Slashdot Mirror
Canada To Introduce Copyright Law Next Week
P Starrson writes "A leading Canadian television network is reporting
that the Canadian government will introduce copyright legislation next
week that will bring DMCA-like provisions north of the border.
Amazingly, the Canadian recording industry, which previously praised
the reforms, now says they aren't good enough. Canadian law prof Michael Geist cuts through the
spin in the pair of blog postings titled Fact and Fiction
and CRIA's New Take
on Copyright Reform."
No surprise that the Canadian music industry isn't happy with the wording. They pushed for this legislation and got it, so now they will push for harsher legislation. It's like a small child that pushes and pushes a parent to see how far they can get and how much they can get away with.
Excuse my speling.
Making The Bar Project
I thought Canada was all for fair use? Such a concept would vanish should this come into force.
Use ISO 8601 dates [YYYY-MM-DD]
Well crap. Here I was hoping I could move to Canada whenever it got too bad here.
SIGSEGV caught, terminating
wait... not that kind of sig.
They'll only be talking about gay marriage in the news, a bill that is also scheduled to pass before summer break.
You can't take the sky from me...
First they implement a tax that specifically redresses copyright violations... then they outlaw what the tax was supposed to pay for.
You think that media tax will go away despite becoming superfluous?
Once I cut my hand, but the wound was not part of me. Now I'm a man, there's a wound at the heart of me.
Can a knowledgable slashdotter help me identify what the best way to protest this legislation will be?
I want to know about:
a) What party(s) oppose this legislation?
b) What formal protest groups exist to thwart this? Are any activities planned?
I haven't protested since university, but I would make an appearance in a rally for this. I will make donations to well organised groups opposing this legislation.
Its best to defeat the law before it gets into law, fortunately we have 3 readings to defeat it.
John Maynard Keynes: "When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do?"
The CRIA and RIAA are suffering from the same flawed thinking, that is:
(1) Coerce/buy anti-copying/downloading/sharing rules from the government
(2) Consumers will be forced to buy your product
(3) Profit!
Well, as DCMA and lawsuits hasn't stopped filesharing in the US, I suspect that any provisions trying to stop it in Canada will have about the same effect. Better and new anonymous methods of downloading will come, and on and on it will go. However, even if they did succeed in stopping sharing etc, the result would more likely be:
(1) Tougher laws brought in
(2) Public apathy towards the industry products continues including lack of sales, save the odd star wars type blockbuster (music will always exist, but the days of the mega-star is over)
(3) Continued financial decline and disinterest!
The media industries will cry foul over the latest downloading tactic etc, while the public at large continues to not care.
If you think about it, outside of forums like these, the general public hasn't cared about these issues since the napster days. I don't see that changing.
You write to them, and CC the person who will be running against them
Let them know that not only is this a big issue for you, but that the person they're campaigning against also knows it.
CC'ing the heritage minister is a good idea as well.
Mod parent -1 Flamebait.
The US got quite a few of its brighter people back when Carter forgave the many who draft-dodged to Canada.
It's not "crying and running away" to leave a country where 52% of the country voted for someone who stands against the environment, social change and encouraging peaceful, FAIR trade. The only crying anyone does is when their house is ransacked by the FBI without a warrant and family members are trucked to Guantanamo Bay to rot without a fair trial.
When the majority of your country has fundamental belief differences, don't you believe it's time to move onto a place where you are accepted, respected and supported? Do you stay in a family that constantly berates and abuses you? I suppose... if you're an idiot.
It takes far more conviction to choose your morals and your beliefs over your country. Blind patriotism to a country that holds all of your values in opposition is the saddest form of ignorance a person can possess
Dear Mr. Big-Politics-Guy,
I'm not getting stuff for free. I pay for my music every time I buy a blank CD, even if I don't use that CD to hold music. I also pay on a whole bunch of other media storage formats. Even though I've paid, the CRIA keeps yelling that I'm stealing! Please make them stop. Also, send me a kitten.
Interesting articles. The one thing that I found to be the most intersting is how this is going to work with the legislated media tax that is already in place.
When it first came out I thought it was wrong, but the government caved to pressure (presumably from the recording industry). Basically if you by CD-R's or writable DVD's you pay a 'media tax' on top of the purchace price (it is included in the price you see, they used to break it down for the consumer). However this is a very stupid tax as the limits are retaded (tax size is based up media storage capacity!), as this also includes things like ipods, and the like. Are CD players, nope. Is general memory, nope. But if a device is basically a big memory stick or HD that plays music, it is taxed. The real evil part of this tax is that it ASSUMES that everyone is a Buccaneer (Yar!). You could buy CD-R's for nothing more than stright data, yet you would be paying a media tax as they assume that they will be used to copy music or something. I am not sure about USB drives, but it would not surprise me if they are taxed as well. Very evil stuff considering out legal system and the whole innocent before proven guilty etc...
In a slightly unrealted note, this errosion has been happing in Canada for sometime now, under the guise or reasoning that the courts cannot handle the volume. Or that it is too expensive to try every case. An example of this is giving the powers to cities to write parking tickets, which most use maninly as a revune stream (not its intention I don't think). I got a parking ticket in Ottawa about a year ago (not where I live). The short version of the story is: I was never issued a ticket! I get a letter in the mail, saying I owe 40$ for parking tickets. I call the city and try to explain to the the issue, they do not care. Their response is that if I had a problem with it I COULD fight it in court. However, I would have to drive 250km on a work day in the middle of the week at least once, at the cost of at least 400$. Or I could pay the ticket. They warn me if I do not I will not be able to register my car when it comes up. So I can pay 400$ and fight it, or just pay the (and therefore pleading guilty of the offence) ticket of 40$. I paid the ticket, even though it was wrong. Most definitions I read would say this is stright up extortion, but whatever. Just thinking about this whole affair again boils my balls. Anyway enough of this rant. Back to regular programming.
Civil liberities aside what is really interesting is the recording industry cannot have it both ways. If legislation is passed making downloading and copying music illegal, then they cannot justify having a "media tax" anymore as I see it. You cannot tax an illegal activity (as that legitimizes it). Thats like making the crack dealer, pay tax (or even more funny in Canada, making his crackheads pay GST on their spank). Why not just tax murder while your at it, 10$ a head I say! However once a tax is in place it is VERY hard to get rid of it (GST anyone!), I bet you anything they will what to have both worlds.
Another of my favorite examples of this lunacy is I once heard a story about a Canadian that got caught selling cocain in Vietnam. The government there, sentanced her to death by firing squad, AND fined her 100,000$. The big joke eveyone was saying was "if I were her, I wouldn't pay the fine". The only differenace here is in Canada, IF they keep both the tax and pass the coyright bill it will be like eveytime you buy media, they convict you, and fine you, and if someday that ACTUALLY catch you doing it, they will try to convict you and fine and/or jail you. So in esasnce its like Canadians paying a mandatory tax on cocain, then if they are caught, fined. So in this case you cannot help but pay.
Anyway my rant is now very long and makes little sense even to me anymore. I am not sure why I picked all the drug referances, only that they are illegal.
Anyway thats my 2 cents (or twenty bucks as the case may be)
It is so frustrating to me to see so many governments getting the intent of copyright and patent completely backwards. The power of these two concepts to drive innovation is in their *expiration* and not in their original issue. The idea behind these concpets is that if the creator wants to continue his nice exclusive income, he darn well better come up with something new and cool before the old income dries up.
Grrr...
What?
If the music industry had its way, we'd have to pay every time we hear a song. E.g., on the radio, every time we hum a song, and every time we even think of a song to ourselves.
Heck, even DJs would be obligated to pay, as they shouldn't be allowed to hear the music for free.
And double heck, anyone listening to you humming would be obligated to pay too.
If someone says he and his monkey have nothing to hide, they almost certainly do.
"If a father or mother gets a notice from their ISP that they might be sued because of the activities of their teenaged son or daughter, you could be pretty well assured that that activity is going to change," said Jay Thomson of the Canadian Association of Internet Providers.
As if it's just kids that do it.
Slagging the incumbent administration is fine, indeed, the American Way. Slagging the nation itself, on the other hand, is a sure way to draw hostility.
...when you're writing a game...tweak the difficulty of "Easy" to something [your mother] can cope with. -- onion2k