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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.
...that Canada qualifies as a circumvention device?
Uh oh
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
...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....
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.
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!
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!"
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 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)
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!
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.
you know i like tony blair for one reason , he is the greatest thing to hapen to the scottish independance movment since Thatcher .
.
I am sick fed up of his Brown(Pun not a false capital) nosing to Bush.
John Smith would have been a Truely great leader had he not sufferd the heart attack(Blair got in ridding off of Smiths past achivments) and had he been alive today i am sure he would have told Bush where to shove it(perhaps i over-esteem him , but i really admired the man, an honest politican is a rare thing)...I digress.
The Blair-Bush alliance would suffer some serious problems if it occurs that a political problem hapens with canada and the US, The commenwealth is still a major source of trade and the rest of europe would quickly side with Canada forcing the Labservitives hand
The only things certain in war are Propaganda and Death. You can never be sure which is which though
It was fine until they loosened the restrictions on corporations. You can thank the lobbiests and lawyers for that. Did you know that corporations are considered "citizens" and have almost all the same rights as a person? Here's a pretty good look at why things are the way they are now
"A truly wise man realizes he knows nothing."
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.
The U.S. Trade Representative has issued its annual report on global intellectual property protection, known as the Special 301 Report. Once again, Canada finds itself in good company on the list (a more interesting list would consist of countries who meet the U.S. standard for IP protection).
This year's report is most notable for its comment on Canada's copyright reform plan, announced just last month. The USTR has the following to say about Canada:
"Canada is being maintained on the Special 301 Watch List in 2005, and the United States will conduct an out-of-cycle review to monitor Canada's progress on IPR issues during the upcoming year. We urge Canada to ratify and implement the WIPO Internet Treaties as soon as possible, and to reform its copyright law so that it provides adequate and effective protection of copyrighted works in the digital environment. The Canadian court decision finding that making files available for copying on a peer-to-peer file sharing service cannot give rise to liability for infringement under existing Canadian copyright law underscores the need for Canada to join nearly all other developed countries in implementing the WIPO Internet Treaties. The U.S. copyright industry is concerned about proposed copyright legislation regarding technological protection measures and internet service provider (ISP) liability, 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. The United States urges Canada to adopt legislation that is consistent with the WIPO Internet Treaties and is in line with the international standards of most developed countries. Specifically, we encourage Canada to join the strong international consensus by adopting copyright legislation that provides comprehensive protection to copyrighted works in the digital environment, by outlawing trafficking in devices to circumvent technological protection measures, and by establishing a "notice-and-takedown" system to encourage cooperation by ISPs in combating online infringements. It also is imperative that Canada improve its enforcement system so that it can stop the extensive trade in counterfeit and pirated products, as well as curb the amount of transshipped and transiting goods in Canada. The United States also urges Canada to enact legislation that would provide a stronger border enforcement system by giving its customs officers greater authority to seize products suspected of being pirated or counterfeit. We also encourage greater cooperation between Customs and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in enforcement matters, and encourage Canada to provide additional resources and training to its customs officers and domestic law enforcement personnel. Canada's border measures continue to be a serious concern for IP owners. With respect to data protection, we recognize that Canada has taken positive steps to improve its data protection regime. The U.S. pharmaceutical industry is concerned about certain aspects of the proposed regulations. The United States will use the out-of-cycle review to monitor Canada's progress in providing an adequate and effective IPR protection regime that is consistent with its international obligations and advanced level of economic development, including improved border enforcement and full implementation of data protection."
What to take away from this? Not surprisingly, Canada's balanced proposal for copyright reform does not leave the U.S. copyright industries particularly happy. It isn't just that they want Canada to implement the WIPO Internet treaties, they want us to implement a Canadian version of the DMCA. They interestingly question whether the Canadian plan meets WIPO standards given the exclusion of devices from our anti-circumvention provisions. I think a plain reading of the WIPO Internet treaties suggests that it does. Meetin
You know, I think it's totally awesome that your sig references a band that would find your political standpoint utterly repugnant.
The conservatives are going nowhere, maybe even a few steps backwards. Especially if the election is held within the next few months. It's my opinion that people are waking up to the nightmare that Harper is, the guy is a lunatic foaming at lips. I've talked to a number of people that will be voting NDP in the next election, switching from their conservative last conservative vote (which makes no bloody sense, but they felt there was no choice in the last election, they didn't want to vote liberal, so they voted for Harper and his gang of anti-canadian thugs.) I expect NDP gains of 25-30 seats, gains for the liberals, losses for the conservatives.
I guess that all depends how long this government survives, it's looking like Prime Minister Layton's magic worked, so far.
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.
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.
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.
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.
;) well you could look at it like this , America is unable to handle the girth of Canadian Wood..
*Awaits down moderation for tastelessness*
The only things certain in war are Propaganda and Death. You can never be sure which is which though
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.
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.
Dear USA,
Fuck Off.
Kisses,
Canada
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"
We vote for representatives who will stop the queers from marrying each other! You know nothing about our system!
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.
"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.
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!
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?
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....
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.
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!
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).
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
Not really. Unlike Iraq, Canada and those who would immediately ally with her have more than enough firepower to level the entire United States several times over. More realistically, they have more than enough trade power to cripple the US economy several times over.
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
Indeed. An aspect of Canadian law that is quite lacking in American law is the notion of "the honour of the Crown", which crudely put is that the government has an obligation to Do the Right Thing even if it may not be explicitly obligated to do so by statute or precedent.
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/
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.
Excuse me, but how is that mutually exclusive? Having enough bombs to level the rest of the world doesn't stop them from levelling you. It's not a matter of who's got more bombs, it's a matter of who presses the button fast enough.
And in the end, it'll be a draw, of course.
As a state gets corrupt, its laws multiply; the most corrupt states have the most numerous laws. (Tacitus, Annales 3:27)
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.
I'm forced to note that baby shit is, in fact, remarkably consistent.
Yes, it is wet, squishy, and stinks.
Just like the intellectual standards of US 'conservatives'.
"Rocky Rococo, at your cervix!"
US vs. The Rest Of The World isn't a tough one to call.
Ultimately, slamming the US in every way but military may be the only way for the rest of the world to make them understand that they are not the world's leaders, the world's policemen, and the world's judge, jury and executioner if they want to be. The US administration has delusions of grandeur on an horrific scale, as demonstrated pretty clearly by the fact that we're having this discussion in the first place. Profit-hungry US megacorps now control a large amount of that administration, yet have little credibility anywhere else. Even the mindset of the US people as a collective (and I do realise that a lot of individual US citizens strongly oppose this) has become increasingly arrogant in recent years.
It's now almost inevitable that someone will take action to give the people making the decisions over there a little perspective sooner rather than later, before their meddling does too much damage anywhere else. The only question is who's going to do it first, China unilaterally, the middle east collectively, Europe, or someone else. In any case, if Bush gets away without a serious international incident for the remainder of his second term, I'll be amazed.
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.