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US Group Calls Canada a Top Copyright Violator
eldurbarn tips a CBC story reporting that the US-based International Intellectual Property Alliance claims Canada has joined Russia and China among the biggest violators of US copyright law. Quoting: "The group's report is the latest to urge the US government into pressuring Ottawa to reform copyright laws." As we have previously discussed here, the current Conservative government had planned to introduce a new copyright law, but dissent from the privacy commissioner and a groundswell of public protest delayed that action. eldurbarn adds, "What makes this story so important now is that this pressure is being applied at a time and in a manner that may cause the Canadian government to fall, forcing an election." Meanwhile, on the other side of the rapidly heating debate, Michael Geist blogs about the forces arrayed against a Canadian DMCA. The Business Coalition for Balanced Copyright, which includes a who's who of the telecom, Internet, retail, and broadcast communities, has outlined a list of its copyright reform demands.
Seriously, isn't that what you want to hear a politician just come out with? I'm so sick of greedy pricks in suits going around attacking anyone and everyone for infringing on their precious IP, and getting quoted in the media. Ignore them, for god's sake.
== Jez ==
Do you miss Firefox? Try Pale Moon.
... otherwise an invasion could have taken care of this.
that US copyright law applies in Canada??
Sig? Where I go, I don't need
Blame Canada! Blame Canada!
Because our copyrighted swill
gives us the right to kill
Blame Canada! Blame Canada!
We need the right to sue
for a case of LaBatt Blue
(further verses are left as an exercise to the reader)
I am officially gone from
WTF? Why should any country care about any other county's laws? Seriously? Do we follow Russia's laws, copyright or otherwise? Hell no. Who the hell do we in the US think we are? Okay maybe not ALL of us, but the ones in charge. This is stupid. And beyond obvious. Hey, guess what? The United States doesn't follow Canadian Copyright Law either. Idiots. Get a grip, people. We aren't the world govermnment.
Pax Vobiscum
They are aware that Canada is a separate country, right? US laws do not apply here.
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
I wonder when American lobby groups will start keeping their fingers out of the Canadian Cookie jar. Can't you folks just be happy about the cheap water and natural gas to power your cities in the desert?
let the flames begin...
Why are we listening to lobbyists with an obvious agenda? Hell, it's in their name: The "International Intellectual Property Alliance".
With their beady little eyes, how can they do this? BLAME CANADA
It's the British government's job to kowtow shamelessly to American commercial interests. Who do these colonials think they are? They'll be wanting to extradite innocent people next.
If you haven't made a developer cry, you've wasted a day.
Isn't it time we end this crazy nonsense ?
IP reform my buttcheeks ! we need to scrap the whole system.
The last decade has seen to many idiots trying to claim that an idea
is a palpable, coherent and legitimate "object" that can be protected.
I'm not paying to type a smily or say "It's rumbling time"...
Get a job and go scr@$ yerselves! Ideas should be as free as you are.
Mind you, Democracy and freedom are myths, but if you're using them as buidling
blocks to create a society....
End of Line.
Quote : Canada has joined Russia and China as the biggest violators of U.S. copyright law
Cannada CANNOT break (grammatically error on country placement inserted intentionally) copyright US law, anymore than an US as a country cannot break coypright new-guinea law . What could happen is that somebody could infringe on the copyright held by somebody else in another country, which means (if I recall correctly WIPO) that a Canadian could at most only break a canadian law on respecting other country copyright. A country can only break international Agreement (like WIPO agreement). So the above quoted line is wrong on the citizen [of the country] level, and it is wrong on the country level. Beside that, it is only propaganda from US copyright holder to put pressure on foreign government or require their paid-off US lawmaker to put pressure on those countries.
C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
visit randi.org
I call it bullshit. First thing that popped into my mind after I RTFA was that 'Canada is considered a pirate (along with Russia and China) but Sweden (and the Pirate Bay) isn't? Did I miss the memo?'
Secondly, how did these guys come up with these numbers? $511 Million? Between China & Canada that's $3.4 billion dollars in piracy. In music and movies. Think about that. $3.4 billion at $20 per movie/CD (assuming that's the average) is 170 million movies and CDs not being sold this year. Do they even have the capacity to manufacture that much?
Whatever. I'll gladly pay caesar what he is owed and have my downloads.
I call it 'The Aristocrats'
This should make it harder for the mafiaa to buy blatently anti-canadian legislation.
This program was made possible by a grant from the Ultra-Humanite, and viewers like you.
Please note that Canadian lawyers (who enjoy generally greater social respect) will look at US law and find it similarly lacking. But do not have the insufferable American arrogance to claim their national laws should somehow govern all.
Canada is a different country with different norms and practices. Superficial language similarities mask much deeper fundamental differences. In copyright, Canada has a CD tax to compensate artists for such personal copies. The US does too (Music CD blanks), but it is little enforced.
As long as both the US and Canada conform to WIPO, neither has reasonable complaint of the others' national customizations. Utter arrogance and extraterritoriality to maintain otherwise.
Stop buying music/crap from large publishers unless they are at deep discount. It is one thing for the US gov to brand all its citizen as thieves, but forcing other gov to do the same? Stop being the world police, and mind your own business. And the big publishers, stop selling/promoting your business in Canada if you think we are cheating/stealing.
Canadian Group Calls U.S.A. a Top Humans Rights Violator.
Don't the Canadians pay extra tax to cover lost artists' revenue when they buy a blank CD?
Doesn't that mean that they have the right to copy all they like since it's already been paid for?
Isn't this something Canada should be proud of?
Personally I'd love it if they called the UK one of the top copyright violators in the world. Unfortunately our goverment seems to think right now that copyright is more important than even the people that employ them - the general public.
Canada is one of the biggest violators of US copyright law? That's ok - the US is one of the biggest violators of Canadian tax law. Oh, wait. What's that? The US isn't bound by Canadian tax laws? Oh. Interesting that. I guess that sort of thing tends to happen when your a different country and make your own laws...
Canada is a big country, and US copyright laws are moronic.
In other news, I'm allergic to fire.
Where do they get these numbers from? How do they measure "lost" value in trade? If you take the $511 million figure in Canada and divide it by the 33 million or so residents, maybe 70% of which are active consumers of non-essential goods and services (where I assume most of this copyright infringement is taking place), you get around $22 per capita per year in "losses". Assuming their estimates for trade losses are even accurate, for a developed country is that really such a terrible loss when you consider the gouging many of these corporations are doing every day? What is the average amount spent per year on going to movies, renting DVDs, purchasing music, etc.? How much more are consumers paying for those than they could be to still allow the copyright holders to make a hefty profit? These "losses" are marginal even if the estimate of "billions" is correct. I think they're trying to scare everybody with their "billions of dollars" tactics. On a massive scale, that's not really a lot of money at all.
... so why the fuss?
./er (not to the general public dare I say...) is that they can't believe anymore in the fairytale of corporate capitalism and what a wonderful world it builds for all of us. They see the signs of a vicious fascism creeping everywhere and how even justice and liberty have become commodities to be bought and sold to the highest bidder... well well well... bonne journée!
It used to be done in secret diplomatic meetings and under a cover of foreign relations when big corporate interests dictated their agenda through government mouthpieces, usually with the threat of military/economic pressure looming in the horizon. Their favorite government of choice to carry their agenda was of course US. Now either because governments are too inefficient to flex rapidly or because vote-counting hasn't been "modernized" yet (Diebold anyone?) and most of all because even the most successful PR campaigns always take a finite amount of time to sway public opinion in desirable directions (e.g. took years to convince americans that Iraq was behind 9/11) corporate interests have taken it upon themselves to apply their gunboat diplomacy.
Who needs official government representatives meeting each other anymore when articles written by a lobby team in the US can bring a foreign government down? What is outrageous to the average
Yam, yam, uga booga, yam, yam, yade, yade, uga booga, yam, yam, yade, yade
So?
Let's see you live in an igloo your entire life. It'd drive you to the brink of insanity too. *Then* we could see how much you still cared about your precious US laws. ;)
I was sure we Swedes where in the lead! Must we make yet another [something]Bay?
Isn't this award of being the worst offender being passed out like a little kids soccer tournament, where everyone gets a medal for just attending? Russia is the worst, China is the worst, Sweden is the worst, Canada is the worst. Bah.
Canada needs to be liberated!
You'd save in transportation costs. Also, some of those fuckers speak english.
Problem solved.
Do not send an e-mail; it is a waste of time. MPs do not count e-mails when they consider support for a particular issue. Contact your local MP by phone -- particularly if you live in an underpopulated riding -- and send a snail mail to Jim Prentice. His address is:
Suite 105
1318 Centre St NE
Calgary, Alberta T2E 2R7
Canadians should be proud that we have resisted this long. Let's not give up this fight.
On a separate note, if either the Liberals or Conservatives had a majority, this would have been over ages ago, and we would not have liked the result.
That anyone in the US underplays the terrible crime of copyright theft.
>may cause the Canadian government to fall
!!!!!!
I want a list of atrocities done in your name - Recoil
I guess they're pissed that only United States citizens can be sued for millions of dollars just for downloading stuff...
I bet they want Canadian Internet providers to start CENSORING the Internet. Please Canada, don't let those bullshit "intellectual" copyright laws mess it up.
These lobbyists don't have any power! They are not politicians or lawmakers, so why should they push entire countries around?
Hm- Anyone else notice the acronym for "Intellectual Property Alliance" = "IPA"?
How appropriate...
Whew! This water sure is cold!
Remember the proposal of several years ago to have **EVERY** storage device check, at the harware level, if the bits it was copying were not copyrighted? It's the same kind of brain-dead thought that makes the copyright cartels call Canada a rogue copyright country.
* * *
In any case, the government will not pass that copyright bill. It may present it to the Commons, but the bill will not make it to the upcoming elections.
The current minority government will be toppled within the next few weeks (it may be as early as in two weeks, for the budget), and none of the Tories or the Whigs have enough karma to be able to secure a definite majority. So the next government will likely be a minority government.
* * *
There is an additionnal factor in Canada that is extremely different from the US, and which may very well trigger a massive civil disobedience for an eventual CDMCA: multiculturalism (that is, no "melting pot").
Immigrants are encouraged to retain their culture; there is no definite effort to force immigrants into making them into WASPs. So, ethnic communities are not something marginal (go see the chinatown in Toronto for a good example).
When all those people will be told by the law that they cannot have non region-1 DVD players in order to watch (legally-purchased) movies from their country of origin (China, India, Philippines and even -gasp!- Britain or, heaven forbid, France), they will make sure that in the future, Hymiewood will never again tell them what they can watch at home.
(After extensive discussions of that subject with my lawyer, it boils down that Parliament can never prohibit non region-1 players because watching a foreign movie cannot be by any remote and twisted interpretation of any kind of law whatsoever be construed as being contrary to the public good; so it is quite likely that such a provision will be struck down by courts).
after all, they are the ones complaining that they are different.
So Canada is accused of being one the greatest violators of U.S. copyright law. So what? We're Canada! As long as we're not breaking our own laws, I could care less what the U.S. thinks. We're also guilty of not giving the people the right to bear arms. Are you going to criticize us in the press for that too?
People pushing for these laws tend to apply flawed common-sense reasoning that intellectual property is strictly analogous to physical property, and then build anachronistic business models around it. The United States economy consists largely (if not mostly) of immaterial goods and services these days, and many believe copying that property is tantamount to stealing goods from factories, for example. You can see how they might believe their interests are threatened and why they incorrectly resort to calling this “theft”, which differs subtly from infringement.
This lobbying and pressure has got to stop. We're a sovereign country with our own laws for crying out loud.
You don't like how things work around here, just don't "export" or do business here. Lets face it, if it wasn't profitable for them to operate in Canada they wouldn't.
So mind your own business, try as best you can to make a buck if you so choose, but let us worry about how we run our own country. </rant>
A million monkeys and this is the best sig they could come up with...
We're number one! We're number one! We're number one!
You other American law breaking countries never had a chance!
Very good way to explain the whole "different country, different laws" thing to someone who's having trouble getting it through their skull.
Violations of Canadian copyright laws that is.
Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
While I don't agree with what they're doing, I can see their point of view. It's not that they think that Canada should adopt the US copyright laws or be bound by them. They are purely protecting the interests of copyright holders. Think of it this way: A large majority of music and movies are produced in the United States. That means it's an export to all other countries. I'm trying to think of an equivalent product where it might make sense if the situation was reversed, but I find entertainment to be far too unique. Bottom line - don't agree, but I can at least see what they're getting at.
Canada is the top copyright violator (overlooking the 'minor' flaw that the copyright laws don't apply in their country since it is US copyright) according to some US group again? I thought Canada had had this label for years?
I say "good on them" for sticking to their own copyright system (for now). I can't remember the last time our (British) government did something that stood up against the Americans.
Thank you. Sincerely, Your Southern Neighbors
Did they forgot Sweden? In Sweden, even politicans back up The Pirate Bay. On the other hand, we have polar bears roaming in the streets so maybe they're just afraid.
According to the IIPA, China was responsible for $2.9B in losses last year, which is maybe $1.50 per capita. Canada, on the other hand was responsible for $511M last year, or more like $14.50 per capita. Stand up and salute the flag, my friends.
I wonder what the figures are like among nations that _have instituted "modern" copyright laws.
Think about this:
/. being Americans, would react to a system of laws that many Americans find highly distasteful being forced upon them. How would you react? How would people more right-wing than you react (I think the hardiest of /. regulars would accept that the site doesn't cover the entire spectrum of political thought)? How would Bill O'Reilly react? Would America accept it like they expect Canada to accept this? No. I would want, and expect, them to fight it to the very end, much as I hope the Canadians do over this. Canada exists for the benefit of the Canadian people, not foreign corporations. So far the Canadian government has agreed with this, and long may it continue.
"blahblahblah tips an Al Jazeera story reporting that the Saudi Arabia-based International Sharia Law Alliance claims the USA has joined the UK and Holland (you know what those Dutch get up to) among the biggest violators of Islamic Sharia law. Quoting: "The group's report is the latest to urge the Saudi government into pressuring the USA to reform morality and public association laws." As we have previously discussed here, the current Republican government had planned to introduce new morality and public association laws, but dissent from the Democrats and a groundswell of public protest delayed that action. blahblahblah adds, "What makes this story so important now is that this pressure is being applied at a time and in a manner that may cause the US government to fall, forcing an election." Meanwhile, on the other side of the rapidly heating debate, Random Guy blogs about the forces arranged against a US Sharia law. The Public Coalition for Humane Laws, which includes a who's who of the privacy, civil rights, religious freedom and sexual equality communities, has outlined a list of it's morality reform demands."
Would you accept it? Would the US government accept it? Note to US: Canada is no more subject to your copyright laws than you are subject to Islamic Sharia law. You stare at the TV, watching distant wars while politicians tell you how evil and inhumane Sharia law is, and you say to yourself "Thank God we live in a sovereign country free of the insane demands of the laws of another". Well guess what? That's what the Canadians say to themselves when they see stories about single mothers and eleven year old girls being sued for tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars for downloading a Britney track. Before you start demanding your laws be passed on to another, think what it would be like if it happened to you. Size doesn't matter, there are 1.6 *billion* Muslims in the world, up to around only 300 million Americans, so if it were put to a worldwide vote as to which legal system the world should adopt, you would likely end up with Sharia. It's because most people in the world are sensible, unlike the people pushing for a Canadian DMCA, and they realise that different regions should have the right to set their own laws and not be dictated to by others, that you don't. If you wouldn't like it happening to you, don't push it on other people.
This is not an advocation of Sharia law, nor is it a condemnation. It is not an advocation of copyright law, nor is it a condemnation. Those debates would rage pretty much forever. It is just a theoretical example to see how you, with the majority of
Dealing with lawyers would be a lot less tedious if they all looked like Casey Novak.
Get your Lobbyists off me you damn dirty DMCA!!!
-Ours is the wisdom of Solomon, the magic of Merlyn, the fall of Icaris.
Well, the US _did_ try to invade Canada in 1812. Although they got spanked pretty hard, perhaps they haven't given up the thought?
Canadians have been leaders in the scene since warez has existed. They have been top guys in any group/channel/site/etc. Take a look at IPs and country codes next time you are violating US copyright law, you'll see Canadians leading the way.
This is a bit of exaggeration. Anyone following Canadian politics knows that a federal election may be forced in the next few weeks, but the reasons for that are:
1) Parliamentary vote on the extension of Canada's military mission in Afghanistan.
2) Parliamentary vote on this years federal budget.
3) Parliamentary vote on contentious anti-crime bill.
With a minority government, any of these could, and likely will, trigger an election. Copyright issues are about #753 on the list.
Support Right To Repair Legislation.
Where's Captain Copyright when you need him? Protecting Canada's youth (and America's content-providers) from the scourge of copyright ignorance...
I can assure you that the Canadian government won't "topple" over lobbyist pressures from South of the border. We Canadians have been tactfully handling Yankee special interest groups for years and years. If the Canadian government does fall it will be only because the Liberal minority believes they can win an election. A non-confidence vote triggers an election and the conservative government won't table a confidence vote they can lose unless *they* believe they can win an election. It's a bit of a catch-22, and ensures that no controversial and divisive legislation is tabled. Both sides are afraid of an election and this encourages bipartisan solutions. We'll reform our copyright law, but we won't do so because of US pressures, everyone acknowledges that the system needs work, but in this political climate, things like our involvement in Afghanistan, the environment, health care, you know the REAL issues, are the ones that get precedence. Sorry RIAA!
The allegation that this issue could bring down the Canadian government is pure, unadulterated bullshit. If Stephen Harper's minority government falls, it will be because that's what he wants. The other major party is in disarray, and Harper's Conservatives see a chance to go after a majority.
On top of that, the economy is showing signs of following the U.S. economy into the toilet, and Canadians are getting as sick of the way Harper kisses Bush's ass as the American people are of Bush himself. And there are some pretty ugly questions being asked about the government's conduct of our involvement in Afghanistan. The Tories sense that they may never be more popular than they are right now, so they're trying to turn every vote short of a decision on who buys the coffee into a confidence motion.
I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
Who still copyrights tops in this day and age? Might as well copyright a new buggy whip owners manual.
There is no right to feel safe thru security vaudeville at the expense of everyone's freedom, privacy and tax money.
They come out with this fscking claim EVERY TIME there is a possiblity of passing the Canadian DMCA by the Conservative party of Canada, with its 36% "mandate" in a minority parliament.
Salut,
Jacques
Here is a post by a Canadian Copyright lawyer listing 13 ways in which Canadian Copyright Law is stronger than US Copyright Law: http://excesscopyright.blogspot.com/2007/11/canadas-stronger-copyright-law-bakers.html
Maybe this should tell us that the US's copyright laws are archaic and it's time to get rid of them?
if you were really Canadian, surely that should be
So, eh?
----------------------------------- My Other Sig Is Hilarious -----------------------------------
You guys keep violating US copyright law, I'll keep violating the Canadian language laws. No French on MY website, that's for sure.
And my response to both is the same: "tough fucking shit."
This space available.
China, Canada, Sweden (at least until recently): We will take nothing off the table in our fight against states that harbor ter-- ...pirates.
Just because the government have not removed our rights to fair use does not mean we are breaking any US laws. I mean the record companies were all in favor of the levy against blank media, now.. not so much.
They pointed a finger at Canada, but there are three more pointing back to them.
Eternity: will that be smoking, or non-smoking? I Corinthians 6:9-10
If I was a Canadian politician I would point out instances where US citizens inside the USA violate Canadian law.
As a German, I can just point out that many Americans are in gross violation of German road traffic law (for example, they're overtaking on the right side all the time) as well as German gun regulations. Also, no American carries an ID card compliant with 1-2, PersAuswG (the German ID card law). Those violations have to stop immediately!
Also, most American laws are not written in the German language, which is at odds with the German basic law. What kind of rogue country are the USA?
USE HOT GRITS WITH STATUE OF NATALIE PORTMAN (NAKED AND PETRIFIED)
Seriously, as a Canadian, I say FUCK YOU. Keep your shit south of the border, thank you very much.
We are sick and tired of this kind of arrogance.
Intelligence shared is intelligence squared.
Blame Canada!
I think it's more the lack of enforcement, as Canada does have copyright laws, they just are largely ignored by the populace.
"Teach a man to build a fire, and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life."
You can't possibly be number one at American law breaking till you've unilaterally bombed burned and blasted a foreign country to shit.
Starbucks, Harbuckle of Breath.
There are many entertainment services available to the US that aren't available in Canada. For instance, iTunes movie rentals, online network TV episode viewing, etc., Pandora's box (hehehe) are not available in Canada. If the US companies could get their sh!t together and figure out how to sell these services to Canadians, perhaps Canadians wouldn't have to seek entertainment fulfillment through other channels.
Chris"You can drive out Nature with a pitchfork, but It always comes roaring back again." - Tom Waits
I have never been so proud to be a Canadian.
what's that now?
how is it that a country of 33 million is a bigger hot bed of piracy then China's population of 1 billion? is this a per capita thing or something? or just cause the lobbiests are trying to scar people with crazy stats and propaganda?
Last I checked, you had to be a US Citizen to be in violation of US law.
"Well you're not Fiona Apple, and if you're not Fionna Apple, I don't give a rat's ass."
Unfortunately, the sheep in Canada are already succumbing to DRM infested audiobooks, etc.
Take a look at:
http://www.downloadlibrary.ca/
And weep for our lost freedoms, due to the sheep in Canada that will accept Windows only, DRMed to the hilt junk.
And we'll still keep paying those extra fees on blank media of course. Sigh...
I'd advise contacting MPs, librarians, politicians, etc. and make them aware that Canadians much prefer:
http://libravox.org/
Windows only DRMed junk, at the cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars to libraries, are a waste.
Protest now, while we still can.
it is not my intention to be karma whoring in this quote, but I would like to (mis)quote Richard Stallman and a Larry Lessig, because I believe their two points are relevant to this discussion.
"digital technology is not causing problems for copyright law.
copyright law is causing problems for digital technology." -RS
"In the past, the laws were changed to adapt to new technology.
with digital media, for the first time, technology is being forced to adapt to the law" -LL
so we are violating copyright law. well fuck you! Your law gets in the way of my ability to download whatever content i want.
if you don't want your content to be stolen, stop making it.
honestly, i would be perfectly happy to never see another major studio put out a movie, tv show or album. I can hear better music in the local bars, if i search hard enough, i can find great content on youtube or dailymotion (the TED talks are my current favourite) and independent films can be good sometimes.
if (...more accurately 'when') your business model dies, a better one will replace it.
I would rather experience amateur content made with love and passion that see some mass produced cookie-cutter garbage.
I'm an artist, many of my friends are fellow artists, filmmakers, and musicians. piracy has never harmed any of our careers. most of us freely give our content away. if anything, the added publicity helps us.
things change.
adapt or die.
-I only code in BASIC.-
I just have to say that, despite being somewhat of a tête-carré anglophone, this sort of thing is makes me much more open to the idea of Québec separatism.
I live in a solid Bloc Québécois/Parti Québécois district, so it really doesn't matter who I vote for, but if/when the next referendum comes up, I think I'll be voting 'oui'.
I only wonder, though, if an independent Québec would lose too much bargaining power with the rest of the world if it didn't have Canada's 'influence' behind it.
If only we could just saw the province off and float it across the Atlantic to join the EU!
Ignoring the US Copyright vs Canadian law question, wouldn't the US be one of the big copyright violators themselves. Perhaps they should put themselves on the list.
Wow - you have a decent health care system and now this?
Sure, you have coldish winters, but Oh, Canada, why do you tease us so! If it weren't for the fact that my house is now worthless, I'd sell it and beg to be a citizen!
yes all very passionate, but say I'm a movie director. I have a great idea for a movie, that we can all agree is awesome. To make the movie will cost (at least) 2 million dollars. that's to do a professional job. I am an unknown movie director, but very talented, and enough venture capitalists are prepared to put up the money on the basis that the film will be watched by at least a million people, ensuring a healthy return on investment.
Now we all know how the story goes when we can assume 95% of the people who watch the movie will pay for it.
How does it work when copyright is abolished and everyone can (and does) watch the movie for free?
face facts, the movie won't get made. And before you start a diatribe about how you hate 'crappy hollywood blockbusters', please explain why if so many geeks hate hollywood blockbusters, they are all torrenting them 24/7?
Copyright can be abused, that doesn't mean the concept is wrong. in fact, without it, the future of the US economy, and most developed world economies is fucked, because places like china found out how to produce physical stuff cheaper than we do long ago.
DRM-free indie games for the PC and Mac: Positech Games
RIAA's Rosen 'writing Iraq copyright laws
See Greg Palast's 'Armed Madhouse' for more information--apparently, this is what 'we' are fighting for!
Rather than the number of infringement per capita it would be interesting to see the correlation between the number of infringiments per capita and the bandwidth available to an end-user per capita. I mean, so what if US has less infringement than Canada? Maybe that's just because US residents have less of a chance to infringe due to not having broadband access.
Any guest worker system is indistinguishable from indentured servitude.
I live in Point Roberts, in the very Northwest corner of Washington state. I get my Internet via a Canadian company, and my IP address shows up as Canadian (e.g. I'm prohibited from using the annualcreditreport.com site since it's not a US IP address). I've always wondered what sorts of legal issues would be involved if the RIAA/MPAA tried to file a copyright infringement suit against me.
I hope that means they'll cut us off. Stop rebroadcasting their TV, distributing their movies and other cultural items to Canada. It would just be horrible if America stopped bombarding us with it 24/7...
copyright holders can either charge a copyright levy or sue copyright violators
In Canada they decided to charge the levy. In Canada, it's not a copyright violation. It's prepaid use. The violation is only if US and/or other non Canadian artists works are shared with Canada failing to forward the collected funds to the proper copyright holders.
Hmm, now that I think about it the article is partly right. The Canadian people are not in violation. They paid. The government in failing to distribute the funds to the copyright owners is in violation.
The truth shall set you free!
I have noticed that some US doctors may be violating Haiti's law that forbids the creation of zombies. This could place the US among the top violators of this law.
Copyright infringement is "piracy" in the same way DRM is "consumer rape"
Get back to us when you actually start upholding your own Constitution.
Taxpayer funded left wing whackos. Time they were kicked off the public tit.
I have works on file in both the US Library of Congress and the Canadian equivalent, and the reality is that most of the world has a much shorter period of copyright, and looser terms, than that proclaimed in the US.
It's not just the length of copyright, it's the interpretation of survivor rights, the fair use, use for parody, and other elements that are vastly distorted in US copyright "law" which don't conform to world practices of copyright.
So, it's not that Canadians violate copyright, it's that Americans think their misinterpretation of copyright holds sway in other countries.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
I sincerely wish our politicians would do exactly that :-(
I object, that's not against the law unless you're bombing *our* country. If it's anyone else's you're only a minor infringer for not letting us get first dibs.
Gravity Sucks
A little ironic that with so many international groups claiming that the United States is one of the biggest perpetrators of violence, killings, and war crimes in the world and you have some little antsy group from the states getting pissy about a spot of copying.
Time that that reshuffled their ethics agenda
corporate BS, If you don't support our distorted view of corporate law you are a terr'ist. Its gotten so bad many countries have implemented laws regarding copyright and IP so they don't have to put up with the stupidity thats damaging global trade being pushed by the US.
http://www.fin.gc.ca/treaties/USA_e.html
Interestingly, the tax treaty rules supersede both Congress and Parliament tax laws, in areas where there's a conflict.
We don't shiv a git about what you think US..
I'll take a side order of some pirated US IP along with my main course of civil liberties.. buahahah
Go F@$#@ Yourself.
So they want us to change. Will we? Do we want to? So far looks like neither are true.
But my concern is, when are the USA going to stop imposing their beliefs on others? They sure seem to be imposing their own beliefs on many other countries, not just ours.
My biggest fear, isn't that I might have to pay for material (I already do). My biggest fear, is that they might win, and turn my lovely country into something I purposely avoid; The USA.
I really do not like where the USA has gone, and is going. Every time I hear about major "Security" law changes in the USA, it always makes me feel scared to even enter the country. Every time I learn more about the underlying structure, and hidden structure in the legal and financial aspects of the USA, I yet again feel more scared to enter the country.
I don't want that to happen to my precious Canada. I don't want to have to resort to leaving just to avoid foreign pressure.
In all due respect, "Americans", Fuck Off. We're not interested in your policy, and we keep indicating that. We are your partners, not your slaves, not your subordinates, not below you in any fashion. Now go home, and grow up.
Since we Canadians already pay a levy on blank media to offset piracy losses and pay royalties, it's pretty much impossible to commit piracy upon North American media even if we wanted to.
Now, apparently none of this money has found its way back to artists not surprisingly, but that just means that the government is stealing from the artists and media buyers.
Now if they want to ban any unauthorized reproduction, they can drop all the levies and then I guess we can talk, but until then, it would be blatantly illegal to charge a levy that does nothing for us - so we pay the royalties and still cannot make copies.
The copyright bill will be introduced sometime soon. It is now considered, thanks to the efforts of everyone who called and wrote in December, a high profile bill.
A bill goes through 3 readings in the House of Commons. After the third it is passed to the Senate. After the first and second reading the bill may be sent to committee for hearings and modification. Now here is where it gets tricky. After the second reading the committee cannot make major changes to the bill, so if the proposed copyright legislation is really broken (and by all indications it will be) it needs to go to committee after first reading where it can be completely overhauled if need be.
But it is the discretion of the House leaders (each party) whether it goes to committee after the first reading.
So you all need to write (an actual physical letter works best) to the Leader, House Leader, and Industry critic of the opposition parties to tell them this bill must go to committee after the first reading so we have an opportunity for hearings and major revisions. Send copies to Stephen Harper, Jim Prentice (Minister of Industry), Josée Verner (Heritage), Peter Van Loan (Government House Leader), James Rajotte (head of the Industry committee) and your local MP while you are at it.
The government has also made a big deal about how they now follow the Ponsonby Rule, which says that a treaty will be presented to the house for debate at least 21 days before introducing ratifying legislation. This means that there should be a debate on the WIPO treaty before the copyright bill is introduced. They have not done this. You might want to point that out in your letter as well.
This might sound like a lot of work, but because of the minority government this is probably the best time for this legislation. Remember, committees are made up proportional to seats in the House, so the Government has to bargain with the opposition there too.
Serve Gonk.
It wasn't a blockade, actually. The Opium War of 1842 was a direct invasion and capture of Beijing, the capital of China.
Oddly enough, Britain did it to fix an enormous trade deficit with China. Does that sound familiar? Britain took enormous amounts of tea, silk, and porcelain from China, but China needed very little in return (this was before the Industrial Revolution took over in Britain). So mountains of British silver coins went east, and almost nothing came back. So enormous a trade imbalance could not persist indefinitely, of course, causing the British to search desperately for something that China wanted to buy. Eventually, they found it: drugs such as opium and heroin. Naturally, the Chinese government found that offensive and tried to stamp out the narcotics trade. (Again, does that sound familiar?) When it looked as if the Chinese War on Drugs would actually succeed, the British invaded.
The Chinese deserved part of the blame; the silver coins did nothing for them except inflate their currency. But the Manchus, who were ruling China at the time, were economically pretty unsophisticated.
The overwhelming share of the blame, of course, belongs to the British: they were acting like drug pushers defending their turf. The Opium War is probably the most shameful episode of British history, something they undoubtedly wish they could forget. This may be why the British tend to be so venomously anti-China: they hope by shouting loudly enough that they could drown out their own consciences. It's not working.
Perhaps Canada should stop shipping oil and gas to the US. I wonder if Washington would listen then.
Yep.
One thing that Canadians have learned from not being first, is how greedy and corrupt the American system is for copyrights and patents. We watched as corporations went purchasing patents in order to sue corporations. Fair use be damned. We believe in fair use. That means, that we should be able to treat a book or an article as if it had been borrowed from the library. What can you do legally do with books borrowed from the library? a) you can destroy them. b) you can read them c) you can research the contents, make photocopies for your own use (fair use) d) you cannot sell the photocopies, and if you are to publish references to the book, you must get the publisher/author's permissions. e) you can return them and pay the late penalty fee. But then we treat music / cds or dvds/movies like books. We can listen/watch, we can copy but we can not give it away, and to use it commmercially, we must make a deal with the author/publisher. All the rest, is not copyright violation, but fair use.
Leslie Satenstein Montreal Quebec Canada