Michael Geist

Geist supports a consumer-oriented approach to copyright law, and he led the public response to proposed legislation in 2007.[17] Geist's research "played a key role in influencing policy-makers during the enactment of Bill C-11, which modernized the Copyright Act of Canada for the digital age."[3] His work has been cited in several Supreme Court of Canada copyright decisions.[3]

According to Geist, proposed Canadian legislation in 2007 included the worst aspects of the 1998 U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DCMA) "with strong anti-circumvention legislation — far beyond what is needed to comply with the WIPO Internet treaties" and with no protection for "flexible fair dealing. No parody exception. No time shifting exception. No device shifting exception. No expanded backup provision. Nothing."[18]

Geist has continued to play a prominent role on copyright in Canada, with numerous articles,[19] speeches,[20] books,[21] and appearances before House of Commons and Senate committees.[22] In October 2011, when the Canadian government attempted to pass a new bill on copyright reform which included digital lock rules, Geist argued that, based on former submissions to the government on Bill C-32 and the 2009 national copyright consultation, the bill was too restrictive and was primarily about satisfying U.S. pressure, not public opinion."[23][24] [25]

Geist is considered an expert on intellectual property and digital trade issues associated with trade agreements.[26] He played a key role in the failed international Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), criticizing the ACTA negotiation process for lack of transparency, and warning of possible negative consequences for Internet users.[27] [28] He was similarly active in assessing the implications of the Trans-Pacific Partnership[29] and reforms to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), later called the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)[30] in the United States or CUSMA in Canada.[31]

In 2011, Geist criticized the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission's (CRTC) history of inability to foster an atmosphere of competition that would allow third-party internet service providers (ISPs) to gain a foothold in the Canadian market. He did note, with the CRTC's usage based oral hearing on July 19, 2011, that they were making efforts to address this lack of competition and criticized Bell Canada and other major companies for their involvement in limiting smaller ISPs.[32] Also in 2011, he wrote a report on the transport costs of a gigabyte for a Canadian consumer from an ISP and concluded it was roughly eight cents per gigabyte. This report was later denounced by the major ISPs, most notably Bell Canada.[33] [34]

Geist has been a vocal supporter of net neutrality in Canada, writing widely on the subject[35] and frequently discussing the issue in the mainstream media.[36] In 2017, he appeared before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics to explain his key concerns to Members of Parliament.[37]

Geist has regularly appeared before House of Commons committees to discuss privacy protection and potential reforms.[38] He is the editor of the Canadian Privacy Law Review and served on the Privacy Commissioner of Canada's Expert Advisory Board.[39] He is the editor of the 2015 book, Law, Privacy and Surveillance in Canada in the Post-Snowden Era.

In 2018, Geist opposed a proposal to establish a website-blocking system in Canada to be overseen by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.[40][41] He wrote dozens of widely cited posts on concerns with the proposal.[42] The CRTC rejected the proposal on jurisdictional grounds in October 2018.[43]

Geist criticized the Online Streaming Act (Bill C-11) because it could limit consumer choice if imposing restrictions causes streaming platforms to charge more, or pull out of Canada. Also, altering how discovery works would be detrimental to content creators.[44] He said the government, through its regulator the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), "gets to determine what gets prioritized…It's going to make choices – elevating some and deprioritizing others. That clearly has an impact on individual Canadians' expressive rights."[45] [46]

Geist expressed three major concerns with the Online News Act, Bill C-18. He opposes, in principle, requiring payment for links, indexing, and any other mechanism to facilitate access to news because of "the harm to freedom of expression and the free flow of information online".[47] Also, the Act would only apply to Google and Meta platforms, leaving out similar companies such as X (formerly Twitter), Apple, Microsoft, and generative artificial intelligence companies, such as OpenAI.[48]

Further, the definition of eligible news businesses was expanded, and goes beyond the standards established under the Income Tax Act which govern Qualified Canadian Journalism Organizations. As a result, Geist said "the bill would require payments to broadcasters without any actual journalism or original news content. That isn't funding for journalism or journalists. It is creating a subsidy program that only requires a CRTC-issued licence."[47] [49]

• NAFTA and the Digital Environment, November 2017
• Copyright and NAFTA Renegotiation, October 2017
• Canadian Copyright, OA, and OER: Why the Open Access Road Still Leads Back to Copyright, October 2017
• Canada and the TPP: A Digital Policy Failure, October 2015
• Why Watching the Watchers Isn't Enough, January 2015
• Beyond SOPA: ACTA, WIPO and Global Copyright, January 2012
• Speech at International Data Protection and Privacy Commissioner's conference, September 2007