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Canadian Gov't Gives Big Bucks to Copyright Lobby

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the canada-v.-itself dept.

5degreez writes "The Toronto Star is reporting that the Canadian government is providing hundreds of thousands of dollars to a copyright lobby group that claims that education groups are 'devoted to abolishing creators' rights on the Internet.' Documents obtained under the Access to Information Act by Prof Michael Geist reveal that government officials recognized that the funding established a bad precedent, yet they still plan to pay big bucks until 2008."

11 of 173 comments (clear)

  1. Wait a minute... by Spy+der+Mann · · Score: 4, Interesting

    they're using the taxpayers' money to provide the *AA money so they can lobby for parties following their lines?

    O.o This is sick, man! It's way more serious than the *AA. It's more like electoral fraud.

    1. Re:Wait a minute... by bombadillo · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Damn Canada has gone right wing all of the sudden. First they elect a Canadian version of Bush and now this...

    2. Re:Wait a minute... by theshowmecanuck · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I don't believe that is true. I think the far-right politicians in Canada could teach Bush a thing or two about being right wing (which is why Canadians have been rather fearful of electing them)... only they can't fully excercise their beliefs in government as they know they will be out of work (as politicians) at the next general election if they did (which is why Prime Minister Harper is keeping a tight reign on his core MPs and not allowing them to talk unscripted to the media). Many are very devout Christians, and many are very right wing, and there are several I would bet are almost Libertarian in view. Canada may have single payer health insurance, but we are a lot more capatilistic and market driven than most in the U.S. think... not as much as the U.S. but very close, and certainly much more so than Europe.

      Remember the Progressive Conservatives (PCs) who had the largest majority ever elected to Canadian parliment under Prime Minister Mulroney (1980s). He turned hard to the right and did as he pleased. The upshot was that he pissed the population off so bad that they were reduced to 2 seats in parliment after the next election. The PCs could not even be recognized as a political party in parliment (they have to sit as independents until they elected something over 10 MPs). The new Conservative Party of Canada (which is way further to the right than the old PCs) seem to have learned from that. They know they have to moderate themselves, especially at this time since they only have a minority government. However, I would bet that if they had a majority, they would drift pretty hard right closer to their roots. And personally, I think that might be good thing as Canada has drifted way too far to the left in my opinion. If they did get out of control, like before, the citizens would elect them out of existance the following election. But by that time, things might be more balanced to the middle for a few years before they go hard left again (and hopefully we would have a triple-e senate by that time!).

      What I find interesting is that even if Canadians were so sick of the Liberal Party after their ~14 year corruption riddled reign they actually elected any sort of right wing party. And what's more interesting is the Conservatives are gaining ground in Quebec (since they are supporting a more autonomous roll for that province... one thing I don't like about them... I like a strong central government), which would mean that they have a very good shot at getting a majority government next time. Finally as right wing as they are, I personally don't think the Conservatives are puppets of Bush. They may agree with him on quite a number of issues, but I think they understand that they represent Canada and its interests, not the U.S.A.'s. But at the same time, they understand that we have to work closely with the U.S. as friends since that is where most of our income comes from. You don't bite the hand that feeds you, unless you first find someone else to feed you. They are right next door and anyone else are many thousands of miles away. You do the math. ;-)

      --
      -- I ignore anonymous replies to my comments and postings.
    3. Re:Wait a minute... by gmack · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Remember the Progressive Conservatives (PCs) who had the largest majority ever elected to Canadian parliment under Prime Minister Mulroney (1980s). He turned hard to the right and did as he pleased. The upshot was that he pissed the population off so bad that they were reduced to 2 seats in parliment after the next election.

      It wasn't the shift to the right that did him in. It was the unpopular tax (GST) that he put into place followed by his first moves at cutting programs and moving towards getting the spiralling deficit under control. The two seats part was him chosing a hand picked sucessor (scapegoat) to take over the party. The problem was that she was politically inexperianced and should NEVER have been put in charge. Fun lines like "would you want something that ugly representing Canada internationally?" followed by ad campaigns making fun of Cretien's partially paralysed face finished the job. They would have lost for doing the right thing but putting someone in charge who just didn't know when to shut up caused a lindslide loss and pretty much finished off one of Canada's oldest political forces.

      The Liberal party kept their hold on power for 13 years by blatant FUD. The new (reform / alliance / Conservative) party was too new and while the Liberal party had ALL THE SAME THINGS being said by backbenchers they were able to scare people into thinking that the conservative party would actually do them. Personally I found the whole tactic sickening.

      I did however find the last election to be very entertaining.. it's a pity the next election won't be so fun to watch.

  2. Re:Harper == Baby Bush by djmurdoch · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This contract was awarded under the previous government, but it's for a 3 year term. So we'll see if there are any differences between the Liberals and Conservatives.

  3. Re:Repeat after me... by Spy+der+Mann · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Why should we be treating this as a criminal act when it's clearly a civil issue?

    Because when laws change, copyright infringement will become a criminal act.

    And speaking about lobbying, let me tell you about elections in my country.

    Here in Mexico, money for political campaigns is provided by taxes. It is scandalous because too much money is given to the parties - but in a way it's still healthier than lobbying. Because with lobbying, it's corporate interests which determine who gets advertised (and therefore, elected).

    A much better idea (IMHO) for an electoral process is to spend equal amount of money in propaganda for all parties involved, to promote their platforms and ideas. Then do obligatory (for the parties) debates and let the public decide.

  4. All you Slashbots... by rewt66 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    who said, "The USA stinks! I'm going to move to Canada", well, now's the time to rethink your position.

    This is one of the craziest, most twisted, least democratic things I have ever heard of an allegedly democratic government doing.

    (Yeah, I know, the NSA. That's crazy. But at least I understand it. I understand why they want to do it, and why they want to keep it secret, and even if the effects are bad, and the precedent is horrible, at least the intent is not at the moment evil. But using government money to lobby the government? I just can't begin to get my brain around that one.)

  5. The enemy of my enemy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This distinction doesn't matter to many Slashdotters, but for background it's important to understand that the RIAA and ASCAP/BMI are often at odds with each other. Generally speaking, if you're a "little guy" composer or songwriter, ASCAP/BMI are your friends, and the RIAA is not.

    The enemy of my enemy is not my friend.

    If I am a composer whose works are performed or recorded by others, ASCAP protects my interests. If I am anybody else, then ASCAP protects the interests of composers from me. ASCAP is just as likely to be attacking me as they are to be attacking the RIAA. For example, let us say that I run a restaurant. In that case, ASCAP are the people who prevent me from allowing my employees to sing the "Happy Birthday" song, or virtually any other song for that matter. If I am a small-time composer or musician whose works are not performed by others, ASCAP are the people whom I live in fear of in case I have the temerity to perform a song I did not write under the very wide umbrella of what constitutes a "public performance".

    I am not familiar enough with Canadian CRIA to comment on them specifically.

    If you think that anybody fighting for their rights -- whether they're a big media conglomerate, or a poet making $50 a year

    Wait, stop right there. "Intellectual property" owners have no rights. They have privileges. Copyrights are granted by the government, which means they are not rights. Real rights cannot be granted by anyone, because something which can be granted can be taken away. Since copyrights are priviliges and not rights, the populace have the authority to direct the government they theoretically control to limit or remove the priviliges that those copyright holders enjoy.

  6. Pot Complains: Hey, Kettle Is Sort of Grayish Too by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    So one incident of the canadian government giving money to a copyright lobby, is somehow greater and more negative than the between $75 billion and $125 billion, depending on who's counting, that the U.S. Federal government alone hands out per year in corporate welfare.

    Good to hear it.

  7. In Soviet Canada by B5_geek · · Score: 4, Interesting

    3.2.1.Joke

    In Soviet Canada the Government pays the lobbies to influence Law.

    Joking aside;

    Another thing happened just recently in my neck of the woods that I am really pissed about.
    I live in Windsor, Ontario (Across the river from Detroit, Michigan). This past week the 'Hell's Angels' motorcycle club/gang/mafia was in town. The police setup checkpoints on the roads (that they knew the bikers would be traveling along {ingress and egress fromthe club-house}) and took the drivers license + insurance documents of EVERYBODY that drove on these public roads.

    The reason: They HOPED to catch some of the bikers that had arrest warrents in other parts of the country!

    I was/am LIVID. I wrote the newspaper; called the local radio station, complained to the Local members of Parliment.
    We are 1 step away from East-Block communist oppression. I am surprised that they didn't just click thier Jack-Boots and say "Papers! Please!"

    **The Hells Angels are considered the largest (and now ONLY) organized crime syndicate in Canada.

    --
    "The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." ~Plato (427-347 BC)
  8. Shocked. by nneonneo · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I'm in Canada, and I'm surprised that this isn't all over OUR media by now...maybe they're being kept quiet. I'll keep watching though.