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Campaigning for Copyright in Canada
kwandar writes "Politicians are on the doorsteps of Canadians over the next two weeks, as the Canadian election campaign winds up. Digital Copyright Canada put together a questionnaire for all the major parties, asking for their position. While I haven't made a decision, I think I'd mod the governing Liberal Party's response as 'off-topic'. The Election 2004 responses make for interesting reading."
Better answers, and they're more knowledgable about privacy than the Liberals.
Link.
Closed protocols, systems, and architectures can play host to deleterious behaviour that is virtually impossible to correct. Open standards and architectures are necessary for any long-lived system.
The government must be able to create, customize, and improve its systems without having to rely on a single supplier. Conversely, the public must be able to verify and critique the architectures that are used to store, transmit, and protect sensitive information.
A Green Party government will only acquire systems are built upon open standards and protocols. If such systems are not available, or do not provide sufficient functionality, the value of creating or improving an open source solution will be weighed against the cost of using the equivalent closed system. A closed system will only be used if the vendor agrees to be liable for migrating to an open architecture within a reasonable time period.
I had been going to vote NDP, but unless they have a similar response I may vote Green instead!
Alphanos
Sharing files is not illegal reproducing copyrighted materials without permission and distributing them is. File sharing should not be prohibited, as it is simple transmission of information.
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The Green Party believes that the open discussion of copy protection mechanisms (including their mechanism and means to circumvent them) can only result in the creation of better copy protection schemes. Private citizens have the right to own and control devices used for lawful purposes.
Closed protocols, systems, and architectures can play host to deleterious behaviour that is virtually impossible to correct. Open standards and architectures are necessary for any long-lived system.
I havn't checked the rest of their platform, but they sure seem informed and their answers to this survey. Can't say the same about the Liberals though; all I got out of their response was "We don't know, but whatever it is it'll be good for the Canadian economy". Bah! Spouting off slogans isn't an answer!
Where are the PC's responses? And the Bloc? I hope posting to slashdot will expediate the reply processes.
Not that it could ever really happen, but I wonder if, as you say, many other /.ers believe these things; and if they were to all vote Green ... would the Green party make much of a showing?
There has been a big to-do in the press this election (as in most elections) that young people don't vote. And how to get them to vote: address issues "young people" care about. But really, I know young Conservatives, young NDP-ers, and probably a lot of closet young Liberals, and none of them are going to switch allegiances because a certain party channels Avril Lavigne into their platform...
It seems to me that there are more inroads to be made targeting like-minded portions of the population. The Green party may actually have a great platform here, but up until now I had no idea they had any idea what the GPL was. If they broadcast those ideals to their target audiences, rather than picking fights for mainstream voters on the "usual" issues, they might find themselves with a few MPs this time around.
Of course, somehow getting this message across on Slashdot probably does a lot of good to that end.
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