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US Group Wants Canada Blacklisted Over Piracy
An anonymous reader writes "Following up on an earlier story, the IIAA wants to add Canada to a blacklist of the worst intellectual property offenders. A powerful coalition of U.S. software, movie and music producers is urging the Bush administration to put Canada on an infamous blacklist of intellectual property villains, alongside China, Russia and Belize. 'Canada's chronic failure to modernize its copyright regime has made it a global hub for bootleg movies, pirated software and tiny microchips that allow video-game users to bypass copyright protections', the International Intellectual Property Alliance complains in a submission to the U.S. government."
As opposed to those huge microchips you get from Intel.
How we know is more important than what we know.
Blame Canada
- Copyright Law
- Business Model
Modernize one.What sound do people on rollercoasters make? Hint: it's not Xbox 360.
A friend and I have discussed whether Canada is part of the Axis of Evil.
We concurred Yes. And reading this article just confirmed it, eh?
In post Patriot Act America, the library books scan you.
Apparently the editors of that press release got it backwards...its the US that has a "copyright regime". What they meant to say was Canada has "realistic and fair copyright laws, and we cannot accept that".
I want a new quote. One that won't spill. One that don't cost too much. Or come in a pill.
'Canada's chronic failure to modernize its copyright regime has made it a global hub for bootleg movies, pirated software and tiny microchips that allow video-game users to bypass copyright protections'
Translation: "We have a stranglehold on the music and movie industries, we want control over video game consoles, as well."
Wizard Needs Food, Badly
Don't they pay a blank media tax, effectively giving them free reign to copy to their heart's content? Sounds like the IIAA wants to have their cake, and eat it too.
... and all other people of the world, when I say that we just LOVE having Americans try to police us and control our affairs!
Don't put us on your list! Whatever will we do if you put our countries name on a list? I mean I might fly to another country and the people there could say "Hey! That guys country is on a LIST! Kill him!"
It could, and probably will, happen.
I'm from Canada and living in America, and I can't vouch scientifically on this issue, but I've seen absolutely no difference in the "copyright violation culture" between the two countries. The only difference I know is that copying music isn't actually illegal in Canada, so is maybe slightly more likely to happen, but again... I haven't seen a difference.
The MAFIAA is just looking for more lives to ruin, to make it look like they're "winning the battle" on their home turf.
The article about "blacklisting Canada" appears on the front page of the same paper, the Globe and Mail.
On the same page is another article, "For today's family, time's not on their side -- Hectic schedules, longer work weeks contribute to less togetherness than in 80s".
All right, say it again - both of these are on the front page of the Globe and Mail!
That's why I call it a "humour paper". (However, the National Post is actually funnier!)
Stephan
http://stephan.sugarmotor.org
As an American is it too late to hope that the Canadian government will extend the finger to the south?
David Wilkins ( US Ambassador to Canada), who states that Canada doesn't dictate US policy should now go put his head back in his ass. Read about Maher Arar and the ass hattery that came out of David Wilkins mouth.
If Canada doesn't dictate US policy, so too should the US not concern themselves with Canadian policies.
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
Seriously, everyone just needs to sit back and read http://www.michaelgeist.ca/ to get some balance to the story
Fuck You!
...
This is just pressure and propanganda to help Harper pass a law to make all the big media corporation happy.
The worst part it's that is probably gonna work
Canada should put the USA on some kind of a rogue counties list , for terrorism, meddling in the internal affairs of other countries, being way too fat and making crappy movies.
Whatever.
"The problem of unauthorized camcording of films in Canadian theatres is now nearing crisis levels," the group complained.
Crisis levels? People are dying?
No, it's a fucking camcorder recording of a hollywood movie. All the bad things about watching the movie in the theator in the privacy of your own home.
If this is really a problem, it's because the movies suck and early word getting out about how bad the movie is is hurting sales. Simple solution to that; Stop making crap movies.
Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
I hope we get a Southpark episode out of this.
It'd be funny of countries with rational copyright laws put the USA on some moral rights blackist next to China and friends because we're an evil country run by tyrants who value the dollar far more than the citizens.
it is just more pressure for Canada to enact the stupid copyright stance that the States are pushing every other country to take via free trade agreements and other means (i.e. Australia). Unfortunately, they're not having much traction in Canada who already have good trade agreements in place with the States.
I don't know if any of you have noticed, but in the GTA rogers has as of about 2 weeks ago began to heavily block Bittorrent. To the point where random port + encryption does not even work anymore for me and some other friends. Has anyone else had this problem? Do you know how to fix it? It still connects to the tracker, and NAT is green in azureus, but the upspeed and downspeed will not go over 10, if at all. Before i was getting almost 700 Kb/s.
Maybe they don't have anything to worry about after all.
-EL
I'm not educated about this issue, but what if it's actually a chronically different ideology that prevents Canadians (I am one of them) from adapting American-style anti-consumer laws.
What is a "crisis level" for camcorders in movie theatres? Is that where the people behind you start attacking you for using a camera that makes too much noise (or gives off too much light, or what)?
Nonetheless, if this sanction was imposed, Canada could retaliate by putting the Yanks on the list of countries to whom they won't export oil or uranium. Then the Americans would have to nicer to Chavez ... (This won't happen. By "this" I mean Canada blocking energy exports. The Canadians put up with a lot.)
.. paranoid crackpot leftover from the days of Amiga.
"I can't help but feel that it's just a matter of time until we bow to the Americans demands, hell I'm surprised that we've held out on the softwood debate for so long."
You want your "wood" to be soft?
You mean the industry that rakes in more than the movie and music industries ... COMBINED?
You mean the one that rakes in more and more profits each year?
Yeah, piracy is just SUCH a problem, crippling that industry...
And Canada doesn't need any new policy since it's already a civil offence to violate the copyright of another.
Someday, I'll have a real sig.
"failure to modernize its copyright regime" ??
Canada's copyright system is MORE modern then the US. Common sense tells us that there is no difference "If I loan a CD to a friend to listen to", or "make a copy for him to listen to." I guess we should ban libraries too since the artist is not getting "his fair share."
Copyright & Intellectual Property Rights (which are neither property nor rights) are artificial rights from a world where only people care about greed, instead of sharing knowledge.
What price do you put on a patent that could cure cancer? Why is it OK to profit off the sick & dying? Have we really made that little progress in the past million years, that we still cry & whine like a 2 year saying "mine" -- simply because we were the first to come up with an idea, that we could care less about our fellow human beings??
Copyright: Because it's _such_ a crime against humanity, that people want to share what they find entertaining with others, for free!
--
Because its easier to get mod'd down for having the courage to look at the facts, then ignore Forgotten Christian History.
"chronic failure to modernize its copyright regime has made it a global hub for bootleg movies, pirated software and tiny microchips that allow video-game users to bypass copyright protections". So would that mean Canada is the "Land of the Free and the home of the Brave" ;-)
--
Luck is just skill you didn't know you had.
I'm part Canadian. I like Canada.
I think in this case, our government and this group need to realize that just because Canada doesn't have the same "super-duper" piracy "prevention" (if you want to call it that) as America does (remember, we're the one with almost trillions of dollars in our yearly budget) shouldn't mean that we need to "blacklist" Canada.
Canada isn't the only nation with slack copyright laws. What about, say Romania, which publically declared that they built their country on piracy. Or for example Sweden which hasn't been cracking down on piracy either?
But that is besides the point. This is just yet another attempt by a US lobby to try to use the US government to boss Canada around.
"Canada's chronic failure to modernize its copyright regime"
We should all stand and sing a stanza of "O Canada" in honour of an island of sanity in a world gone copyright-mad.
Over video games?
Cool.
Don't these people get a cut from each DVD burner and disk sold in Canada? WTF are they complaining about then?
Let's say Canada is on the black list. Then all countries on the black list would only do business togeter and not with the US anymore. Would the US make that mistake? Stoping billions in profits just for some millions lost? That would be so funny (MPAA, etc, shooting themself in the foot). But that would proove a point. When Canada and all others would be on the list, and music and movies would still be on the net, it is at that time, that the shooting in the foot would begin.
No sig for now.
What exactly would this change between Canada/US relations? Is it just a matter of sales across the border? Why should Canada give a damn? I've always maintained that my enemies' insults really can't harm me, it's my friends that matter.
America's chronic failure to modernize its foreign policy has made it a global terror for endless wars, senseless violence and tiny microchips that allow big box stores to bypass individual privacy.
You are a lucky winner in our "Win a Tommahawk Cruise Missile" competition.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
It would be interesting to know just what Canada's obligations are under the Berne convention or any other IP treaties they may have signed. Is this just a bunch of large corporations whining that the rights they think they ought to have aren't universally recognized, or is Canada actually breaking a treaty obligation? Or is the Berne convention sufficiently vague that both sides can plausibly believe they are right? What if a country doesn't want to participate in the Berne convention or trips anymore? (The US didn't sign on until 1989, now we're trying to force our IP laws on everyone else.)
"'Canada's chronic failure to modernize its copyright regime has made it a global hub for bootleg movies, pirated software and tiny microchips that allow video-game users to bypass copyright protections', "
sed -e "s/modernize/mimic/"
I guess that says it all.
...but I don't know where to start, by size or notority.
SE Asia is pretty much one big pool of piracy all around.
China is a huge one, they don't seem to care about IP at all.
Ukraine seems to be the most fucked up of the former Soviets.
Russia isn't far behind, with allofmp3 and all.
All the remaining ex-Soviet states are notorious too.
East europe in general has a long track record of piracy.
West europe got the fastest lines and places like The Pirate Bay.
South America is quite rampant too, last I checked.
Australia banned the region coding crap, didn't they?
Anyone know if the Middle East and Africa qualifies? Haven't heard much but I bet they do. Now they want to add Canada to this "exclusive" list? I have a much simpler proposition: Take the list of countries. Remove US and maybe their pet dog, UK. The remainder is their list of copyright villains.
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
At some point, the US is going to realize that Canada (mostly Alberta) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_reserves#Canada has the second largest oil reserves in the world, and the largest reserves that are not in the Middle East. At some point, Canada is going to tell interventionist/protectionist American politicians what they can do and where they can go.
"Too close to ignore, too white to invade" - Ce message de Bloc Québécois. =)
By allowing pirates within their shores, Canada is surely helping alleviate global warming. I thank them.
Some people encrypt by using rot-13 twice. I prefer the more secure method of using rot-1 a total of twenty six times.
Canada's chronic failure to modernize its copyright regime...
Modernize? Is that American for "destroy", or "bend over and spread 'em for big business"?
using System.Awesome;
If the Canadiens have managed to piss off this group of self important twits, then my hats off to my cousins to the north!
Professional Politicians are not the solution, they ARE the problem.
Ban china too! Start paying $1000 for those iPods and $5000 for those Macbook Pros!
Online backup with Mozy, sounds like Ozzie, but more!
To the best of my knowledge, copyright infringement going on in other countries in no way affects our safety (besides the weak "it funds terrorists" argument that seems to be the defacto excuse for everything around here anymore).
The only people that would benefit from the massive expense and sacrifice of civil liberty that would be necessary to enact such a stupid idea would be the media fat cats..... And they can go and (insert witty thing here) themselves for all I care.
It's only paranoia if your wrong...
Take a look at Michael Geist's blog... he's the Lawrence Lessig of Canada.
;)
This message proudly paid by a Montreal Pirate! (whatever that means
but like, frickin' pick one:
black-list us and force us to buy content, and go after every infringer with all the legal power you have - or -
take off the damn CD-R levies that sheila copps was so kind to bestow upon us so many years ago.
Douches! Cake. Eat. Pick one.
If you're already calling us theives by attaching levies to products and media, WTF do you expect?
~spoonie
Would the US be happy if other countries blacklisted them because they are the number 1 SPAM source ?
We Canadians are nuclear-capable, and we're getting filthy rich selling you oil & water. We won't have to take this shit for much longer because we are headed to become the next super-power. Payback is going to be a bitch!
Stephen Harper's only response is "how high?".
... of countries supporting terrorism.
Why not ?
There are "rampant" animal rights groups and anit-abortions groups that blow up people and buildings...
Same relevance. Different name.
Certainly not in Iraq. One of the first things Paul Bremer and the Coalition Provisional Authority introduced in the tatters of a starving nation back in 2003 was the implementation of US Copyright laws.
Possibly the first time a country was invaded for it's lax copyright laws. Watch out Canada!
Perhaps an obvious question. Are you talking about the US here?
Meaning:
1. Modernize Copyright Law - Move away from the Printing press model (Absolute monopoly control of publishing, near-infinite terms, using "DRM" to maintain old model), and towards an Internet model (Information is less restricted, business models must adjust). Meaning shorter copyright monopoly terms, less restrictions, allow non-profit duplication.
2. Business Model - Duplication happens. Abandon DRM. Listen to customer, rather than criminalize. Innovate with new works, rather than trying so hard to milk old ones.
"The worst part it's that is probably gonna work ..."
I wouldn't worry about that.
Harper is only one non-confidence vote away from an election where his position on the environment will be one of the deciding factors. And both leading Republican contenders for 2008 lean significantly to the left of Bush.
The xIAA crowd just have to be shitting in their pants over this. Voters are not likely to help them get friendly administrations in the next few elections. And if they miss the current window of opportunity for forcing the issue, the next time it comes around, it may not matter.
Besides, you shouldn't be categorizing all USians as terrorists just because some of their beliefs are a little strange.
The average USian is hard working, friendly, and is an individual with individual hopes and aspirations just like all of us. It's only a few extremists that are making the rest of them look bad.
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
Circumcision is child abuse.
The last article was completely overblown, and this is even worse.
Once put on notice, failure to address U.S. concerns could result in trade challenges at the World Trade Organization, plus possible sanctions.Need I even go into the many ways the US has violated our free trade agreement. How are different copyright laws even a violation?
...and tiny microchips that allow video-game users to bypass copyright protections...Maybe because the copyright protections violate our basic copyright freedoms? There's no DMCA here.
The industry paints a grim picture of Canada as a country where copyright pirates operate with impunity because of lax laws, poor enforcement and a laissez-faire attitude.In case you haven't noticed, we're lax in all areas of law. How has incarceration helped to reduce US crime rates? Why should copyright violation be a criminal offense? The last article was even so bold to say:
Frith says government bureaucrats try to placate him by saying that under the Copyright Act exhibitors have the ability to charge someone criminally. "But here's the catch. Under the Copyright Act, you have to prove that an individual camcording in the theatre is doing it for distribution purposes. That's almost impossible."So camcording is a criminal offense, you just have to, shock, prove your case rather than assume guilt. I guess this article is *technically* right when it says:
Unlike in the United States and most other developed countries, videotaping movies in theatres is not illegal in Canada.What else did they complain about proving?
We don't want to have to prove the economic loss from distribution. We want it to be a Criminal Code activity to be caught camcording. Period.Is that 15th century thinking I hear? Are they going to blacklist every liberal country?
"Highly organized international-crime groups have rushed into the gap left by Canada's outmoded copyright law and now use the country as a springboard from which to undermine legitimate markets in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and elsewhere," the group said.Please, the UK and Australia wouldn't even have these type of laws if the US and *AA and friends hadn't strong armed them into it. Are these the only shinning examples they can find?
Frankly, the list should be indexed by the per capita income in the country. In which case, the U.S. would be at the top of the list.
Help! I'm a slashdot refugee.
Sheila: Times have changed
Our kids are kids are getting worse
They won't obey their parents
They just want to fart and curse!
Sharon: Should we blame the government?
Liane: Or blame society?
Dads: Or should we blame the images on TV?
Sheila: No! Blame Canada
Everyone: Blame Canada
Sheila: With all their beady little eyes
And flappin' heads so full of lies
Everyone: Blame Canada!
Blame Canada!
Sheila: We need to form a full assault
Everyone: It's Canadas fault!
Sharon: Don't blame me
For my son Stan
He saw the darn cartoon
And now he's off to join the Klan!
Liane: And my boy Eric once
Had my picture on his shelf
But now when I see him he tells me to myself!
Sheila: Well, blame Canada
Everyone: Blame Canada
It seems that everything's gone wrong
Since Canada came along!
Everyone: Blame Canada!
Blame Canad!a
Some Guy: They're not even a real country, anyway
Ms. McCormick: My son could've been a doctor or a lawyer rich and true
Instead he burned up like a piggy on a barbecue
Everyone: Should we blame the matches?
Should we blame the fire?
Or the doctors who allowed him to expire?
Sheila: Heck no!
Everyone: Blame Canada
Blame Canada
Sheila: With all their hockey hubbabaloo
Liane: And that bitch Anne Murray too
Everyone: Blame Canada!
Shame on Canada
The we must stop
The trash we must smash
Laughter and fun
must all be undone
We must blame them and cause a fuss
Before someone thinks of blaming us!
---
Such a catchy tune!
Shiny. Let's be bad guys.
Looks like the left in hollywood are acting up now that it is hurting their income.
Blacklisting Canada... What an excellent idea!
Let's say that the U.S. delayed the release of all films in Canada by several months, as they have already threatened to do. Suddenly, film release dates in Canada would no longer coincide with the hype in American media. Canadian consumers would have to endure months of temptation to download industry-insider-provided rips of screeners (not crappy camcorder copies) before films finally come out in Canada. That would certainly hurt good films, but those one-weekend-wonder stinkers that are massively promoted (and never shown to critics in advance) would flop bigtime in a fore-warned Canada. Overall, that's a lot fewer movie tickets sold. Who's going to pick up the slack? Maybe, just maybe, local Canadian film-makers. Quebec actually has a pretty good cinema going but English Canada has bugger all thanks to the abundance of american media. Anything that reduces the market share of american cinema is likely to cause a boom in Canadian film. Yes, american TV shows filming on the cheap in Canada might finally have a little competition for local talent, but who cares?
Market controls on foreign content in a nation's cinema have been shown to improve that nation's cinema. Just look at French cinema since WWII. Their government required that a certain percentage of films shown in French cinemas had to be French. U.S. production companies were financing cheap films just to boost the overall French market so they could release more films in France! Canada considered implementing similar legislation, but failed to do so, much to the detriment of our own nation's cinema. Canada's cinema could certainly benefit from market controls today, but implementing them would be political suicide for any who dared. The U.S. would cry foul over protectionism and Canadians used to american films would be very peeved about not being able to get their fix. However, if the kind americans were to do this for us...
This really is a win-win situation for Canada. The worst the U.S. can do to Canada is the best possible thing for Canada's cinema and the worst possible thing for american film makers. So *PLEASE* blacklist us. Pretty please! I freakin' double dare ya! Heck, BAN the release of american movies in Canada indefinately!
I live in BC, the pot capital of North America, and all I can say is the only Chronic failure that I ever see is when someone tries to light up and either their out of Butane or didn't roll properly. Then again...
(catchpa: underway)
Canada's chronic failure to modernize its copyright regime has made it a global hub for bootleg movies, pirated software and tiny microchips that allow video-game users to bypass copyright protections
Man, I need to live there!
Alright, that's it. Last straw. Crossed the line(as if they hadn't already). Who the fuck do we gotta kill to stop the insanity?
Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken - Tyler Durden
I dunno about all you but honestly I think the real warez guys server from France...or maybe it's just the french canadians? Not that I would know.
I am seriously getting the feeling its about time to go on a bloody rampage **HEADSHOT** killing the top half of all the exec's.. and after the dust clears I can just blame it on violent video games.
I decided to cut and paste someone else's comment. It just seemed easier than buying a comment or writing one myself. ;-)
Seriously, our government imposes an illegal tax whenever we buy blank electronic media that Assumes we are going to use it for illegal (copyright infringement) purposes. This not only violates the innocent until proven guilty but also results in a flow of money back to the artists through SOCAN based on our probable crimes.
If someone in the US has actual knowledge of a physical IP infringement activity in Canada, tell the police here. They will go and arrest the people responsible. Sheesh - we are members of WIPRO and do enforce IP laws as per our obligations. What we will not bow to is unsubstantiated claims without facts. Show us the crimes!
"Question everything, including this!" - http://technoracle.blogspot.com/
I meant to say WIPO.
"Question everything, including this!" - http://technoracle.blogspot.com/
I'd like to see what the reaction would be. It might surprise many Americans, but there is a fair amount of anti-american sentiment here north of the 49. I know we seem friendly and all, but really we're just polite. (Note: I like American's just fine... well all the ones that aren't the president... and a few others...)
I believe all this "Canadians are dirty rotten thieves" stuff the "IP proponents" are pulling is due to the fact that the current government is working on revising our copyright law. I suspect that they are trying to pressure the Canadian government into getting their way.
It might even be at the behest of the government who seems to be intent on listening to only one side (guess who?). The Conservatives campaigned partially on "repairing the damage that the liberals did to US - Canada relations" (not that most Americans pay much attention to Canada anyway...) The copyright reforms are likely to be very unpopular no matter what's in them. If they say, "Oh we need to crack down to keep our relations happy with the Americans", maybe they think that will smooth things over.
If that's the case, I think they are terribly misguided. Canadians have always had a low tolerance to being stepped on by the elephant that is the US. We have a chip on our shoulders. In fact, one of the defining principles of being a Canadian is that "We aren't American". For some people, that's their only definition of being Canadian.
Pressure from the US to do *anything* to our laws will likely doom that idea, whether it be good or bad. Hence it would be nice to see what happens if the above characterization would be on the front page of the local newspapers...
That they aren't getting enough.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
That's "free rein", not "free reign". It's a metaphor from horses (reins) not kings (reigns). See here.
15 million Canadians still agree that "Starbucks" should be blacklisted.
I tried to think of a good sig, and this wasn't it.
Which is why it is relevant but there are
"Question everything, including this!" - http://technoracle.blogspot.com/
..bite me.
To clarify the complaint: "Canada does have intrusive, corporate-friendly copyright laws that allow us to kick in the front door of a home and cavity search any occupant who even talked about last night's episode of 'Gilmour Girls'"
"They were beaming all their TV signals into my trailer park without my permission. Why shouldn't i be able to watch them".
"Question everything, including this!" - http://technoracle.blogspot.com/
Put them on the list with the other regimes that kill thousands of innocent people every year, violate basic human rights as a policy and lie more to their people than the Iraqi Information Minister.
Our Canadian government can't sue users for piracy, because on every blank CD we are charged a tax. It's seems a double standard to charge this tax on CD-R (we don't pay tax on blank DVD, even though you can still use DVDs as a storage medium for your MP3s) then sue people for backing up there audio collections, right?!?
IANAL, but it seems like this could open the US government to being sued. Couldn't any legitimate Canadian company sue if this impacts their business? I haven't looked to see what the mechanics of the blacklist are (port-blocking?), but any limitation placed on a business would be anti-competitive, and providing unfair protections to American businesses. Obviously there would have to be proof of financial loss in court, but this seems like a stupid decision. Risk American tax payer dollars (which would then be paid to Canadian companies), because an American industry wants another country to change its laws.
Of course, I'm sure the Canadian Government will cave, without a great deal of public dissent, but this seems like a silly way to go about stopping piracy.
I'm scarred. The USA might impose sanctions, tarrifs and duties against our biggest exports.
Those being oil, lumber and cattle. Wait they already do that.
Okay they can go after Hollywood North. Nope the Governator is on that.
Textiles? Gone to Mexico.
Car production? Ditto.
They could invade! Just as soon as they get out of Iraq, invade and get out of Iran, and deal with North Korea.
I will pass this on to my grandkids as a 'Tale of the Bushites'.
How's aboot we withold Canadian bacon, maple syrup and cheap pharmacy drugs from Americans?
Its a pile of counterfeit DVD's!!! Wow, counterfeit DVD's, those really demonstrate how bad Canada's copyright laws are!
Liberal trash. Not to be taken seriously.
Souvent, beaucoup de jens oublie qu'il y a deux Canada. Il y a le canada donc vous connaiez et l'autre canada. Ils sont tres different. S.V.P, vous vous souvenez le difference.
Merci.
Is a modern copyright regime meant to be the same thing as 'all your base belong to us, enjoy getting rear ended' system that is taking over the USA? Yes, I am cynical.
Jumpstart the tartan drive.
Not yet. Right now they take a cut from blank CDs, blank tapes and such. This is why blank DVDs are cheaper then blank CDrs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism
I could understand that music and software companies would be upset, but movie producers? They're filming how many percent of their movies in Vancouver nowadays? I guess we need to tighten the, err, bacon around the waists a bit, eh?
"All you have to do is be fragile and grateful. So stay the underdog." Chuck Palahniuk, Choke
They want legal protection for drm..
which will allow them to act as a private and unilateral police force, absolved from all constitutional responsibility or judicial accountability.
If this were to happen with any other supposedly "criminal" activity it would be called barbarric.
In fact, that was, de facto, what was instituted to help prop up racist institutions.. the kkk is to black liberty what Cartel designed DRM is to digital liberty.
VLC FOR MAC IS DYING! IF YOU DEVELOP, PLEASE SAVE IT!!
Actually last time when the American invaded Canada, we kicked their butt.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_1812
They don't have the control in Canada they do in the US, and they want it. In all honesty THAT IS IT. Its all a control issue, we want this and this and bla bla bla. I have seen several articles debunking that dumb Canada is 50% of the pirate markets. So I see this going noware fast
...keep up the good work!
An outdated business model (and an outdated concept of information ownership) should not be preserved by the passing and enforcing of very stupid and harmful laws.
Keep turning up the volume on the "piracy" (sic) until the corporate masters get a clue and adapt.
Making and distributing the chips has become so lucrative that the thriving business is now dominated by organized-crime rings, including the Hells Angels in Quebec and the Big Circle Boys in Ontario and British Columbia, according to the IIPA. This sounds like total BS; organized-crime rings deal in criminal activities (the hint is the "crime" part of "organized-crime rings"). If indeed mod chips are legal in Canada, then there would be no vacuum left by legitimate businesses that organized crime would rush in to fill - unlike the case with drugs, guns, etc.
The sad part is that the Harper government will probably sell us out on this one as the Conservatives are "pro-business". Having said that, it's not clear to me that the Liberals would act any different. I would suspect the NDP would be more sympathetic to "fair use" and all, but they're not going to form a government and I would not want them to form a government.
Damn.
what does privacy have to do with alchohol?
Read Pynchon.
There is nothing wrong with the copyright laws in Canada. They aren't draconian like the utter stupid laws in the US, and I thank the politicians for not following this bait (and implementing stupid laws so some American fuckwad at the IIAA can squeeze yet one more country into following its moronic ways). The US government has perverted laws because politicians can be bought. I'm not saying that Canadian politicians are squeeky clean, but they aren't about to be bullied by some asinine group like this. As far as I can tell, the IIAA is the Insurance Institute Association of America. Now they mention camcorder recordings. I've never seen anyone able to bring a camcorder into a theater in Canada. Something about the doorman seizing it upon entry. They aren't allowed to keep it (legally), but they get to refuse you entry if you don't want to part with it. There were 4 camcorder recordings last year, so 1 was made in Canada (apparently). As for 'getting in line' versus 'falling behind', Canada is 'way ahead'. Its the US that needs to change its draconian laws. Democracy in the US? Not on this file! Now if the US wants to put Canada on some kind of list (here, I'm going to pull out a piece of paper, and put the US on it)... there, now you are on my list. So lets see, movies might come out later in Canada, or not at all. Perhaps you could include the UK, Australia, Europe, Asia and Africa on that list too? Hows that for a customer base? Heres a hint to the stupid people making these threats: threatening a customer always hurts the business more than business hurts the customer. Now in the case of Microsoft: There isn't thing one you can do, and I double dog dare ya to cut Canada off from all of Mickeysofts pitsy products. Stuff your vista where the sun don't shine! In fact, I hereby declare that all Microsoft products be forthwith and forever more banned from Canada for all eternity!!! go linux go!
Crisis levels? You mean like the ice caps are melting, the sea levels are rising, the glaciers are disappearing kind of crisis?
Well, that's good news. Last we heard, it was over half!
That's right. We don't care. We've got enough problems with our own mini-Dubyah up here. Now fuck off and leave us alone.
... it respects no borders, no culture, no history and no peoples.
If action isn't taken, soon that sweet stench will be overpowering.
If Canada is willing to restrict Fair Use, is the MPAA and RIAA each willing to relinquish the levies on blank media?
No?
Well then!
The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
In that case, all the ??AA would have to do is put the U.S. itself on the blacklist. Problem solved.
Can the rest of the world just build a wall around the US and get on with life?
This is silly.
>then the Americans would have to nicer to Chavez
You mean just kill him?
has anyone considered setting up a not for profit consortium that you can donate money to/join that buys shares in these media companys with the stated goal of gaining enough shares to beable to vote on things inside the company? the mere existence of such a thing would scare the shit out of companys, since they are all publicly tradable.
If you mod me down, I will become more powerful than you can imagine....
First of all, I am a Canadian, so I'm not speaking out of ignorance.
When it comes to standing up to Americans, we're all bark and no bite. After all, we accepted the Free Trade Agreement and NAFTA. We allowed Chapter 11 of NAFTA to get passed, a provision allowing corporations to sue Canadian governments for any laws that caused them to lose profits. Now would we allow a NAFTA provision that required Canada to price oil and gas the same as in the U.S., and to supply oil to the U.S. before ourselves, buying back the value-added refined product in the form of petroleum, and then committing to supply the U.S. first even in the event of an energy crisis. We allowed American companies to engage in massive numbers of takeovers of Canadian companies when the Canadian dollar was low, especially our oil companies, to the point that a substantially larger number of Canadians work for American owned companies than ever before. We allowed the federal government to outsource government data on Canadian citizens to U.S. companies operating on U.S. This has made our data subject to the U.S. "Patriot Act".
Countries whose citizens are truly negative toward the U.S. government and U.S. corporations, like Russia, wouldn't tolerate any of the above policies.
Sorry, but when it comes to standing up to the U.S. government and U.S. corporations, we're a bunch of weenies.
This space left intentionally blank.
I travel to Canada quite a bit, and one thing I find there is a general respect for the law. But, respect works both ways and fair use is fair use.
Just because the US was pressured into these silly ideas of Intellectual Property Owners can rule your mind, doest make them right.
I think what the Riaa and Mpaa are worried about is that Canadians are still customers to be sold, not consumers to be culled.
There are very few places on earth that are as fair and law abiding as Canada, but when we ask them to enact silly DMCA like laws, they might just not agree they want them.
Remember, there is no such thing as Intellectual Property ownership, just a limited monopoly on the rights of distribution, excepting fair use.
The whole world could learn from Canada on this.
Cheers
* Carthago Delenda Est *
As a Canadian Citizen i find the suggestion of Canada as a global piracy hub to be completely and utterly laughable. if you go to Asia you can get bootlegged dvd's for peanuts, in Canada if you are caught selling pirated materials you are punished as you would be in the states , the only difference having lived both places is that Canada hasn't bowed to the evil powers of the RIAA, MPAA, and will only prosecute if actual for profit infringement is involved, i.e fair use still legal. ha ha ha I laugh at the mere suggestion of Canada as a global piracy hub. I pity anyone who could possibly believe that statement.... Argh!
Where the fuck do we get off, thinking our laws, or even our copyrights apply in other foreign countries? They are sovereign nations that have their own laws. The are not us, and we do not control them. STOP ACTING LIKE WE RUN THE FUCKIGN PLANET AMERICA.
I heard a story once that when Canada was formed, it had access to American Know-How, French Culture and British Politics but somehow ended up with British Know-How, American Culture and French Politics.
A little less of American Culture (specifically the car chases and gunfights) would IMHO be something of a good thing. We'll have to put up with our quota of the other two for now though...
Once I was a four stone apology. Now I am two separate gorillas.
I happen to think that Canada has a more progressive idea than we do with DRM.
It's a much more consumer friendly approach and every one still gets a peice
of the proverbial pie.
The only people who don't like it are the private corporations who aren't understanding
the signs they are seeing in the free market society. Charge less for your shit and people
will feel more inclined to pay. It's the way the world works. Or you could try to squeez us more....obligitory Princess Lea quote aside, YOU ARN'T GOING TO GET MORE MONEY! so STFURIAA
Money is the root of all evil?
'Canada's chronic failure to modernize its copyright regime has made it a global hub for bootleg movies, pirated software and tiny microchips that allow video-game users to bypass copyright protections', the International Intellectual Property Alliance complains in a submission to the U.S. government."
But we will be happy to take a levy on CD's, IPODS and anything else we can unilaterally declare is a tool of piracy.
Thanks for saying this and keeping comments honest. After a while, though, and if you hear something enough times, you should know that it gets hard to keep these separate.
[Warning - offtopic]
As a Canadian who has been refused entry to the States, I only encounter Americans in Canada or when I travel internationally. This affects my sample, I suppose - Americans who travel elsewhere arguably have been heisenberg'd, or have a predisposition that leads to a comparatively internationalized point of view. All that being said, the Americans I've met are *all* at variance with American foreign policy, such I understand it via the filter it goes through getting to me. In fact, it can be quite odd - some folks spend time apologising for their government, and not because of prompting from me or any sort of expectation.
I'll tell ya, though, if the only exposure I had to America and Americans was that which comes through the lens of popular media, I think I'd be sure that America is Going Nuts. Television is a pretty weird viewport into American culture, man - from the strange celebrity that derives from 'reality' TV, Bill O'Reilly - who I just don't get at all - and soft-hearted bounty hunters praying (or is that preying) to god before they round up the bad guys ... man, that's a pretty weird view.
But just as soon as I think it is waaay over the top, other stuff knocks me on my ass; I mean, Steven Colbert is a pretty good counter-punch to Bill O'Reilly, and I just marvel that he got on the air. You don't see that sort of check and balance just anywhere.
Resenting Amercians is a past-time in Canada of some popularity, not without some reason. But quite honestly, I've always viewed America as the One True Hope for democracy in the world. This seems to be imperilled these days, though; even while democratic evangelism is said to be the basis for your foreign policy, you seem to be prepared to let it be taken away from you at home.What up with that?
I suppose someone is going to call me a troll or tell me they don't give a fsck what I think, and I'm not even quite sure why I starting writing this, but maybe it's just to say that you guys are big, complex and you scare the shit out of us at the same time you inspire us and piss us off.
Or maybe it's just a long-winded way to say that no, I don't lump you all together by any means, but you know, you are what you present to the world, if you let that happen.
[17] Leary, T., White, C., Wood, P. R., Bhabha, W. D., and Wirth, N. Lambda calculus considered harmful. In Proceedings
How about the US be blacklisted for asshole-ishness? Surely the RIAA represents the whole country, right?
Is there such thing as "authorized" camcording of films in theaters? If so, they'd better ask to see the passes of those who are authorized before the film starts. Wouldn't want to interrupt their 'authorized' recordings!
...that suddenly the Wheat Board is under massive pressure and under-the-table attack? Make you wonder if there was a very quiet reason that the softwood lumber deal got closed so easily and quickly after all these years of getting nowhere, dunnit? "You give us softwood, we'll stomp the Wheat Board. Deal?"
Of course if we give them modernized they'll gladly stop collecting the royalty they now receive on every cd, dvd, and tape blank sold in the country regardless of it's intended or actual use. Of course not... Silly me.
Taken from the IIPA website:
"The International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) is a private sector coalition formed in 1984 to represent the U.S. copyright-based industries in bilateral and multilateral efforts to improve international protection of copyrighted materials."
To me this is a complete contradiction. The only International thing about them is they are lobbying to force the US agenda on the rest of the world.
We've done it before and we'll do it again. Seriously us Canadians are getting kinda sick of all the shit the American government throws our way, I've heard Americans complain about how the Canadians were rude to them or they were mistreated. Although they probably don't deserve this and I've never been rude to an American we've got to find some way to vent out frustration against you're country. As for burning the white house? I've got my pitchfork and torch and I'll see you in a week once I've managed to shovel my way through the snow that nature decided to sump on us overnight.
I may agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to face the consequences of saying it.
We pay a lot of taxes so that all Canadians can get medical treatment. So how do the 40 million Americans with out health insurance get adiquate, if any, medical care.
Undetectable Steganography? Yep, there's an app fo
- "Let's send the Omega Force!"
- "There's a time to think, and there's a time to act. And this, gentlemen, is not a time to think."
- "Canadians are always dreaming up a lotta ways to ruin our lives. The metric system, for the love of God! Celsius! Neil Young!" ... and now Piracy!
and last, but not least:
- "Stop piracy, pronto! Or we'll level Toronto!"
cpghost at Cordula's Web.
Just to remind everyone, from Monday the 5 of Feb right here on /..
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/05/16 6216
Undetectable Steganography? Yep, there's an app fo
For all you Americans reading this, the present government is considering passing "stronger" copyright laws that actually limit freedoms here, so all this hype is really a form of political lobby to pressure silly politicians in Canada to get way scared and knee jerk passing some legislation (our equivalent of a bill). Don't worry though, the present neo-conservative government here is on the outs.
/\/\icro/\/\uncher
Alberta has lots of oil in the slush sands that are begging to be explored/drilled.
Since Canada does not respect global copyright regulations, the first step would be to blacklist it in UN Sec council.
Then comes the escalation to a few sanctions against canada banks, etc.
Third comes an ultimatum worded in such a way that no self-respecting candian PM would agree to.
Fourth comes the invasion and occupation.
And lastly, britain having already gotten rid of Bush crony Blair, would decide to defend canada since it has same soverign and is part of commonwealth.
We will have a 2nd war of independence only this time fought by canada and there will be another Patriot movie made in Canada.
"Doing what i can, with what i have." ~ Burt Gummer
Wow, thanks for the tip, IIAA! Now I know where to go for all my bootleg movies, pirated software and tiny microchips that allow me to bypass copyright protections.
So, my choices are: support damage to our copyright laws, or winding up on a US industry's "blacklist?"
I know I speak for many of us up here when I say to the lobby groups in the US: fuck yourself with a screwdriver.
If you don't want us to pay for your films, fine. Stop selling them to us. We make our own, and frankly they're better anyway. Go to hell.
A government is a body of people notably ungoverned - AC
black list them cause of the french.
Yeah, no government in history has ever done that before...
Can you be Even More Awesome?!
OK, ignoring all of my instinctive need for anti-Stupid_US_partisan_protectionist_lobby_group rhetoric, let me just make a simple point for the simple minds at the IIPA:
Camcorder copies of movies don't hurt sales! They don't hurt theatre sales, and they don't hurt video sales. That is, unless word gets out that the movie is CRAP.
Make good movies and quit worrying about having to force people to watch them.
"People who do stupid things with hazardous materials often die." -- Jim Davidson on alt.folklore.urban
Why don't they use whitelisting? We all know blacklisting doesn't work well enough. Please? Now that they've started making idiots out of themselves, they should at least go the whole nine yards.
Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
"This movie was shot in 3B - three beers - and it looks good, eh?" - Bob McKenzie
"And I'd like to point out that these tapes have not been faked, or altered in any way. In fact they have time coding, which is very hard to fake." - Claude Elsinore
"We hope you enjoyed the beer, oh, like I mean the movie, eh." - Doug McKenzie
The hoser hordes are about to bring down the entire American movie industry, eh?
Some mornings it's hardly worth chewing through the restraints to get out of bed.
Next they'll illegalize Washingtonians crossing the border for British Columbian liqour!
Sorry, but your information is incorrect. According to the old rules, the limit was $5,000 for individuals, and $1,000 for unions and corporations.
According to the new rules that took effect January 1st, the limit is
That's from individuals, so a family of four could potentially contribute 4 * (4 * $1,100) = $17,600.
That seems "significant" to me.
A recursive sig
Can impart wisdom and truth
Call proc signature()
I don't think that nobody with a rational mind can really hate America or Americans. Yes it's true that American government does from time to time very fucked up things. Yes it's true that most Americans seem more or less ignorant or straight stupid from the eyes of the rest of the world. Even so, that really doesn't make justifiable to hate America or Americans. When you look at other nations and previous superpowers, they have done and do same things and at times have seemed to the rest of the world as bunch of morons. Then again, many nations and peoples have hated English, Germans, French, Russian, Japanese, Chinese and so on. So what sets America and Americans a part from the previous group? Well at least that you guys laugh actively to yourself and you always have some people arguing against the majority that does stupid things. Actually this is just what an episode of Southpark was about, where Cartman dreamed to the times of making the independence declaration.
So nobody hates you guys, but if you keep on your current track, the real danger is that you become indifferent to the rest of the world. Indifferent meaning that the rest of the world doesn't anymore look up to you and say "oh my god, we must do exactly like the Americans" and instead say "America? What ever, I don't care". But hey, it's not too late to repair the damage, just execute your lawyers and think-of-the-children people and I say your again ahead of the world.
Survey research tool for commercial and scientific use
Can't that be fixed? Can't some Hollywood production company fund cheap films in Germany to increase the number of films (absolute & American)? Maybe even sneak in some American propoganda? If that worked in France, why not in Germany?
There is a fine line between recklessness and courage... -- Paul McCartney
Thanks, that was really good :-). I'm still chuckling.
Insert
The theory is that the term came into existence as a means of being rude about these guys, so best avoided if you want to be nice and polite.
"Politically correct" is such a loaded term it is best used with caution I reckon, but I don't think there's anything wrong with changing the word you use to describe a group of people if it really hurts these people and they would prefer you chose another word.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Eskimo
Usage Note: Eskimo has come under strong attack in recent years for its supposed offensiveness, and many Americans today either avoid this term or feel uneasy using it. It is widely known that Inuit, a term of ethnic pride, offers an acceptable alternative, but it is less well understood that Inuit cannot substitute for Eskimo in all cases, being restricted in usage to the Inuit-speaking peoples of Arctic Canada and parts of Greenland. In Alaska and Arctic Siberia, where Inuit is not spoken, the comparable terms are Inupiaq and Yupik, neither of which has gained as wide a currency in English as Inuit. While use of these terms is often preferable when speaking of the appropriate linguistic group, none of them can be used of the Eskimoan peoples as a whole; the only inclusive term remains Eskimo.The claim that Eskimo is offensive is based primarily on a popular but disputed etymology tracing its origin to an Abenaki word meaning "eaters of raw meat." Though modern linguists speculate that the term actually derives from a Montagnais word referring to the manner of lacing a snowshoe, the matter remains undecided, and meanwhile many English speakers have learned to perceive Eskimo as a derogatory term invented by unfriendly outsiders in scornful reference to their neighbors' unsophisticated eating habits"
So they are on a 'list'. What does this mean in practical terms? Seems i can still buy chinese goods if i want, ( i dont, but thats a different issue ) and they can buy my product if i want to sell it to them..
So this matters why?
---- Booth was a patriot ----
"Plucky Canada has own laws, currency"
That's it! I'm moving to Canada!
Celine Dion.
That will give you pause.
This space is intentionally staring blankly at you
They go to the emergency room - but that is a big problem because emergency care is expensive and not fully reimbursed by the government. Our health care system needs improvement, and this is one reason.
:)
But what does this have to do with your taxes subsidizing my Chevy?
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
You can't blame the Jews, because the Enemy did that. But it's always OK to blame former allies like Russia and China. Not to mention Mexico! Many of the problems in the USA are due to Mexico. Of course, that is as obvious as the fact that you need a WALL to make people stay put to defend the empire of "freedom" ("freedom" is American English for "French", I've heard. France is often against free trade, so maybe it's something about that).
Luckily for USA, all the problems comes from outside, so just close the borders and everything will be OK. I mean: suicide bombers are so un-American and scary. Postal suicide shooters are on the other hand protectors of liberty...
Actually the big problem is the inability to see a doctor for yearly checkups and when you start to get sick which then leads to the expencive emergency room stay. Not to mention the lack of prenatal and postnatal care which gives the US an infant mortality rate that is 50% larger than Canada and even greater than that of Cuba. (http://www.geographyiq.com/ranking/ranking_Infant _Mortality_Rate_aall.htm)
Undetectable Steganography? Yep, there's an app fo
Fuck you.
Love,
Canada
I already agreed that our health care system needs help, so I'm not sure what you want me to say. Personally, I support free government clinics that take the place of the emergency room, plus offer preventative services. I think that this would cost about the same as the current system, but without putting so much stress on the hospitals in this country. I also think that people should be allowed to band together to bargain for group health insurance coverage - currently this is illegal, believe it or not. If you do not have proper benefits at your job or are self-employed and want insurance, it is just you vs. the insurance company! Nuts.
Prenatal care is a red herring - we have free prenatal care in the US, but it is done on the state level. We also have free health care for needy children. I've heard all sorts of explanations for why we have such a high infant mortality rate, but the most likely explanation (IMHO) is that in the US a 22-week birth is called a birth and when the baby dies it is counted as a dead baby. In Cuba, a 22-week birth is called a miscarriage and is not counted as a dead baby. I have no idea how reasonable this explanation is, other than that it makes sense - Cuba does not have the same level of neo-natal care that the US does. This is supported by the statistic that 75% of all deaths of children under 5 occur in the first week of life (worldwide). I have no idea if Canadians spend as much on neo-natal care as Americans do... I can only say that it seems to be a "spare no expense" kind of thing here.
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
From TFA:
Thanks to the author. I'm looking for someplace to retire fairly soon. I'll add those to my list of places to investigate.
Anybody know where I can get the complete list of "pirate-friendly" countries?
Still, it's less comprehensive than in other western/industrialized countries. You don't get an ultrasound everytime you go to the gyn/ob practice, for example.
Not quite correct. There have been countersanctions. Effective ones.
As I recall, there was an instance a little while ago where the US wanted to implement a toll or something on a particular kind of import from Europe, as a kind of protectionism.
So, WTO basically said "we can't really do anything about this, but you're free to implement sanctions in response".
Then the EU looked at the election charts, identified the states where the election might tip the other way, found what their main exports were (steel, I think), and threatened to implement an import ban on these goods. Something which would cost a whole bunch of people their jobs in the affected areas, quite possibly leading to Bush losing the reelection.
The toll was promptly lifed.
...is a pdf file to be found here:
Priority Watch List
The countries on the priority watch list are: China and Russia (listed first and discussed at substantially more length because the report considers them the worst), Argentina, Belize, Brazil, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Israel, Lebanon, Turkey, Ukraine, and Venezuela.
Recently Our trade surplus numbers for 2006 came out. They were the lowest in about 7 years. Other news outlets reported the lowest surplus in years but mentioned that we had a bit of bump in December.
The G&M take: "Trade surplus swells unexpectedly." It only talked about December and put 100% positive spin on the story. No mention at all about the annual numbers or even a comparison to the previous December. Just mentioned a higher than expected December.
Pathetic.
And what if, instead of giving them the music, you let them have it at a price that is practically giving it away?
Canada did exactly the same thing 200 years ago. The canadians did huge damage to the capital owners in the United States by letting their valuable two-legged property just walk to freedom unpunished if they had crossed the border. Even an oranized crime group known as "the underground railway" existed to exploit that hole in the Canadian laws. If only the canadians had modernized their laws to include the same principles of property as the US laws of that time, then much of that financial loss could have easily been avoided.
"Piracy" seems to be anything that goes against what those large entertainment companies would like the rest of the world to do. They are even "concerned" with how and where people listen to the music, or watch the movies that they purchase. In Canada, we pay a fee for every blank media purchased to compensate the artists. But let's have a look at the global picture. With regards to purchasing music, people fall in three categories: (a) those who have the means to pay for it and don't care about P2P and such; (b) those who have limited means and prefer to buy something else if they can get the music for free on P2P networks; and (c) those who really can't afford to buy the music anyway. Categories (a) and (c) are of no concern to the music industry; it's category (b) they put the blame on for the alleged drop in music sales. What is the percentage of people in that category? If we were to believe the industry reports, it's mainly the young people, particularly the students. What the industry reports don't mention is that these young people simply have a different approach to shopping: they download, listen to, and then, if they like it, they purchase it. They want to show off their original copy of the music they like to their friends. Yes, they do exchange custom-made audio CDs, and that is perfectly normal despite what the industry would like us to believe. Why be forced to buy a music package if you only like two or three tunes on an audio CD? This is the main issue: the music industry refuse to set up a global distribution system whereby people can buy custom-made audio CDs at a reasonable price. This issue has been somewhat addressed by Apple with iTunes but drawbacks of their particular approach have immediately become obvious (e.g., the requirement to own an iPod; DRM restrictions). In the old times, people would buy audio cassettes and copy the tunes they liked most to create custom-made audio cassettes. The problem was that audio quality decreased when a copy was made, and even in time. That is why industry was not very concerned with such kind of "piracy". But then they decided to take advantage of the new technologies. Now it costs close to nothing to duplicate a digital audio CD. But they still want us to believe that such a copy is worth $15-$20. They claim that, because of "piracy", artists don't receive the royalties they are due; in fact, for each CD that sells for $20 the artist only gets $1-$2, the difference ending up in the pockets of the industry. Let these "pirates" know how to compensate the artists, without a third party becoming involved, and I bet they would agree to do that. Because without the artists there would be no music, no creativity, no art. The rest is only a matter of leverage, of muscle flexing. Industry believed that new technologies will allow them to gain complete control over what people do with the music they purchase. That proved to be an illusion.
You can't take the sky from me...
If the best you can do is quote Wikii...jebus man..
CHAIN -- Tim Hortons
Owner -- Wendy's International (NYSE: WEN)
Primary Operating Region -- Canada, eh, NE United States
Number of Locations -- 2755
Ignorance is using one reference.
Stupidity is posting it.
End of Line.
Fun fact: Sweden has a "private copying levy" on every kind of digital medium (and some analogue) that can be used to store music. This includes CDs, DVDs and, wait for it, hard drives. If a company gets some extra backup space, or if you buy an iPod, Sony et al get a cut.
The official reason used to be our copyright laws, which allowed things like making copies of store-bought CDs and giving them to your friends. This was changed in recent years, and now you're pretty much a criminal as soon as you go online (You can't store copyrighted material without permission. I don't think anyone ever told the people who made that law about browser cache).
Obviously, the levy remained unchanged, so whenever I buy any kind of storage I pay for actions I'm not even allowed to take. Lovely, isn't it?
The "axis of evil" meme was actually invented by "David Frum" who is a Canadian. He is one of George W. Bush's first speech writers, and yet another dumbass neocon nutjob.
Why should you get an ultrasound every time? Shouldn't that be up to the doctor? A healthy pregnancy shouldn't require frequent ultrasounds. My wife got them frequently because she had fibroids.
I'm pretty sure that ultrasounds are not common in Cuba.
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
The R-I-Eh-Eh, they're hosers, eh.
One ring to bind them - should probably have more fiber and less rings in their diet.
Corporations are fascist in tendency (if they were governments they certainly would be). Seems to me the US government is heading in that general direction.
There's historical precedent for this but I won't mention it here.
Macrochips?
Build a man a fire, he's warm for one night. Set him on fire, and he's warm for the rest of his life.
iTunes is putting all the mom and pop stores out of business. That's why I think we should instead dump hundreds of MacBooks and iMacs into the Boston Harbor. Just make sure you load up iTunes first. In fact I think anyone with a Mac should consider throwing it into a body of water in protest.
Thanks,
Bill Gates
Build a man a fire, he's warm for one night. Set him on fire, and he's warm for the rest of his life.
I feel so sorry that Canada isn't as great as the USA and the Bush administration, and doesn't implement the will of the majors in that country.
Really, I am.
Actually, we should surrender to our american multi-billion dollars lobbies and pressure groups overlords. They are so cool. And can we also have Jack Thompson?
First of all, I am a Canadian, so I'm not speaking out of ignorance.
Oh, yeah. That makes sense. Anyway, you're just one guy with one opinion, and so is the parent poster. I don't agree with either of you and I'm Canadian too. Let's just speak for ourselves instead of making blanket statements, ok? Jeez...
Yes because filler pieces never make it into the new york times or the guardian...
The bbc currently has a story titled, " Karaoke marathon as South Korean woman sings for 60 hours ". Infact, I'd challenge you to find one paper or news source without an opinionated human interest story around its front page. Papers arent like slashdot, they need to cater to as many people as possible. Thats why they write fluff pieces.
The globe and mail is probably the best paper in canada, and one of the only national ones. They even let you read and comment on most articles on line. The national post is a right wing joke and has been ever since it was formed 7 or 8 years ago.
I'll just use my special getting high powers one more time...
"George Bush thinking he's the leader of the free world"
Because of George Bush, the US isn't even IN the free world anymore.
Granted, I don't have anything to do with our foreign policy, but as a US citizen, I'm sad to see them pull this crap. All I can say is that I'll try to do whatever little good I can with my vote, but don't hold your breath--there aren't many good candidates and I'm not likely to get elected any time soon.
So all I can say is that I'm sorry to see them doing this. Just please, please don't let them screw you over the way they've screwed us over.
"And don't ever forget
A stranger's just a friend you haven't met!"
--From Streetcar! (the play, not the episode name)
There is a fine line between recklessness and courage... -- Paul McCartney