appears to be suing small businesses that compile their own postal code lists,” said Hyer on Parliament Hill. “Canada Post wants to force individuals and organizations to buy a postal code database from them for thousands of dollars. This is not only unaffordable for most small businesses and non-governmental organizations; it flies in the face of the government’s stated “Open Data” policy… and it could put the brakes on the economy. The government needs to step up to rein in Canada Post before a harmful legal precedent is set.”
“Canada Post’s aggressive stance has major repercussions for our economy and society,” explained Hyer. “Every church group with a newsletter, every florist with a delivery list, and every large company that deals with shipping could be sued for copyright infringement if their contact list uses postal codes. Because Canada Post is claiming copyright over individual postal codes as well as lists, anyone sending so much as a post card via FedEx is in violation of copyright as they see it. This will serve no-one but Canada Post.”
“The government announced an ‘Open Data’ initiative last year with great fanfare,” noted Hyer. “But all the trumpeting about open government means little if it won’t step in where needed to actually ensure government departments, agencies and crown corporations aren’t moving in the opposite direction. Given that postal authorities in most countries, including the US, do not copyright their postal codes, Minister Denis Lebel can easily step in to resolve this situation. I have written to him to him and expect him to take action.”
“The government needs to start re-evaluating its stance on data that taxpayer money already paid to compile or create,” added Hyer. “Most data that does not pose a security risk should be freely available: why should Canadians have to pay for it twice?”
