Canadian Politicians Demand DMCA

An anonymous reader writes "Michael Geist is reporting that a Canadian parliamentary committee has demanded that the government establish a Canadian DMCA. The demand, which comes in a study on counterfeiting and piracy (PDF) released on Wednesday night, recommends ratification of the WIPO Internet treaties, increasing damage awards for copyright infringement, creating new offenses for selling modification devices, and encouraging prosecutors to seek jail time for piracy violations."

Comments

As a Canadian Citizen with registered copyrights

[WillAffleckUW]

on file in Ottawa, I think this is the dumbest thing I have ever heard.

The DCMA won't help Canadians, only multi-nationals that suck the lifeblood of Canadian writers, artists, game designers, and musicians dry.

But, hey, what do I know, I've only flown across Canada for literary and game conventions on Canada Council grants ...

In Summary: Bad Idea. Very Bad.

Re:Pardon me...

[jeevesbond]

But who exactly demanded the DMCA-like policies?

Good question, my first instinct was to blame Bev Oda and her unrivalled industry access. But she's not even on the committee!

What's also scary here is that, although chaired by a Conservative (from Alberta too), the committee is made up of members from all parties. Have a look at the list, there're Liberals, NDP and Bloc Québécois in there: I have trouble believing someone from the Bloc would go along with this. Do none of them bother to turn up to committee meetings, does everyone just fall asleep and let the chair do all the work, or is this just a horrible case of group think?!

Either way, our legislature needs some education. Time to get letter writing!