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U.S. Rejects Canadian Rejection of DMCA
P Starrson writes "
Slashdot readers may recall that last
month Canadian policy makers rejected the DMCA for Canada.
Not so fast apparently -- the U.S. Trade Representative has released
the annual Section
301 report which each year tells the rest of the world that they
need stronger intellectual property protection. This year Canada is a
particular target -- the U.S. plans to conduct a special review of
Canadian policies and explicitly rejects Canada's rejection of the
DMCA. A good summary on what this means from Canadian law professor Michael Geist."
Is it like moderation and meta-moderation in Slashdot? In the end nothing matters.
Rock that crushes, Paper & Scissors that don't matter.
the American public rejects the DMCA.
--- We need more Ron Paul!
Do you think Bush could leave other countries alone for 10 bloody seconds??
Isn't screwing your own country up good enough?!
The USA can suck my balls if they want us to adopt the DMCA. We dont even want the concessions they have made as it is, never mind the full DMCA.
While im sure it will eventually happen, I've certainly been calling local politicians and telling them about my feelings towards the DMCA and copyright legislation change.
The only way to keep things the way they are is to voice to those in charge that this is the way you like it! Come on canadians dont get lazy on this one.
It's easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them.
I say it's way past time Canada and the rest of the world told the US to go fuck itself.
You're using her as bait, Master!
The actual citizenry of either country has yet to be asked whether they actually want the DMCA, since most of the people don't even know it exists and probably most of congress doesn't even know it exists, since it was passed by voice vote without anyone in congress actually reading it.
The u.s. is in the transition to a wholely IP based economy, the DMCA is their lifeblood to a prosperous future. Log onto cspan sometime and watch the Greenspan-meets-congress videos, he keeps telling them "We need stronger IP laws.." Without any doubt his opinion holds more weight than yours ever will. I don't have much to say to young idealists or anybody with a inkling of hope left except, submit to your masters, it'll be easier.
I reject U.S.'s rejection of Canada's Rejection of DMCA.
Just some random (and probably irrelevant!) thoughts...
How on earth do the bought-and-paid-for senators in the states think they can make laws for other countries - without invading them. America, at this rate is well on the path to destroying itself through either corporate corruption - or alienating the rest of the world against it.
DMCA = Destruction of My Copyright Abilities
We all know the DMCA is a joke. Good thing us Canadians know it, too.
...that Canada qualifies as a circumvention device?
Uh oh
Not if Canada rejects the US's rejection first! Times like this the US thinks they own the world, they lie. Canada is bigger than the US, but has less people. Digital data is stored in Canada, thus only effective to Canadian law. Not US. The US is just pissed that Canada isn't joining their crusade against pirates.
~--~
Do not mind the one with the crazy, for he is sane
I just love it when another country impresses its ideals on the rest of the world;
As a person living in Canada I Have Already Emailed my Member of Parliment encouraging for strong independant action in all fields, highlighting this IP issue. Canada needs to make its own laws, and adhere to the WTO on matters of international trade, and the USA will ignore the WTO and anyone else if their policies are not benifitial to them.
Case and point, softwood lumber, sugar, steel, and tobacco industry tariffs and that stupid act which allows companies harmed to recompense themselves off of the tariff fund.
The USA is only hurting itself for international relationships, and we Canadians live mostly a couple 100 Km from the border.
ps The border is unguarded too.
Check journal for info on Anti-TextBook, an idea by me.
It just meant that Canadian lawmakers are more in tune with the values of the typical United States citizen than are the members of the U.S. Congress and Senate.
;-)
:-(
Well, at least in this particular area...
I don't think anyone is surprised anymore that our lawmakers write laws that reflect the values of lobbyists.
Mark
I thought we settled States Rights during the civil war, and agreed no state could reject federal law ;)
I want you to assume that all spelling and grammar errors are intentional. Thank You.
Perhaps if the USA opens the border to Canadian Beef , softwood lumber, and settles all the other open trade disputes Canada could CONSIDER, reconsidering such a bill. But I doubt it.
0110100100100000011000010110110100100000011000100
WTO rears its ugly head again i see.
Its going to continue to get ugly. 'my rules overpower yours'.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
...that I am sick and tired of America's attempts to tell other countries what to do. When commenting in this thread, please keep in mind that not all Americans feel that we should be so meddling, and only 51% of Americans were willing to re-elect the current administration.
Is the pure arrogance of this lost on US Policy makers?
When a country makes it clear that they are not interested in your fucked up copyright laws, maybe your laws might not be as good as you think they are.
This sort os stuff is only goint to get worse, as a Canadian, I plan to urge my government to stop trading with the USA as much as possible, and start trading with Europe, or China, or India instead.
Canadian DMCA rejects YOU!
I'm beginning to think the US government passes more laws outside the US than it actually does inside the US...
Oh yes, stronger IP laws. Just what everyone in Canada needs and wants.
By summer it was all gone...now shesmovedon. --
all this rejection is reminding me of high school....
Not only do they need to make dumb laws for their own country, they bully other countries to adopt their laws and views. Figures...
If the US can tell us what to do the we should have a say in their election, and it would probably sound like this:
Canada rejects Bush.
Maybe May 5th will change the British government and they will take the initiative to stop this crap? Nah not really, but I can dream right?
This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
The United States can lobby it's ass off all it wants to but one fact remains: We're our own country. I didn't have a vote in your election process nor did any Americans (except dual-citizens) have a vote in our election. We are not the 51st state. I have nothing against individual Americans (most of those I've met are really swell people) but as a whole, they really suck.
Gr@ve_Rose
!ekoj on si aixelsyD
That summary is why I don't read newspapers any more. I find reading text in columns less than 30 characters wide to be painful, and refuse to do it. Someone want to karma whore and post his whole summary in one nice wide paragraph?
They can reject it all they want , but i don't really see what they can actualy do about it . .. HAH. ,Trade sanctions against one of the largest commenwelth nations , well You think anti-American(Gouvernment not people) sentiment is strong now just wait , if they tried something like that then i can near assure you that the rest of the world would be in up-roar.You thought the UN was pissed off about the Cuba sanctions just wait to see how angry they would be if you tried that with Canada .
What are they going to suggest , Trade sanctions against Canada
I would love to see that
So what else can the US do , very little bar tough talk and going "Tch tch naughty Canada".
I think thats all we will hear about it , Lets hope Canada Gouvernment has the Strength of resolve to stay strong on this issue and stand up to this , Well lets just hope they realise there is nothing the US can do about it.
The only things certain in war are Propaganda and Death. You can never be sure which is which though
With an election inevitable in the not so distant future sometime, it would be good for Canadian voters to know where the major parties stand on this. I suspect the Conservatives would be more likely to fall in line with the Bush administration.
Loose lips lose spit.
Miss Canada: "Uncle Sam, Don't prod your nose where it don't go. Three times before I tossed you out in the snow. If you keep hacking, you'll get a darned good whacking"
Uncle Sam: "Oooohhhh - I like being whacked! Whack me here, Whack me there. Whack me on the bed, and under the chair. Whack me by whip, Whack me by stick. Whack me in Nam, Whack me in Iruq. Now I'll get whacked from little miss Canuck!
As a Canadian I have to say - "STAY THE FUCK OUT OF OUR LAWS."
Granted, as the U.S. is our largest trading partner, we have a number of things that are a little "grey" or messed up... For example, if it was not for the U.S. influence we probably would have legalized pot long ago.
I love the minority government we have right now though - our Prime Minister just denied a number of the White Houses requests because there could have been a forced election if he went against the will of the people. I hope it continues this way - bizzare concept I know - the will of the people driving things?
What is really sad is that much of our law is based on the changes that came about in the U.S. oh, about 200 years ago... (And English law as well)
Try to hack my 31337 firewall!
Excuse me, but since when does another country have to agree with what the US thinks that it is right for the rest of the world? From the way the post is worded, it sounds very draconian to me. It sounds as if the US is big, evil dictator, and it is going write a report bashing those countries that do not agree with the DMCA. No wonder that the world hates USA.
The article should say something like: "We the USA do not agree that you disagree with the DMCA for the following reasons... Please review them and have another vote on DMCA." However, it sounds like, "You fucking suck because you don't agree with the DMCA. We are going to report you to Uncle Sam and embargo your arse to the Stone Age. Who do you think you are to disagree with what we think is right?"
PS: I live in the US.
Dear USA trade reps,
We don't want the DMCA in Canada. If you insist we will stop selling you our water, hydro power, wheat, uranium, copper, lumber, oil, and Maple Syrup.
Oh, and you can't test your bombs and torpedoes here.
Many Apologies in advance,
-Canada
PS: If you really piss us off, we have a secret Beaver Army. Evil Beavers.
"tells the rest of the world they need stronger intellectual property protection"
How about telling the US they need a stronger currency so the people making money legally from the DMCA can actually convert it without being left with peanuts. I love the hypocrisy of the US at the moment. God bless Canada for having the balls reject it.
Business Voyeur
I guess they should be shaking in their boots now, eh?
Why do US policy makers assume that every country needs to have the exact policy as we have? One of the founding priciples of US conservatism is the preservation of sovereignty. That principle has meant that the US has ignored the call for a Canadian-style medical system, or the foreign policy goals of the EU. For good or ill, US conservatism demands that countries decide what is in their own best interests and guide their foreign and domestic agendas accordingly.
Now these conservatives are demanding that Canada abandon sovereignty and model all of their intellectual property laws after the US?
US 'conservatives' have the intellectual consistency of baby shit.
"Rocky Rococo, at your cervix!"
I laughed so f******g hard when I read this, my girlfriend couldn't believe that slashdot could be this funny
Those who know, do not speak. Those who speak, do not know. ~Lao Tzu
The exploitation of copyrighted material by Chinese companies is much more detrimental than internet copyright infringment. The funding that is going into attempting to force countries that are marginally complying should instead by spent on those countries which flagrantly break those laws which are _explicitly_ required for the continuation of the creation process.
"this is the gloaming"
radiohead
This is really just an exercise in power, the US will back up these strong suggestions with threats of trade sanctions etc.
The thing that gets me as someone who lives in Britain and recognises the behaviors of the British Empire in the past is that Americans don't recognise that they live in an empire in all but name.
There seems to be a sort of xeno blindness, nothing outwith the US borders exists and therefore cannot be important. The result being these kinds of strong arm tactics used against sovereign nations. Guess why large portions of the world are antithetical.
Deleted
The upcomming election is going to be very close, and I doubt a majority government is going to result no matter who wins.
Nobody here is going to do more than say "we're examining the issue" or words to that effect.
I rarely criticize things I don't care about.
Quite agree. What next, is Bush going to impose this on us. Then again, Tony loves Bush so much he'd probably do it at the drop of a hat.
God I love the arrogance of the US. It is shit like this that shows that the US really is imperialistic. If it cannot invade other countries like Iraq, it tries to subvert the legal system to make the laws echo its own.
I still do not see why the US even needs the DMCA. There is nothing in that law other than dismantling of fair use rights that is not covered by either pre-existing copyright law and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. If we do not need it, no other country does.
And why is Canada such a big deal? You would think they would want a place like China where piracy is rampant to adopt a DMCA before Canada. But then again Chinese courts have not ruled downloading MP3s off the net legal like Canadian courts did.
Anonymous Cowards generally receive no replies because you're a coward and I'm a bitch
I'd have to agree. This is utterly ridiculous; independent nations have the right to make their own laws.
Going back to school for entry-level jobs?
The USA government can suck my balls if they expect us to respect blatant pandering to the corporations as the DMCA.
In theory, the US government is a wonderfully designed thing, but in practice, it quite often sucks.
Damn.
-John.Self Serving Sig: Hosting Comparison
Hell, why don't they just roll in because we say sod-a pop instead of sod-e pop. Good question.
>> The USA can suck my balls
Careful there Anethema. There are 295,734,134 people down there - you'll get a seriously chapped bag.
http://request-header.info
Am I the only one
who finds it
incredibly hard to
read Geist's blog
when the text wraps
every three or four
words?
Karma: Negative (Mostly affected by dorm trolling)
omg it's captain obvious to slashdot's rescue!!
Have a look and see how important your vote is on May 5th. The vast majority of those who don't wish to vote for the incumbent might as well burn their polling cards right now.
http://www.doyoucount.co.uk/
Ehm, Proportional Representation anyone?
Oh, while we're on the subject of representation, does your MP represent you or do they really represent the leader?
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/
Deleted
Riiiight- all other developed countries. You'll notice how they stress this like it's the norm and the baseline everyone has. Canada isn't the odd man out, but rather the US is in this case.
Note most Eurpoean and Asian countries, and even in Canada-like Austrailia, have IP laws nowhere near the stupidity of the DMCA.
The US is not the norm. The US is trying to impose it's views coming from CORPORATE AMERICA and project them not only on the individuals but also on the individuals in other countries (all 6 billion of them). The DMCA only removes rights from individuals and gives it to corporations.
-M
when you see the word 'Linux', drink!
The US dwarfs the rest of the world in production of IP.
s/production/claims
You can reject a rejection? Sweeet! I'll keep this in mind when I some day apply for a job.
What nerve. The US refuses to honor its own laws and international treaties concerning the softwood lumber issue with Canada (yes, I am in BC), yet insists that Canada implement the draconian DMCA or something similar.
I hope the government of the day has the balls to tell the US that we refuse to talk about IP until the US honors the NAFTA rulings re softwood lumber.
Eh? you mean me?
I forget what 8 was for.
The economic movement within the US is toward the exportation of intellectual property. That is what is being created in the US, well... that and marketing... and military weapons... and corn (im from the midwest). Why would a company spend billions of dollars creating something when it can be stolen, re-engineered, and resold for nothing. We have a right to protect our investment.
"the US government is corrupted its corporations" -- response: "the US goverment wants to protect its economy". Two interpretations of the same idea.
This hatred of US economic foreign policy is the hatred of the exploited attempting to protect itself.
Mod me down with your hatred and your journey towards the Dark Side shall be complete.
"the dark side of the force is a pathway which some might consider to be unnatural"
"this is the gloaming"
radiohead
In the same vein, what about the Australian / US FTA?
There were a lot of concessions in Australia as needed for obtaining the FTA, and I dare say that the proposed Australian / Chinese FTA would put a bit of a damper on things given the apparent disregard for IP that the Chinese seem to display (good thing and bad thing).
I feel that the relevancy of the US as 'global leader' is slipping already, and the cross over point is not far away, where the EU and China become the new powerhouses (look at EU and China proposed weapons deals as an initial indicator). Soon, other countries will treat the US as a toothless tiger and will start ignoring the pressure from the US to do things 'their way', but that is still a little way off (look at posturing in the Korean peninsula, and the sabre-rattling over Taiwan).
InfoSec that matters, when it counts.
It's basicaly a free trade area with political pretentions but boy that would fuck with the American politicians heads.
Deleted
I reject, US's rejection of Canadian beef.
Send in the cows boys!
Adventure City Tours
Get the facts straight! First off, the US has had cases of mad cow that initiated in house. The main difference is that the US quietly handles these issues. Funny how only the rest of the world hears about the problems within US borders.
The United States' first probable case of mad cow disease was detected in a cow from a farm in Mabton (washington state)
http://www.mindfully.org/Farm/2003/Mad-Cow-Diseas
http://www.theeagleonline.com/news/2004/01/29/New
Second, Canada handled the situation better than anyone.
"In May 2003, veterinary officials in Alberta confirmed that a sick cow sent to a slaughterhouse in January of that year had been inspected, found to be substandard, and removed so that it would not end up as food for humans or other animals. "
And for a view on just how the situation plays out
"On Dec. 29, 2004, The USDA announced that it recognized Canada as a "minimal-risk region" for BSE and imports of young Canadian cattle would resume March 7, 2005.
The new classification means the U.S. will not again close its borders to Canadian beef unless there are two or more cases of BSE per one million cattle older than 24 months of age in each of four consecutive years."
- So the US wont' be as silly for a single cow. With 14 million cattle, that means 28 cows need to have mad cow for them to do that again.
Mad Beef, Yummy -- fine.
But don't put the focus on Canada here considering you've had the same problems and we've collectively had less than many parts of the world.
-M
when you see the word 'Linux', drink!
Hurry the hell up and do it already, with my blessing.
Looking at the old 301 reports, I see mention that Canada has been on the "Watch List" since 1995, along with a host of other countries.
Please write your MP on this matter. Use my letter below if you don't want to write your own.
u se/PostalCode.asp?lang=E
/ statement_e.cfm
Send your letter for free (no postage necessary), to your MP at the following address:
[your MP's name] M.P.
House of Commons
Ottawa ON K1A 0A6
Find their email address, but write by paper mail too. http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/people/ho
Dear Mr. Breitkreuz
To summarize the issues in this letter:
1. Internet Service Providers should not be required to keep extensive logs of private and legal online communications.
2. The government must not stop Canadian citizens from making personal-use copies of their legally purchased software, music, and movie media.
Background:
http://pch.gc.ca/progs/ac-ca/progs/pda-cpb/reform
Here is the reasoning:
The purpose of the Copyright Act is to support creativity and innovation in the arts and culture. To design a new Act on the failed and draconian Digital Millenium Copyright Act of the United States of America, would be a disaster for Canadian culture, and innovation. Also our court system could become clogged with law abiding citizens who make personal use copies of their music, software, and movie collections for no personal financial gain. An implementation of the proposed changes to the Copyright Act would unleash another "Gun Registry boondoggle" onto the Canadian people - creating criminals out of law abiding citizens at the expense of Canadian taxpayers.
Internet Service Providers like Sasktel should not be made to keep extensive client usage logs for possible future prosecution by various copyright-based industries. I don't want to pay for that system to be put into effect, and I don't think most people do. The phone companies are not forced by the government to record the content of phone conversations, only police can do that with a proper warrant. ISP logs are going to be equivalent to phone-taps, and that's a violation of my privacy. It's doing the job of the police, and is for the sole benefit of an industry basing its profits on an outdated business model that is no longer realistic for the Canadian government to protect.
It is completely unfair to be paying a levy to artists organizations for purchasing blank CD media to make home-use private copies of legal CD music, and now to also be unable to legally copy the music I've paid for off of Digital Rights Managed CDs. If copying CD music is going to be illegal, why is the government collecting money from the product for an illegal activity? I'm satisfied that the current levy is helping to compensate artists from illegitimate copying, and no new law is required to prevent me and other people from making sensible backups of our legal music, software, and movie collections.
Your representation in the House of Commons on this matter is greatly appreciated by me, and other supporters of personal liberty and innovation in the arts. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
my name
Saskboy's blog is good. 9 out of 10 dentists agree.
If you can reject Congress too, we might have a deal.
See more at wikipedia here.
How can US government be respected as a democracy if it can't respect its own neighbor's sovereignty?
It's not only about sovereignty, it's also about democracy; US can't even respect Canadian democracy. If the legitimate democratic Canadian Government decided that DMCA isn't apropriate for Canadian People it's US' duty to respect Canadian Government decision as strongly as it fights for democracy in Middle East.
It's about time to the US Government to understand that THE WORLD must be democratic, not only countries. It's about time to the US Government understand that it's necessary to respect the laws and the decisions made by the United Nations.
-=-=-=-=
I know life isn't fair, but why can't it ever be un-fair in MY favor!?
As much as I hate the DMCA and the idea of it coming here, I think that the /. summary claiming Canada was "a particular target" in the report was unfair. Bulgaria got almost as much paragraph space. Indonesia, Russia, and the EU are just a few of the other places getting "out of cycle" reviews for various things, in addition to another bunch of countries they just finished reviewing. Looks like it's just one more minor font of political pressure, like when the ambassador stamps his feet and whines.
As to the 301 list, it's a long list and several countries are on the Special 301 Watch Double Secret Probation List twice, once as themselves and then again as the EU. I don't see Italians leaping out of windows over it.
As to the actual political reality... the minority Liberal government is disintegrating under the weight of the Gomery inquiry, Conservative honcho Harper's visibly salivating at the thoughts of an election (which is just hurting him, but that's another rant...) and the NDP and Bloc can hardly be described as solid Liberal allies. I'm sure Prime Minister Paul Martin's not going to be losing a lot of sleep over this report. A radioactive bin Laden clone army could come across the ocean on giant flying squirrels and I don't think Martin would notice unless it would take the phrase "Sponsorship Scandal" out of newscaster's mouths.
and by establishing a "notice-and-takedown" system to encourage cooperation by ISPs in combating online infringements
Not related to anything else, but I love that phrase. Gives me the image of linebackers in SWAT team body armor busting into houses and stomping on people.
Do I think the DMCA's going to get here? Eventually it will, and that will be a Bad Thing. But not for a while. Given that these days the typical Canadian reaction to the phrase "I'm an American." is a disappointed "Oh.", I don't think the bandwagon's going to be jumped on quite that quick. It's worth fighting for now, sure, but I'm not grabbing a P2P program and completing my Britney Spears MP3 collection (ewwwwww, I just made myself sick) tonight for fear of the Digital Millennium Copyright Apocalypse.
Just like Iraq and other countries, right? The only bits of Canada, or any other country that are sovereign are those outside cruise missile range.
switching from their conservative last conservative vote
switching from their previously held vote/support of the conservative party in the last election.
*sigh* Been drinking a bit too much this afternoon.
Tell us to go fuck off! Thanks in advance!
If someone says he and his monkey have nothing to hide, they almost certainly do.
But he only has to worry about chapping from 295,734,133 because I won't be participating.
Americans don't recognise that they live in an empire in all but name
Leaving aside the pitfalls of generalizing about "Americans" (something that's becoming increasingly meaningless as that nation polarizes) and confining discussion to the red-staters, I'm not sure the problem is that they "don't recognise" that the US is an empire. It's more that they don't recognise that it's a bad empire. The British Empire wasn't exactly shy about announcing itself, but jingoistic pride, cultural arrogance and a nationalistic media all combined to ensure that its citizens were generally happy about that empire.
I think the same holds here. Read a topic like this at -1 and you'll find a fair number of posters who like being in the American Empire. They like the "we're number one!" thing, they like the knee-jerk machismo that flows from military adventurism, they really do think they're God's chosen country, and they're perfectly willing to let their leaders trample over a world they see as filled with terrorists, godless communists and spineless Eurotrash.
Sorry, everybody.
Canada rejects US's rejection of Canada's rejection of the DMCA.
Here's the difference between the US and Canada in Copyright reforms: The American comittee on Copyright Reforms is Sen. Orrin Hatch. He was payed $179,000 in 2004 by the RIAA/MPAA. The members of the Canadian comittee on Copyright reforms, on the other hand, were not given any noticeable contributions by the entertainment industries. For one, corporations are limited into how much they can donate, for another such conflict of interest wouldn't be allowed. So who'se reforms are you likely to believe to be lest biast? The opinion of the side who was payed nearly 200 grand by a party that voices one specific view, or the opinion of the side that wasn't bribed.
Invade us?
exactly who burnt down the "White" House in 1812 :-)
Be very careful when you wake a sleeping bear.
... we will unleash the hounds and flood your country with cheap marijuana. Your lawyers will be tied up for years in court cases defending teen pot heads while we gleefully download all your stuff.
All your IPR are belong to us!
The current Liberal cum communist gouverment is about to be toppled over the party financing scandal
:-)
They will be replaced by a far more conservative goverment that will quite likely bow to the US interest. So the US need not worry, we will take the DCMA aferall
If that's a good thing, that's another matter.
In terms of claims per capita (based on granted patents) I think Japan leads the world, followed by the USA. But there is a bias in these figures in terms of how easy it is to patent something, so who knows what the level of inventiveness, innovation, or production of IP is. Other measures of IP production might be number of academic papers published per capita, but then if you publish 5 similar papers is that more or less IP production than someone who produces 3 that contain 3 separate big ideas? And what if the academic culture in one country encourages lots of publication and another does not? Production of IP (even in the scientific/technical arena) is hard to gauge.
Well, I'm from the USA, but I'm fully behind your efforts to get the Canadian DMCA killed anyway you can. The revisions planned now are a serious threat to democratic principles, basic property rights, and freedom to innovate and create. I personally wrote an email message to each MP and Senator urging them to stand up to the WIPO Mob and it's leadership here in the USA. Believe me, a lot of folks just to the south are truly fed up with the lack of principled legislation coming out of Washington. We no longer have a government of, by and for the people. We need help from countries who's legislators have not yet been bought out or flim-flammed by multinational corporation lobbies. http://www.litenverden.org/?p=5 Frihet
I have to tell you guys to go fuck yourselves (well at least the arrogant self-serving bastards you elected, not you the people).
I seem to remember a small revolution started 200+ years ago when some empire taxed without representation. "Strong" IP laws like the DCMA and other corporate friendly laws are nothing short of taxation. A corporate tax for the people and by the companies through the law makers they buy.
I find it humorous that the very people that started the revolution are the "empire" and those who rejected the first revolution now are the revolutionaries.
Personally, I'd love to turn off the natural gas and electricity to you thankless assholes and sell it to the Chinese.
Pork-barrel US restrictions on Canadian on lumber and ag already rankle, especially after the WTO rulings against the US. The Canadian govt is also under considerable pressure from internal scandal, and they cannot afford kowtowing to the US. ... unless this is all a Bush scheme to help out the Cdn PM and he doesn't expect anything to succeed.
Next month, softwood lumber import talks will be summarized as follows: "Are too!" "Are Not!"
I for one, wish you all the success in the world in telling the US to stuff the DMCA (and maybe a few other things) into an orafice of their choice.
Citizen of a country with a bush league leader.
yankees f off. go piss on someone else, asswipes
Next election, vote for candidate Ficus.
Frylock: "We should have cloned twenties, Jackson wouldn't have given a fuck."
That's freaking brilliant! I MUST try this. The chances of this actually working are much higher than me legitimately landing a good job.
Thank you for the idea, now I'm off to the patent office.
1.Netcraft confirms:In Soviet Russia all your base welcomes a beowolf cluster of CowboyNeal overlords. 2.? 3.Profit!!1!
"I'm pretty sure that China would be glad to take all of Canada's oil currently going to the U.S."
t /fasttrack/20050415/RENBRIDGE15?section=Energy
Speak of the devil...
http://globeandmail.workopolis.com/servlet/Conten
Deleted
This war of words between Canada and the USA regarding IP has been brewing under the media radar for many years now. Many groups have attempted to filibuster the regression induced by the well-payed USinian lobyists in Ottawa, but they continue to trudge relentlessly onward. I'd like to believe that the many letters I've written, and the many communicae sent by friends and family have had some effect on our MPs, but in my heart I know this is a false hope.
Our ruling parties, the Liberals and the Conservatives, both have great incentive to adhere to demands from the USA if it may boost trade in key large industries. Whether this is beneficial to Canada is debatable, where your position is based solely on whether you choose to follow the GDP or general quality of life. In the end, like USinian politics, those proposing and promoting the bills often stand to gain from such draconian IP laws, whether it be from personal business or positive spin in the next campaign.
In a wonderfully Orweillian gesture the WIPO treaties are being pressured to ratification by our own Heritage Minister. She firmly states that initiating the acceptance of these treaties will help to further protect the interests of Canadian content producers. In actuality, this hardly has any direct benefit for Canadian artists and serves to provide a greater influx of cash into large distributors, the sources being litigation and intimidation of the new IP violators. More often than not the distributors are USinian, and will choose to promote artists on a culturally and nationalistically agnostic basis. This is hardly a promotion or protection of Canadian Heritage, and, in my humble opinion, likely serves to further dissolve what exactly it means to be Canadian.
We have a rich cultural history, with many proud and strong events and persons we can look back upon. Sadly, as these are not markettable to a broad North American audience the distributors have little incentive to invest money in them. The Canadian market is small enough that potentially losing a few Canadians to the CBC over nationalism is hardly an issue in comparison to the net cost of producing content intended for a Canadian audience, rather than simply saturating the market with cheap USinian drivel.
For once, I can actually sympathise with our Canadian neighbors. I wish that US politicians would stay the fuck out of our laws too.
"To lead the people, you must walk behind them"
Dear USA,
Fuck Off.
Kisses,
Canada
I'm glad they rejected it. The policy makers in America need to learn they cannot control the rest of the world. Hopefully other countries will see the error of their ways and follow Canada.
(And yes, I'm a US resident - born and raised here)
---
telnet://sinep.gotdns.com - It's a BBS setup to remember the old days
Use something like netrunner (or another ANSI capable client) to connect
bork bork bork!
This just might have stemmed from the Softwood Lumber dispute. And the live cattle ban that the US has in place as well. A 'tit for tat' if you will.
As for softwood, an International Court has ruled that the US is illegaly charging tariffs on Canadian Softwood lumber crossing the border.
As for the live cattle ban, what a farce, the border is not closed, Americans are buying the cattle here in Canada, having them processed, and then shipping the products over the border, to their huge profit gains. And dont get me started on the lax USDA' BSE testing. Sad to say, but you Americans are eating some very tainted beef products. Some of you are crazy enough as it is, now you get to sue your beef provider chain. Have fun. Lawsuits work for you, not for the rest of the world. Especially not us Canadians.
So, how does this lead to Canadian law not recognising the DMCA, well, our asshats think your asshats made a pretty stoopid law. So we wont put into place the same thing. We have laws protecting copyrighted works. nuff said. Copyright theft, is copyright theft. We have laws for that. We don't need the rest of the totalitarian threats behind the Act. Besides, in Canada, its not illegal to download copyrighted works, partly because, that act is not against the law here. It is against the law to upload copyrighted works. And that works for us.
Much akin to your Patriot Act. What a crock. Its called "Freedom of Speech". Besides, the terrorists we do have here, are probably tax paying citizens anyway, they drive our cabs, our busses, and they clean our offices. We don't have many Mexicans or Puerto Ricans here. Something about the cold...
It's bad enough that SOX got rammed down our throats. This is just another way for Canadians to say "Not in our Land"
I haven't seen this much rejection since I was looking for a prom date back in high school.
Viva La Revolucion! Buy a Mac!
We vote for representatives who will stop the queers from marrying each other! You know nothing about our system!
... is why this kind of thing didn't happen sooner and doesn't happen more often. Ok, those of us south of the [USA/Canada] border are stuck with Bush till 2008 and given the political/financial strength of the right in the US, it is likely that the trend of passing laws restricting the rights of the individual and favouring those of large corporations will continue. Fine. So WE are screwed for a while. Why does the rest of the world seem to feel this overwhelming urge to go along with this BS? If United States wishes to act like a pariah state, great, treat it like one. I like the idea of Canada closing the border. Just because we elected a bone-head doesn't mean the whole world has to put up with the stupid laws he supports. (yes, and Clinton passed some bad ones too!). What if the rest of the world started rejecting visa applications from the US? What if they started giving the US bad "ratings" for our labour protection laws?
Here is an article describing the proposed changes to Canadian copyright law, as well as the background -- industry lobby from the USA. This article is pulled from the Digital Copyright Canada web site which is trying to organize citizens feedback to politicians, with respect to the DMCA in Canada.
To quote Mythbuster Adam:
"I reject your reality and substitute my own!"
Can I get an eye poke?
Dog House Forum
A great summary would only have one word per line.
"What if canada suddenly made oranges illegal. We dont grow any oranges up here, so only the importers would be affected. But believe me, some orange producer down in the states would be hopping mad."
You mean like how the US made Canadian beef illegal? Or like how the US illegaly made Canadian softwood lumber illegal? Or pork? Sugar?
It's the US that's abusing the situation. So take your orange analogy and shove it.
The mental image of "anethema" (whom I picture as a strapping yet limber eskimo) having his balls licked by Condoleeza is one I will not sleep well with tonight, methinks.
Freedom: "I won't!"
I am lucky that I cannot get jailed for viewing a legally purchased DVD under Linux. Our parliament didn't directly implement that in the law, but put an exception in the law comments that (I hope) will keep me out of jail while viewing legally purchased content with an non-approved DVD viewer.
That legislation was imposed on the EU from the US and US corporations.
Another law change was imposed specifically on our country after a threath of US trade restrictions through the WTO. This law change makes it possible for copyright holders to raid my private home if it is "probable" that I may have violated a copyright (or patent, or trademark). No need to get the police involved, a "probable violation" for a non-criminal offence is enough to get my private home raided.
In particular the last law change made it clear to me why so many people around the globe hate the US because they think the US tries to impose their views on them. This gave me a better understanding of why a lot of US-foreign people think the US is imperialistic, and condome terrorist actions.
I still do not concome terrorist actions, but I hate the US government now (fortunately not the US people although they are supposed to have democratically have selected their government), and understand why some people want to retailate against the US.
Maybe they should fix their IP laws instead of trying to fuck up ours just as badly as theirs are.
Some smart people in the US must know that their IP laws will put them at an economic disadvantage... all they have to do is get the whole world to adopt them, and then the party can continue indefinietly!
Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
Times have changed,
Our kids are getting worse
They won't obey IP laws,
So let's pin blame and coerce.
Should we blame the government
or stupid IP laws
or should we blame the DMCA
with it's many flaws?
No!
Blame Canada!
Blame Canada
With their software piracy,
their stupid "diplomacy"
Blame Canada!
Blame Canada!
The circumvention must stop
The trash we must smash
Laughter and fun
must all be undone
We must blame them and cause a fuss
Before somebody thinks of blaming us!
In the novel Ecotopia the western half of the states of Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and the northern half of California join with the provences of BC and Yukon to form an independent country. They convince the Americans to allow them to leave by threatening them with WMDs at the same time that the USA economy is collapsing and taking Canada with it.
Then it isolates itself from the USA: no visitors, no commerce, no media, nothing for twenty years. Finally a New York Times reporter is allowed to visit. The novel is the collection of his dispatches.
Ecotopia's strict seperation isn't realistic in a US corporate-dominated world, but there is a tiny movement in the Pacific Northwest to consider seperating from the USA and forming an independent republic of Cascadia. As the politicians in Washington DC slip further into dementia and the internet increases economic ties and communications between Cascadia, Europe, and Asia, it's an idea that might start to catch on.
The USSR seperated into seperate countries as did Czechoslovakia. It's possible that the red/blue divide in the USA could crystalize into a permanent political division. Anything's possible in the future, especially considering that the Republicians have made it clear that they will be stealing every presidential election from now on.
> I say it's way past time Canada and
> the rest of the world told the US to
> go fuck itself.
As an American, I say it's way past time Canada and the rest of the world told the US to go fuck some of it's own policies and that it's not the only country in the world that matters. Our current administration is fueling the hatred, not helping it.
I didn't see anything in the report about "the American PEOPLE" having a problem with Canada's internal policies.
Speaking as one of the PEOPLE that the US government is supposed to be representing, I'd like to know why they give a flying fsck what "the U.S. {anything} industry" thinks? Isn't it their job to represent the PEOPLE of the United States?
There are several references demanding that Canada behave like "most developed countries" (or some variation).
This implies, of course, that there are other "developed" countries telling the U.S. media cartel's lobbyists "No."
Anybody know who they are?...
Hacker Public Radio is our Friend
The last time we pissed off the Candians they burned the White House down.
h tml~content
http://www.deadtroll.com/index2.html?/1812/index.
Thanks a lot Bush.
so now the USA thinks other countries don't get to make thier own laws?
If you mod me down, I will become more powerful than you can imagine....
This answer is slowly becoming the most often used answer to anything the US ask us, and it's a good thing.
The idea of the US is not to better itself, it's to make the rest of the world so bad they look good in comparison. They're trying with our health system (and are slowly succeeding), with our incarceration system, defense (although we actually, in practice have none...) system and so on, now the IP laws.
It's not because their society suck that we have to suck like them. I say it's a good thing Canada has a minority government now, a very good one, and my fellow canadian should listen to my advice: ALWAYS vote so we have a minority government, they actually work for us when that happens instead of working for their friends. they actually even get balls and take real decision like saying no to our over-protectionist-always-complaining neighbour. They piss the world off but we should have to change so their citizen make more money off our back... I say thanks to a minority government the US rejection of our rejection (doesn't it feel like anal retention to you?) might be rejected.
See even in our political life we have understood that diversity is a good thing. Trying to unify everything to you is not only stupid and impossibly dimwitted in it's lack of perspective and realism it is simply put utopian...
Bill C-24, passed in 2003, prohibits corporate or union donations and limits donations made by invidividuals to no more than $5,000 anually.
Political parties that achieve a certain threshold of the popular vote during a federal election receive funding based on a formula established by law. In essence, taxpayers fund political parties based on the popular vote.
And while some political factions in Canada feel the functions of the Parliamentary Commision on Ethics and Conflict of Interest are not independant enough, the commision has wide ranging and draconian powers to deal with Parliamentary misdeeds.
The CBC covered the issues of parliamentary ethics and conflict of interest on a program recently and I was quite agast at how intrustive the rules are to MPs. Among the many powers and responsibilites of the commission is the ability to review Visa and bank accounts of MPs for potential violations of the ethics rules. It all sounded very Orwellian, actually.
I get this really odd feeling that this article should have a Humor icon instead of what it has now.
Australia went into Iraq with mercenary intentions - please the USA and we get this fantastic new trade deal. It's probably fair enough that we got screwed with a deal that is one sided - but can't expect much when the Australian govenment is incompetant enough to deport its own citizens by mistake.
Then Canada rejects your rejection to our rejection. Back to you.
I reject the U.S.'s rejection of Canada's rejection of the DMCA. In fact, the U.S. rejects my rejection of the U.S.'s rejection of Canada's rejection of the DMCA, but that doesn't matter, because Canada rejects the U.S.'s rejection of my rejection of the U.S.'s rejection of Canada's rejection of the DMCA.
Fight and struggle! Rally the people and presure the governments, you don't want to end up like us do you?
.. Something Little Johnny forgot to do.
Full power to Canadian Govt for doing right by the people
Keep fighting UK, remind Tony he has more spine than Johnny.
That Texas cowboy has moseyed on in to my country, don't let him do the same to yours!
If anyone in this thread seriously thinks any sane American would want bullshit like the DMCA then you have bigger issues. The law is crap, the people who wrote it are crap, and the companies that paid for it are crap.
As americans we don't support it, we don't want it, and we had no say in it.
If you think it sucks being another country and having US laws forced on you, just remember you atleast have a government that could stand up for you if they wanted. We don't.
I suppose in that case, Canada is officially banned within the US. Make sure to knock the dirt off your shoes before crossing the border. :)
And the l33t shall inherit the 34r7h.
It's true -- BC, Alberta, and Ontario are the only provinces that generate more tax revenue than they consume. The rest of the country is supported by us. It's not unlike how the American south is completely dependent on subsidies from the more developed states (which is ironic given the South's hatred of the very taxes which allow them survive).
My points are still valid. If you think of another angle that this law will hurt Canadians, please post your letter to your MP, or a letter Canadians can submit to their MP, in a way that a 60 year old white guy who's in love with business, can understand [to draw on a stereotypical MP].
Saskboy's blog is good. 9 out of 10 dentists agree.
The tasty ugly ripe tomato has been banned from export from florida. There's nothing wrong with it -- it's tasty, but it doesn't look smooth like the other tomatoes. The regulations only cover appearance and not taste.
Oh well, kindof off topic, but we can't even handle inter-state commerce. Too much power that was put in the hands of other (competing) growers -- it should have never left the government. If you get one of these tomatoes, it probably came from mexico.
HIV Crosses Species Barrier... into Muppets
That's a nice theory, and has some merit in terms of motivation, but in terms of practical results it just isn't working. Check the statistics as http://www.bea.gov/ with respect to international transactions. The US saw a rise in the trade balance on services through the late 90's, but since then imports of services (particularly in the royalties category) have been growing at least as fast as exports. Strange as it may sound the US trade balance in terms of copyright licenses is flattening out, and possibly even starting to sink a little. At a time when the trade balance in goods is completely blowing out that's not a good sign.
Jedidiah.
Craft Beer Programming T-shirts
I demand that Canada immediately invade the U.S., stop by my house for some bagels and coffee, and proceed to level D.C.. All in the name of a DMCA-free world. Thank You.
He who confuses his religion with his science knows neither.
Suspicion of bribery is suspicion of corruption of government, and that has the potential to be much more damaging to society than anything a petty criminal can acheive. Since the reps are just people, there's no way we can just trust them to always do the right thing (though they'd like us to). So, if we're going to give them the power to make decisions on our behalf and enforce them with the power of the government (great, great power), we need to ensure that they are not corrupt.
While the whole idea of monitoring free people so intently doesn't sit too easily with me, either, I think that this is the solution. For the reps to think that they should hold such power and still be able to keep all their wheelings and dealings secret is foolish. When bribing a person can lead to laws being passed that directly affect millions of people in a negative fashion, such bribes should not be allowed to take place.
The only fully transparent members of a nation should be members of the military, prisoners, and political representatives, in order of increasing transparency.
If you want a vision of the future, imagine a youtube comments section scrolling - forever.
Dear yankees, regarding your rejection of our rejection of your DMCA, please click here.
Ah. You are Canadian with massive penis. Such a gargantuan penis make Canadian very powerful. ...
That Jesus Christ guy is getting some terrible lag... it took him 3 days to respawn! -NJ CoolBreeze
From Virtuous
The Enemy Within: Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz & DeLay
I reject your reality and substitute my own!
Seriously though, I really hate it when the US pushes in on the sovereignty of another nation. And this isn't just speaking as a Canadian.
Canadian law has developed some VERY different precedents from American law, and I think the finest example of that difference is how we deal with copyright, and privacy. We actually HAVE the right to copy music for ourselves, and decent privacy laws respecting our rights.
And I for one love it.
Moral indignation is jealousy with a halo - H. G. Wells
Please post the numbers of privacy comissioners office/aide..
And any and every relevant decisionmaker. (not home number, we dont want to annoy them..but to urge them to stand up to their values!
Maybe we can set a precident!
Live for the present, learn from the past, and dream of the future!
Silly Canadians, believing they are an independent country that can make their own laws -- don't they know that under NAFTA, they have to do what they USA tells them to?
Do you continue to support this madness by purchasing goods produced by the companies that represent the *AA? Americans are notorious for buying the rope that will hang them.
Capitalism can be a good thing, extremism in anything is always bad. Altius, citius, fortius is bull, how about libertas, parilitas, fraternitas.
I do have a problem with Quebec separating. I have no desire to be physically cut off from the last bastion of sanity on the continent, bordered by separatist traitors and New England.
that there is no way in hell Canada can tell USA to do just that since we are defenseless against the States.
I don't know about the rest of the world but Canada will be saying nothing of the kind unless it actually rebuilds its millitary first.
You can't handle the truth.
But the diplomats had a pack of hamburger and a couple 2x4's in their truck and weren't allowed to cross the border.....
You can take your ball and go home... we'd rather play hockey, anyway.
I used to think that NAFTA made a fair amount of sense until corporations started to use it as a way to avoid environmental regulations in order to make a quick buck.
The basic idea is that NAFTA allows corporations to sue foreign governments if the corporation can show that a foreign law is costing them profits, or the opportunity to make a profit. For instance, a Canadian mining firm sued the US because it wanted to strip mine a US park...even though there weren't enough minerals in the ground to break even!
The article contains many other examples, as does this one. (The second article is from 1999; this has been going on for a long time...)
As long as there is money to be made, I suspect we'll see abuses of this sort, whether they target the environment, privacy rights, IP laws, or whatever else people can think of.
Bull - meet red flag.
That would really send the god-fearing ones into orbit. "They've disguised their Black Helicopters by paintin' em white!" Ted Nugent going over the Manitoba border with a crack combat-archery team. Cheney is "whisked off to an undisclosed location." Steven Harper 'under guard' at Thorncliff...
"Our interests are to see if we can't scale it up to something more exciting," he said.
The USA can suck my balls if they want us to adopt the DMCA. ... The only way to keep things the way they are is to voice to those in charge that this is the way you like it!
Yup, I'm pretty sure this is the way the majority of Canadians feel on this issue. And RIGHT NOW would be really good time to express those feelings!
Because, the Copyright Act is up for ammendment.
And the government is about to fall.
Because of the scandal involving kickbacks to the Liberal party several years back, the facts of which are just coming out, the Conservative party and the Bloc Quebecois (the separatist party) are at this moment planning to team up to defeat the current Liberal government and force another election, even though there was one just about a year ago.
There are two images that come to mind when I think about these parties:
one, prime minister Brian Mulroney (Conservative), singing songs with his good friend Ronald Reagan, and signing away many of Canada's rights as a sovereign nation under the first controversial Free Trade agreement.
two, prime minister Jean Chretien (Liberal) politely but firmly declining to help George Bush invade Iraq, despite immense pressure. I know this might be a sore spot with some Americans, but, it represented the will of the people, most of whom were not convinced about the existence of WMD and so on.
So which of these parties do I trust to have a more fair approach to the new copyright act, without caving in to U.S. pressure? The Liberals have already announced their plans, and although it's not perfect, it's far far better than the DMCA.
But now I'm afraid this version will be thrown away, and the Conservatives will come up with their own DMCA-friendly act instead.
So, Canadians, write your MPs, and sign the petition:
http://www.digital-copyright.ca/petition/
As a Canadian, I'll second epiphani's notion to reject the US's rejection of our DMCA rejection.
On an aside note, the party that goes against the best interests of america the loudest will probably get my vote come electiontime. So far it's a tie-up between the Action party and the New Democrats.
GENERATION 26: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation.
nt
GENERATION 26: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation.
Canadian friend, it's in our best interest for quebec to use our currency. So long as we remain the sole source, we could use it as a leverage to control their economy, but most importantly it would keep demand high. Wouldn't it?
GENERATION 26: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation.
Too bad our two major newspapers are owned by pro-american elites. They'd never print that story, even if it's what the public wanted.
GENERATION 26: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation.
Canada doesn't need better "intellectual property" protection.. if we felt we needed better "IP" protection, then we would create some.
The states need to learn to mind their own goddamn business, and let other countries run themselves the way they see fit.
You are so right.
;)
(You were expecting a frothing flame, with lots of "pinkos", "hippies", and "liberals" thrown in, weren't you?)
"It's true -- BC, Alberta, and Ontario are the only provinces that generate more tax revenue than they consume. The rest of the country is supported by us."
Why should we support the rest of the provinces? Time to stop sending the welfare cheques and fix the fiscal imbalance.
I'll vote for which ever party promises this, and decentralization in general.
Seriously, the US is bad, but I don't see better alternatives. I really do believe that China will have economic growth, but political stability is a totally another mater, I have never seen a totaliatarian government do well in the face of prosperity because the masses get restless.
... well that remains to be seen.
Canada, like it or not is tied to the hip with the US economy. And it doesn't seem business friendly. I've known alot of Canadians who came the the USA to start companies, but not the other way arround.
And the EURO, forget it, there economic situation is crappier that the good ole US of A. Employment in France, the UK, and Germany is more, growth is less, and debt and taxes are compairable. In fact, the only good thing is the growth of the EURO, but that's not because the EURO's growing, but more because the US is printing up a shit-load of dollars (well loaning it at low interest, same diff?)
India almost went socialist last election. Mexico looks like it will go socialist this one. There are new attacks everywhere on offshore havens, and private secure banking services. Just last year all of Europe tried to gang up on the Swiss. Sure there allot of oddball 3rd world countries out there, but that isn't stable either.
Well theres always gold. It's good to tame currency inflation, but terrible in that it just sits there and doesn't produce anything.
In sum, as crapy as the situation is, that leavs us with the dollar and not much else, not that I wouldn't love other alternatives, but that's just the way it is. At the best, investors can hope to diversify, but I can't see any way out of it.
So is the US govt pushing crap, yes, are they pushing crap more than all the other wannabe governments that would do worse if given the chance
"Ontario Quebec and British Columbia run a surplus the rest run a defecit."
Uhhhhhh no. Ontario is running a deficit of 6 billion dollars. Ottawa/The Federal Government is taking 23 billion away from Ontario each year in taxes and giving it away to other provinces despite our running this huge deficit that is causing the government to cut back Ontario's services.
I say: fuck the other provinces why the fuck should we go into debt and have *our* services cut to pay for people leeching off our teet. Grow your own god damn economies and leave Ontario alone.
I'll vote for any party that promises to fix this fiscal imbalance and commend our Primier (Dalton McGunity) for having the balls to take the leechers on.
From the article:
which if passed, would appear to be a departure from the requirements of the WIPO Internet Treaties as well as the international standards adopted by most OECD countries in the world.
OECD? WTF is that? Over-Economic-Corporate-Dictatorship?
-- If we don't stand up for our rights, now, there will be no right to stand up for them later.
I'm dreading a 2008 election between Jeb "Rule of Law *snicker*" Bush and Hillary "It takes a village" Clinton. I'll just have to kill myself.
That is really scary, another Bush or another Clinton for president, especially those two.
FalconShould there be a Law?
Canadian ban on dangerous gasoline aditives was found to violate NAFTA.
In a reciprocal case a California ban on a gasoline additive was being contested as a violate NAFTA as well. Methanex claims that under NAFTA, it is owed $970 million in profits it will lose if California bans MTBE.
FalconShould there be a Law?
All the people here seem to be posting stupid complaints about how countries shouldn't be forcing laws on each other... Get over it! Ever heard of the WTO? It's a normal standard practice now. It's what diplomacy is all about. It's what all that "pressuring North Korea" talk is all about. It's how the world works.
For a great many years now, no country could be completely independant of another. Thanks mainly to imports/exports, the World Trade Organization (WTO), the UN, and things of that nature, each country has had a stake in the laws of all other countries, and a certain ammount of force they can weild against all other countries. If you don't like it, fine, call for the end of NAFTA, the WTO, all imports/exports, etc., however, complaining about each individual case is patently ridiculous, and shows a complete lack of understanding about the world that we live in.
On the plus side of this, is the fact that we can tell the world to embargo enemy countries, and fight them economically, instead of militarily. Iraq was said to have been devastated by it's decade of sanctions. Cuba is clearly badly off because of their sanctions. China has been pressured greatly by their trade embargo, and their goverment has improved greatly because of it, and now become a friendly country to the USA and the world for the sake of their economics. Hong Kong/Taiwain are safe only because of US economic interests. And, of course, there are many, many more cases like this.
This is the way the world works. You can't say how great it is when you are able to force a country to do something you like (North Korea, China), and say how terrible and wrong it is when your leaders are trying to force another country to do something you dislike.
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
We are now moving toward a model where countries make superficial local decisions like how they structure their internal social security systems or who can carry guns or what not, but the actual important decisions are all made by unelected transnational bodies such as WIPO, the WTO, the EU Commission, etc, without public input or oversight. We tend to lump all these groups together under the nebulous label "globalization", whatever that means, but there isn't really a good term for these entities.
There's an excellent term for them, one Thomas Jefferson warned about, the Corporate Aristocracy.
"I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of moneyed corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and bid defiance to the laws of our country."
FalconThomas Jefferson, 1814
Should there be a Law?
So far it's a tie-up between the Action party and the New Democrats.
The Conservative Party thanks you for your support.
Well, it's not like these things don't change over time. The country used to be sustained by coal from the maritimes and prairie grain; but those things have run out and become devalued, respectively. The horrendous mismanagement of BC's economy over the last decade is no doubt causing us to become one of the welfare provinces. I mean seriously -- what ever happened to fiscal conservatism? I'm pretty damn liberal, but at least fiscal conservatism is something worthy of respect; I don't know what the hell the Campbell government is, but it ain't about keeping the books balanced. For comparison, I deeply respect the Klein government's competency in balancing their budget and killing their debt, despite the fact that I deeply disagree with their social policies.
I don't remember what show it was, but a scene went something like this:
Guy: "Honey, I want to break up."
Girl: "No."
Guy: "? What do you mean 'no?' "
Girl: "I'm not allowing it."
Guy: "Okay.. I guess we're not breaking up then..."
Maybe it was Seinfeld?
US DCMA in pretty much any form is incompatible with Canadian IP law.
And considering we (Canada) has a law in our constitution ruling that any law can be overturned in favour of a simpler older law, I have a feeling the DCMA wouldn't survive a challenge in Canada.
Not looking forward to this though - trade conflicts between US and Canada have a history of being bad for Canada.
Remember to keep separate the American citizens from the American Government(TM). (...) The latter is a sock puppet for the corporation. (...) Give us your pity, not your hate.
/rant. I just get pissed when someone claims the people can't change anything, when it is obvious that they simply won't change anything.
Talk about dismissing responsibility. Are you saying USA is a facist state, and not a democracy? Or just saying tha the population are so stupid they elected a corporate sock puppet? Either way, there's no excuse. You have free press, I'm not sure about unbiased press, but people hear what they want to hear and it is only a right to express yourself - not to make anyone listen. It's all in the open if you want to see the truth.
If the US government has gone to shit, it is because of a population with open eyes and a closed mind. What should we pity you for? Your ignorance?`Your complacency, your laziness? I pity the rest of the world that has to deal with its influence. But not you. You are like a spoiled brat dismissing the consequences of his actions and expecting someone else to clean up their mess.
Kjella
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
The DCMA was passed during the Clinton administration. Yes, that is right, the Clinton administration. It is at least a 5 headed beast that grows its heads back if you cut them off. It also has no respect for political parties, state, even country boarders. I'm hoping our friends to the North can kill it all the way down to the last root, even in America. Resistance isn't futile. Also, beware of sales weasels.
Sorry our Govn't can't be as easily bribed by entertainment companies. Go away and leave us alone.
> US 'conservatives' have the intellectual consistency of baby shit. I'm forced to note that baby shit is, in fact, remarkably consistent. If the baby is still breast-feeding, its diet is incredibly monotonous by later standards, and as such it can be expected to produce far more similar shits than the human being at any other part of the life cycle. Thank you.
How dare other countries not follow along with what we do or say? I for one suggest that we change the name of "Canadian Bacon" or as Canadians like to call it "Bacon" to "Freedom Bacon". I think that will get our point across nicely.
Someone made a bootleg mashup of George Bush singing the song, using clips from speaches. Highly recommended if you like your irony! Get it here
Thanks for the link! I like my irony best when it is so conflicting that my brain just shuts down. Bush singing the lyrics of Imagine. Does. Not. Compute.
Free Manning, jail Obama.
I say it's way past time Canada and the rest of the world told the US to go fuck itself.
I wholeheartedly agree. Our government has become a monster, and you'd be well advised to tell our corrupt, warmongering leaders to fuck off and die, preferably in "their own country" so as to spare the rest of the world the stench.
I frankly admire the Canadians' gumption in standing up for their freedoms against a waning superpower run amok who happens to surround them on two sides. It's a courageous stand to take, and will serve you well in sustaining your freedoms long after ours aren't even a distant memory, no matter the short term threats or economic "incentives" we try to strong-arm you with.
Good luck. The dwindling number of us Americans who remain free thinkers beneath the Bush regime applaud and support you--even if our own voices have been silenced by and large in the broader corporate right-wing media.
The Future of Human Evolution: Autonomy
The Canadians must bomb the Baldwins!
...is still corruption. That's what it's called in most free democracies, why not in the good ol' US of A? OH, that's right, because it's owned, hook barrel and sinker, by the corporations.
I am NaN
If the law is wrong, then change the law, this is not an excuse of being outlaw.
Of course there is civil desobedience, but it's only valid for a good cause, and when supported by a considerable portion of the citizens.
If UN doesn't represent a democracy then it should be changed, until then there's no reason to ignore its decisions.
Of course, it's US' Government interest to keep UN the way it is.
-=-=-=-=
I know life isn't fair, but why can't it ever be un-fair in MY favor!?
I will mention however, that many of the products produced by China etc are knockoffs. Some can compete with the original goods fairly evenly, some can't on basis of quality etc, and some do better.
For example, let's look at things like:
a) Digital Media: China isn't making "similar" items, they are copying, exactly, the foreign items. They aren't making a movie/CD like the one in theatre, but rather copying the existing media. Therefore, no production costs, low reproduction costs, and a whole lotta profit for a product that *seems* legit but isn't
b) Clothing/Textiles/etc: Hell, a lot of these things are *already* made in China. Quality isn't much of a concern here, and sometimes China can even win out (better quality than the poorer countries that product the original item). Sometimes the Chinese item is better or the same. Again, often they copy others' designs, but often enough those designs are fad-based. Some clothing is an original idea, others are the same 'ol same ol' with a popular log on them. Some waryiness should take place here though, it might look like the original but you've got a 25/50/25 chance on the quality (better/same/worse).
c) Electronics: You have to be careful here. China makes some decent products but there is also a lot of stuff that is cheap in both cost and quality. Quite often this reminds me of the old Simpsons episode where Homer is looking at a new TV, and goes through brands like Sorny and Magnetbox... looks-the-same doesn't quite cut it in the electronics industry. This is not to say that all Chinese electronics suck, more often it is the "imitiation" brands that do. Some Chinese-named brands are quite good such as the Mp3 player I have for which I don't even know the english name of the producing country... awesome amp, battery life, slim size. It looks like some other brands but doesn't claim to be them. My watch on the other hand claims to be an expensive swiss, looks the same until you get in the shower and it fogs up (in other words I'm not believing the "water resistance claims on the back).
Sanctions, political bribes, and well placed "incentives" or just plain tricky wording...
May I just politely say to our politicos, "fuck off"? I mean, you're already fucking up America, don't try to force your shit on the rest of the world. If they really wanted to be fucked over by you, don't you think they'd be living here (in America)?
Nathan's blog
Yeah, right, there is also UN and the USA still doesn't give a shit about its rules, go look it up yourself.
You can't handle the truth.
Ummm, sorry, while the US does have their share of religious nutbags, you make it sound like the religion itself is originating in the US. The Catholic church actually originates in Europe, and trust me there are quite a number of highly influential church bodies there crusading against same-sex marriage in N. America...
Yes, there are US religious groups attempting to influence Canadian politics, so are Canadian and European religous groups. I don't personally agree with a lot of it, but I don't think this is the case of Americans tell Canadians what to do, rather it's religious groups telling gov't/citizenry what to do.
Revenge is best served with ...
FREEDOM!
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
"All your oil is belong to us."
Got oil? No. So STFU US IP hacks.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Sanctions have killed lots of kids
Killed really? Because during this time period wasn't Saddam, being the good leader that you'd have us believe he was, building elaborate palaces?
Besides, sanctions were entirely in order and were managed by the beloved U.N.--the same organization whose authority opponents of the Iraq war use to call it "illegal".
Perhaps since you didn't answer my last question, you'd feel free to indulge me on this one, AC: Since we can't sanction rogue nations that threaten international peace and we can't take military action--because children would die from that too--what ARE we supposed to do?
-Grym
I agree with you that economic sanctions and international diplomacy do work, despite what some politicians might tell you.
I'd like to make one counter argument to your statement "Cuba is clearly badly off because of their sanctions." While I do agree that in many aspects they are worse off, there is one very interesting consequence of the sanctions which was supposed to hurt Cuba but actually helped it quite a bit. Cuba used to farm with Soviet equipment and fertilizer and enjoyed relative prosperity in agriculture. Once the Soviet Union fell and they had no source of parts for their tractors, fertilizer for their fields, or alternative food imports, they were forced to turn to a very basic method of agriculture.
Using agriculture texts written in the 1800's due to the loss of a lot of the knowledge in the public memory, they employ efficient crop rotation, tilling, and sustainable methods to grow their crops. So while the United States has a very poor food supply, Cuba is enjoying some of the healthiest and most nutritious food in this modern age.
I learned a lot of this from the article "the cuba diet" in the April 2005 Harper's Magazine. [1]
[1] Harper's 4/2005 ToCDamn straight.
Your ignorance is infinitely greater than you realize.
> Remember to keep separate the American citizens from the American
> Government(TM). The citizens are a fun-loving group, who generally like
> Canadians, Europeans, Asians, and Australians very much. The latter is a sock
> puppet for the corporation.
>
> Sadly, the people haven't been in charge for decades.
Corporations don't vote.
While he was also against gay marriage, the pope accepting things like evolution a long time ago. Most of the all-around nutters are protestants, not catholics. And as far as "origionating in Europe", yes that's true, but the Church's influence has been on the wane there for decades.