"Rick Mercer can sue me for copyright infringement; I'm used to it." - Research in Motion co-CEO Jim Balsillie (and Canada's 2006 CEO of the Year along with Mike Lazaridis) after showing a video that makes fun of Blackberry users featuring comedian Rick Mercer during a speech in Toronto yesterday. Balsillie, of course, was referring to RIM's acrimonious copryight patent battle with NTP Inc., which was settled earlier this year.

If you're interested in digital rights and copyright in Canada, check out Michael Geist's 30 Days of DRM that provides a variety of ways to get involved. You only have yourself to blame if the new laws fail are a disappointment.

Nothing like a little U.S. venture capital to prepare yourself for a long, cold Canadian winter, right? Eloqua Inc. and QuickPlay Media Inc. - both based in Toronto - got a financial shot in the arm recently by raising US$13-million and US$12-million respectively from U.S. VCs. Eloqua, which sells a sophisticated suite of marketing and sales tool to clients such as Nokia, Red Hat and JBoss, received money from Bay Partners and JMI Venture Capital Services. /With huge sales momentum, Eloqua CEO Mark Organ is already looking toward an IPO within the next two years. QuickPlay is a sexier play given it's in the red-hot mobile media market with technology that helps carriers deliver video, broadcast TV, radio and music services. Its series B money came from General Catalyst Partners and Toronto-based J.L. Albright.

  If there's a common theme between the two deals, it's the low profile of Canadian VCs (other than J.L. Albright). Either they weren't willing to step up to the plate, or Eloqua and QuickPlay believed there were strategic advantages going south of the border for financing. In an ideal world, it would be nice to see Canadian VCs be more active in earlier-stage deals given they can get more bang for the buck than waiting for series B or series C opportunities. Of course, there's also more risk in doing earlier-stage deals, and I'm not sure many Canadian VCs have a huge risk appetite. (Update: Truth be told, Canadians VCs are slowly becoming more ambitious with Albright, Brightspark, Celtic House and GrowthWorks and Ventures West willing to get involved in early-stage financings.)