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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."
- Copyright Law
- Business Model
Modernize one.What sound do people on rollercoasters make? Hint: it's not Xbox 360.
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
... and all other people of the world, when I say that we just LOVE having Americans try to police us and control our affairs!
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
I just fail to understand why we should care (from a Canadian point of view). Why should we let the Americans control our internal policy?
I'm offended and frankly would be extremely angry if Canada bowed to this pressure.
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
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
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.
"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.
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...
Would the US be happy if other countries blacklisted them because they are the number 1 SPAM source ?
Really that is exactly the point, some industries would like as many countries as possible to have almost identical copyright and patent policies. Lately those industries have had the most luck influencing U.S. law so they have decided to make those laws the template. It isn't the "Americans" that are pushing this, it is a collection of huge corporations that are trying to keep from having to fight the same court battles over and over. If they can convince the U.S. government to pressure other countries to bring their laws "in line" with the U.S. laws they make their own lives a lot easier. If Canada keeps it's own laws it will be a force these industries have to deal with directly, if Canada bows to pressure they fade into the background, another "me too" country they never have to work with. Australia should think about that too.
Insert pithy comment here.
So they want Bush to blacklist Canada, their biggest trading partner (last I heard), their NATO ally, whose troops are now fighting in Afghanistan against the Taliban, possessor of the second largest petroleum reserves in the world, and whose government is one of the very few who are not overtly hostile to the Bush administration?
Over video games?
Cool.
Just wait until they come to "liberate" you from your outdated copyright regime.
Biggest trading partner? Haliburton is ready to take over that.
NATO ally? Pay attention to how well they treat their EU allies lately.
Fighting terrorists? So did Saddam, didn't want any religious fundies opposing him.
Oil? And that's a.... con?
Friendly government? Wasn't that a WMD pointing at the US I saw, I'm sure I did.
And the five-year forecast: Civil war between eskimos, quebecois and english-speaking canadians.
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
Don't forget about porn, which accounts for something like 60% of all P2P traffic. By far, porn is the most pirated form of IP, yet does not seem to be in any danger of disappearing.
Momentarily, the need for the construction of new light will no longer exist.
More to the point from my perspective as an American, most of the companies involved in this are not American, or even based in the United States. Personally, the very idea of our political leaders accepting bribes^H^H^H^H^H^Hcompaign contributions from foreign interests in exchange for modifications to our legal system smacks of high treason. Of course, that doesn't make this any less the responsibility of the citizenry of this country to fix ... as soon as we figure out how. Voting doesn't seem to work so well anymore.
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
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'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 reminds me, I need to download a movie.
Thank goodness for Bit Torrent, and freedom in Canada.
Saskboy's blog is good. 9 out of 10 dentists agree.
Our "friendship" with the US is often cited as a reason why we should put up with a lot of things not the least of which was going to fight in Afghanistan. It's probably second only to the excuse "but they're our biggest trading partner!" When a foreign country is such an important trading partner that it's used as an excuse for letting them meddle in your internal affairs that says to me that it's time to find some new trading partners.
Sure, we shouldn't stop sending you guys oil, but we should definitely be looking to sell more of it (along with other things) to places other than the US. They've proven over and over that they can't be trusted not to abuse their position as primary trade partner.
Except that it's not a random group, it's a powerful copyright lobby that has a history of getting exactly what they want.
Not to mention the US government (which is even less of a random group) has already pressured several other countries into changing their copyright laws and has been hard at work on Canada for some time already.
No kidding, what on earth would you do if you couldn't steal a movie? Get a life maybe?
We just sold a bunch to China, they'll save our ass if the U.S. goes batshit.
I think Canada has a friendly enough reputation that the (Conservatives to follow Hillary) won't be able to lie that we have WMDs..
There are an awful lot of people of Chinese descent in Canada too... Too bad their a bunch of commies...
Oh wait Canada's gonna piss off the U.S. by being too left wing.... good good.
And more to the point: Why does the American government allow corporations to dictate foreign policy?
Running with Linux for over 20 years!
Its too late for Australia. Problem is John Howard is so far up Bush's ass he wont be able to taste anything but shit till his 80'th birthday (next week I think) He has been pushing so hard to pretty much make Australia another US state, which sucks because so many Aussies hate America, but our ruler loves those yanks and wants us to be just like them
Make SELinux enforcing again!
"When will you Americans learn you cannot have it both ways," you say, after citing a case where the Americans continually have it both ways.
- RG>
Hey pal, this isn't a pleasantforest, so don't waste my time with pleasantries!
Do they hate America, do they hate that for which America has traditionally stood, or do they just hate George W. Bush and his cronies? Just in case it's news to you, a lot of us Americans aren't all that enamored of GWB and Co.
... but I don't say "I hate Australia". I just express distaste for those particular idiots.
In any event, saying "we hate America" means you're doing one awful lot of hating. I've known some Australians that were complete jackasses as well
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
Why does the American government allow corporations to dictate foreign policy?
1. Because they can.
2. Because they can buy the best lobbyists.
3. Because voters who don't pay attention let them.
Table-ized A.I.
It wasn't that long ago people would have thought you were crazy if you suggested Canada would make more money not selling cattle to the US.
Now we have meat packing plants of our own, and we can sell frozen steak internationally with all the associated markup.
Why the hell are we selling our oil?
-1 Uncomfortable Truth
Since about 50% of all economic activity in Canada involves the United States in some way, it is definitly in Canadas economic interest to care. That doesn't nessicarily mean that Canada should change its current copyright system for the U.S., but it does mean that if Canada tries a pissing match with the U.S. about this, the U.S. can put some serious pressure on Canada. It means that Canada has to deal with the problem diplomaticly and shrudely, and not play into the typical Canadian inferiority complex and go all Carolyn Parrish... If trade problems cause unemployment, less tax revenue and therefore diminishing social services, people are going to be a lot more pissed off at the government then they would be about any copyright changes which the average Canadian could care less about. The thing the RIAA would most love to do is turn this into a Canada vs. the U.S. issue (because Americans will rally on the issue if it is presented as an us vs. them issue instead of the RIAA vs. everyone issue), and I am sure there are enough blustering Canadians willing to indulge the RIAA.
The best thing Canada could do is offer some token (and meaningless) change... Just enough to look like they are trying to work with the RIAA. Then, if the RIAA (or whatever the pan-media equivalent is) doesn't accept, Canada can throw it back in their face and say "Look, we tried to work with you guys...". Defuse the situation and make the RIAA look like the unreasonable ones.
Throwing the politicians in....
From the environment's point-of-view, this might not be such a good idea.
Isn't Canada in the process of tightening its copyright law? This really sounds like pressure, i wonder why it was needed, the bribes didn't work?
Patents Drive Free Software as Hurricanes Drive Construction Industry
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
Why thank you. We've preserved drug laws for the US, but we'll keep steady on our copyright laws, I hope. We do pay a 21 cent levy on CDs, which goes straight to our RIAA, regardless of how the CD is used. 21 cents is more than the value of most music albums nowadays, so it's pretty much a given that we can copy all we want.
"When the atomic bomb goes off there's devastation...but when the atomic bong goes off there's celebraaaaation!"
He meant to say: "When will you Americans learn you cannot have it both ways, without being vilified and hated left and right."
True confidence comes not from realising you are as good as your peers, but that your peers are as bad as you are.
Camcorder copies of Hollywood movies is not something the government has any business discussing. There are tons of real problems that they should be spending their time trying to solve. It's like complaining the contractors painted your house the wrong color while hundreds of nuclear warheads are on their way to obliterate your country.
To the people in government that are discussing copyright crap: shut the hell up about non-issues like camcorder copies of movies and get your asses back to work trying to fix real problems! WTF!
Modern copyright is theft of culture from everyone and it retards the progress of the useful arts and sciences.
"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.