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Anti-DMCA Petition in Canadian Parliament
Matthew Skala writes "Last month we heard that the Canadian government is rejecting some of the worst features of the DMCA (more analysis here), but with Heritage Minister Liza Frulla parroting the media-cartel lobby with a promise to "give the tools to companies and authors to sue" and persuade children that downloading music for free is morally wrong even though it's presently legal in Canada, the battle is far from won. Yesterday, Member of Parliament Peter Julian (Burnaby-New Westminster, NDP) introduced the first batch of signatures on Digital Copyright Canada's Petition for Users' Rights. This isn't just a Web click-through petition that politicians can freely ignore; more than a thousand real hardcopy signatures have already been collected from Canadian residents opposed to further expansion of copyright privileges, and the campaign is hoping for many more. Additional coverage on p2pnet.net."
The NDP isn't irrelevant. The current government has a minority of seats, so if all the opposition parties vote against a proposed piece of legislation, then it won't pass.
Except we currently have a minority government, which means the Liberals have to tread very carefully to avoid losing the confidence of the house.
Also, given the latest sponsorship scandal (biggest scandal in Canadian politics in the last 10, maybe 20 years) the opposition parties will be looking for publically popular positions to use to 'gang up' on the ruling party.
This petition has some weight given its timing, and private member's bills have been known to successfully be passed...especially during minority governments.
John Maynard Keynes: "When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do?"
Erm - WTF are you talking about? This isn't an "NDP" initiative, and even if it were our government is currently a MINORITY government, which gives all MP's, especially those sitting in opposition, significantly more power.
While I do not doubt that the politicians WILL ignore it, I think they do so at their peril. And just because I have no hope that they will lend credence to the petition does not mean I will not get everyone I know to sign it and send it to Parliament Hill in my MP's hands.
"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." - Hanlon's Razor
Peter Julian is the Member Parliament (MP) for that area. So anyone who gets 25 or more signitures for there area must take their copy of the petition to their MP, weather their in "power" or not!
My MP (Jaff Brya Victoria-Becon Hill, [Libral]) happens to be a member of the ruling party, and ther more MP's whose contsituants ask their MP's to Present the petition to Parliament the stronger it looks!
Here is the Cool part: If I am correct, only 25 signitures are needed for each MP, so the more Rideings (Canadian for an MP's electoral district) who collect signitures, the better!
Copied from MY OWN AC post cus I forgot to turn cookies on in Firefox!
So anyone who gets 25 or more signitures for there area must take their copy of the petition to their MP, weather their in "power" or not!
Actually, MPs can introduce petitions with signatures from anywhere in Canada as long as they have a bunch from their own riding. Peter Julian was chosen for the first batch because many of the signatures were in his area, and the petition organizers were able to convince him to support the cause. His being an NDP member isn't particularly relevant. This is an issue that cuts across party lines - you could just as well say that the Right should support the petition because expanded copyright laws are government-sponsored monopolies and harm the free market.
Please DO talk to your local MP about this, but it would be better to send your collected petition signatures to Digital Copyright Canada rather than sending them to your local MP, because the petition organizers are trying to collect them into well-organized batches, remove duplicates, and have them presented by the MPs who will bring us the greatest benefit. Submitting a petition to Parliament is a bit complicated if you want to do it in the proper way that compels them to pay official attention.
Downloading commercial music without payment is not.
Actually, if by "downloading" you mean making a personal copy of someone else's commercial music, then you're wrong.
The Canadian Copyright Act specifically allows personal copies of music to be made. The U.S.A. has never had an equivalent exclusion in its copyright laws.
Not saying that's neccessarily what happened here, but that would be my first guess given the situation you described. If you're really interested, you could contact the company that has the legitimate rights to distribute the show in the US, and ask whether the DVD you bought was legit or not.
How can we continue to believe in a just universe and freedom to eat crackers if we have no ale?
Only failed confidence votes bring down the government (e.g. the budget). Free votes fail all the time, it just means that the piece of legislation dies.
Karma: Excellent (Mainly due to Bill & Ted's Karma Adventure)
Here's actual information related to its current legality in Canada... right here. It is currently legal to download personal copies. Whether that status will change, who knows...
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This is the cute vorpal bunny virus, copy to your sig or runaway, runaway in fear!
sorry i saw those same numbers as congress, i call bullshit, so show your cards.
Check journal for info on Anti-TextBook, an idea by me.
The parent is full of BS. It shouldn't be modded up.
And boy, does it show.
At the time of the War of 1812, there were two territories with the name "Canada" in them -- Upper Canada, and Lower Canada. People who lived in those territories were known as "Canadians" (or, in the case of Lower Canada, "les Canadiens").
A group can be a people with having a nation. Ever hear of the Kurds? The Palestinians? The Welsh?
There was a Canada before Confederation, and the people who lived there were Canadians. Yes, they were British subjects (although their loyalties to the British crown certain varied -- Native Canadians and French Canadians also participated in the War, but generally held no special loyalty to the crown), but there is nothing preventing anyone from calling them "Canadians", and being perfectly understandable and correct when they do so.
Yaz.