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]
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?
click on Find your Member of Parliament using your Postal Code
Input your postal code
Write letter (no postage necessary)
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?"
Please write your MP to stop this bad new law.
u se/PostalCode.asp?lang=E
/ statement_e.cfm
DMCA for Canada
Please write your MP on this matter. Use my letter below if you don't want to write your own.
Send your letter for free (no postage necessary when parliament is in session), 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.
Fair use is alive and well in Canada.
d _protect-e.html#6
I pay for the RIGHT to copy what ever the fuck I want on to whatever media I've been taxed on.
That IS my RIGHT and I could give a shit how many hairs they split. Sharing MY music with my GLOBAL friends is NO different then sahring with my friends down the street. The fact that they claim a physical product must change hands to be considered legitimate sharing is just splitting legal hairs. IMFO
And according to these same laws, every school in Canada should be charged under the same act they want to charge file sharers with whenever they play "records" at their school dances! Oh yeah... get your check books out kids! No more sock hops! Fuckin' idiots!
http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/sc_mrksv/cipo/cp/copy_g
Examples of infringement
Infringement:
- reprinting an article without the copyright owner's permission;
- playing records at a dance without the copyright owners' permission;
- giving a public performance of a play without permission;
- photocopying articles for a class of students without permission; and
- taping your favourite band at a music concert without permission.
Not infringement:
- quoting a few lines of the article in a research paper (fair dealing);
- playing records at home;
- giving a public performance of a play by Shakespeare (no copyright exists/public domain);
- obtaining permission from the author and paying a fee to him or her (if requested) in order to use an article; and
- borrowing a musical tape from a friend to copy onto a blank tape for private use (a royalty payment to the owner of the song rights has been paid when the blank tape was purchased).
So FUCK THEM and my Karma! It shows how far behind these folks are... they still refer to music on tapes!
Seeings as to exercise your right to make a copy for personal use, you usually have to defeat some half-hearted digital lock (though the actual level of protection is more akin to packing twine). Sure you've got fair use rights, but the recording industry can make you have to break other laws to exercise them.
"Because Science" is one step from "Because old book". Try "Because of my experiment testing my falsifiable assertion".
RTFA. It's a *bill*, not a *law*. It's nowhere near passing, it's being introduced to parliament for debate.
Writing to your MP is a good thing at this point. But let me explain something about Canadian politics: just because a bill gets introduced to parliament does not mean that it actually passes into law. More than that, Parliament breaks up for the summer and any bills that are still on the dock at breakup usually end up getting forgotten for a while when Parliament returns to session and has to deal with important stuff again. On more than one occasion in the past, bills have been forgotten completely and never revisited after the summer break.
No, I'm not worried. I'm interested in the outcome because I run a website which has been the target of CRIA's advances before, but even if they're ever able to launch a lawsuit, there's absolutely no way they'd win the way the laws currently stand. Even under the US laws they wouldn't win....
If you believe everything you read, you'd better not read. - Japanese proverb
Put a voice to the words.
u se/PostalCode.asp?lang=E&source=sm/this link to look up your MP by postal code, and then phone them.
Use http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/people/ho
Be polite, be courteous, but be firm. State, be it via voice mail or directly, that you are in opposition to the upcoming copyright legislation, and hope that your MP will vote in opposition to it.
(Whatever you do, don't state that "Although I didn't vote for your party...").
Indicate to them whether or not this is an issue your future vote will hinge on; that will get their attention, guaranteed.
"To pass through the jungle; silence, courtesy, ferocity, as the occasion demands." -- Kamau, "Proper Passage"
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)
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.