Lobby Groups Launch Full Assault For Canadian DMCA

An anonymous reader writes "Bill C-61, the previous attempt at a Canadian DMCA, may have failed, but it is clear that the music, movie, and business software industries are engaged in putting massive pressure on the Canadian government to bring it back. Lobbying records show several meetings each week with Government Ministers for CRIA, CMPDA, and Microsoft over the past month. Meanwhile, the CRIA is preparing a grassroots campaign in support of new copyright laws, even claiming that the current rules are costing jobs to truck drivers delivering CDs and DVDs."

Comments

Jobs

[Wellington Grey]

even claiming that the current rules are costing jobs to truck drivers delivering CDs and DVDs.

You know what costs jobs? Technological change -- it's a good thing.

Re:Jobs

[davester666]

But the tubes have to go a longer way here in Canada, so the cable and telephone monopolies naturally made them smaller. That's why we have bandwidth caps. That's why we still need truck drivers to deliver physical media!

Re:Jobs

[Jane Q. Public]

See... you backwards Canadians. They made the tubes out of metal, didn't they? They could have made the tubes smaller, and made them out of glass. Glass tubes are more slippery and let the packets go through faster.

Though I admit that a moose could probably do more damage stumbling over a glass tube than a metal one.

Re:Jobs

[Naturalis Philosopho]

Technological change is most definitely not a good thing. Those stinking truck drivers and their trucks have ruined my career as a stage coach driver!

I say lets cut off their content...

[Wacky_Wookie]

If these media companies keep this shit up, I think a lot of creative people will stop providing them with content.

It would be fun to form a mass co-op type business, pool everyone's cash and buy up as many band contracts as possible just to keep them off the major labels.

Re:I say lets cut off their content...

[what about]

But thanks to copyright extended to more than a life after the artist death, RIAA will enjoy money anyway.

However, I think that the only way to wake up the "common person" to the current abuse of copyright by RIAA is for RIAA to be even more abusive.
History tell us that only after tyrants have done truly outrageus act then the people will stand up, not earlier (unfortunately).

Enjoy your music :-)

Re:I say lets cut off their content...

[sumdumass]

Actually, it's not the media companies.

The problem is that the last two WIPO treaties require DMCA style laws. Pretty much any country that doesn't implement those will end up being passed over in other crap that the international community does. It will hurt trade and cause financial issues.

The American DMCA provisions are more or less taken straight from the requirements of the WIPO Copyright Treaty or WTC and the WPPT or WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty with the exception of penalties and a few extremes. Canada signed onto both of the treaties on 12/22/1997. Focusing on the media companies will only result in disappointed losses in the fight. You need to get the government (your local government as well as other country's governments) to change the treaties and international obligations to them to reflect the will of your people.

You or I or anyone can complain about Disney or Warner bros or whatever. They are as powerful as they are in this fight because they are attempting to get the governments of countries to make good on treaties that almost all countries in the world have signed an obligation to. It's the reason that the pirate bay just got into trouble, it's the reason why their laws are being changed and why charges were being brought against a group of people on the behalf of people and corporations that most likely don't even have offices in the country.

Sure, keep believing media corps are evil. I'm not asking you or anyone else to embrace them. I'm asking people to actually pay attention to where this crap is coming from so that we don't dick around with seemingly related issues that end up being a dead end. The treaties need to be adjusted-changes-destroyed-whatever before this threat goes away. When I can say Canada or any other country has to pass a law because a treaty they signed obligated them to, no matter how much it looks like I am the bad guy, I'm more or less only reminding those countries of their obligations.

It would be fun to form a mass co-op type business, pool everyone's cash and buy up as many band contracts as possible just to keep them off the major labels.

While it would be fun, that's all it would be "for fun". Or at least until the right crap was changed out. Even if "big media" had no clients, they could/would still push for the treaties to be implemented.

You are a bit late.

[Jane Q. Public]

A number of popular names have started doing that already. Nine Inch Nails, Radiohead, and lots more.

Re:You are a bit late.

[Wacky_Wookie]

Yes, I know, and I think it is a step in the right direction. The thing is that Radiohead, N.I.N. and co. all went through the "system" first. I can't wait till a significant portion of the worlds popular artists have NEVER had a major label contract. Labels may never die completely, but they will be left with the Britney Spears and Jonas Brothers markets only, and even then they really won't care about music sales, as all the profit in that market is merchandise anyway.

A membership based record store would be interesting, kind of like the old Colombia House mail order thing, put a physical store. Charge a flat-rate for membership, then have the music for sale at 75% off. If you made it so everyone got one free CD a month, I bet a lot of people would pick up a few albums just 'cus they were in the store anyway to get their "Free" CD.

Re:You are a bit late.

[Anonymous Coward]

I found this Jamendo site recently, free music from independant artists...50% of advertising revenue goes to artists and 100% of all donations made.

Sounds like workable model.

Will be curious how it all turns out.

Re:Truck Drivers?

[palegray.net]

I woke up this morning and ate a piece of toast. Five people simultaneously died in Japan. Eating toast kills Japanese people.

In all seriousness, technology marches on. The number of folks earning a living building horse drawn carriages dropped off sharply with the advent of mass-produced automobiles.

Re:If truck drivers are losing their jobs....

[timmarhy]

the levy system most certainly doesn't work. you end up paying for something you don't want. I, for example don't ever wish to purchase a top 40 cd. but due to the levy system if i purchased a blank cd in canada my money would be funneled directly to the very people i don't want it to even through i've never downloaded anything that belongs to them.

yes, perfect system indeed.

Re:Lawyers

[Scamwise]

I say they should encourage piracy to make sure the lawyers always have work.

Mind you if I have to choose between truck drivers and lawyers...

Re:Truck Drivers?

[mercosmique]

I hail from Saskatchewan, Canada. The general public here (farmers) could be gullible enough to believe that those newfangled bit-torrent do-hickeys are contributing to the trucking industry's troubles.

Here's an idea...

[symbolic]

Stop funding them. More and more artists are starting to see the light - that even if they give away their new albums online, and make their money via live concerts, they will *still* make more than they are through these usurious contracts they have with Big Media, Inc.

If people would just stop buying RIAA-produced crap (and stop stealing it!), the problem would eventually solve itself. It's no secret that they'll need to be dragged kicking and screaming back to this thing we all know as 'reality,' but it's gotta happen sooner or later. Right now we're just prolonging the agony for everyone.

Great for the Environment

[skreeech]

Fewer trucks on the road and fewer CDs being smelted cannot possibly be a bad thing in the big picture. Not a big impact but would positive contribution if it was not BS trying to pass a law.

Re:One of the reasons the old model is dying

[Wacky_Wookie]

Oh I completely agree!

I think the other bonus now is that artists are (or will) be working harder at making a whole album again since people CAN buy single songs on iTunes/online now. Live show are getting better again too. I detect more effort being put into live shows now at ALL levels of musical fame. The whole concept of playing live only because you are supporting and promoting an album is pretty silly for most types of music anyway.

Re:I admit they are not Canadian...

[Your.Master]

I can definitely think of reasons they wouldn't help in Canada, not the least of which is an entirely different legal framework within which to fight, where the US constitution does not apply and your legal rights are different (greater in some areas, lesser in others).

But, anyway, they do support a Canadian organization:

http://www.onlinerights.ca/

Not formally affiliated but they are more or less the Canadian equivalent. The EFF defends rights in the US constitution which simply do not (legally) apply in Canada. The EFC defends those laid out in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

That said, both of the organisations come with baggage that is not really related to the RIAA (for example, Warrantless Wiretapping). If you want to support them in opposition to the RIAA, make sure they don't disagree with you on some important principle. This goes generally for any activist or charity cause, but I feel it's important to call out that it's not a single-issue organisation.

Re:Truck Drivers?

[jcr]

I know for a fact that stricter copyright laws will NOT be saving any jobs in the trucking industry.

Well, shipping bits pressed into plastic disks on the highways in trucks certainly requires more truckers than delivering those same bits over the net, but the point here is that truckers hauling disks around are a misallocation of transportation capabilities. You can't ship lumber and washing machines over the net, so it makes more sense for truckers to be hauling those goods instead.

-jcr

Re:Truck Drivers?

[mwvdlee]

Thank god no Americans died because of your toast, or you'd be a terrorist!

Broken window fallacy

[Dunbal]

even claiming that the current rules are costing jobs to truck drivers delivering CDs and DVDs."

      This is a fun game!

      I will see your "jobless CD and DVD delivering truck drivers", and raise you one "dependence on foreign oil funds terrorism". So see, distributing digital material online actually reduces global terrorism and is thus a "goof thing"! Your move.

Re:Truck Drivers?

[erroneus]

If these people are having THAT many meetings with government officials, they aren't talking about whether or not it will happen, but HOW it will happen.

It must be stopped. A TV campaign must be put on the air stating what happened in the U.S. and how it was passed and that the same law had failed in Canada but they haven't given up. People need to know what demon they are attempting to give birth to and how it harms the people.

Re:Truck Drivers?

[Silvrmane]

I'm from Saskatchewan, Canada, and there is no way we would believe the trucker's woes are caused by a drop in CD and DVD sales. We all know it's the atheists, causing a decreased demand for bibles. Simple when you think about it.

Re:Truck Drivers?

[lytfyre]

I'm from Saskatchewan, Canada, and somehow we have the only ISP in Canada not thoroughly devoted to screwing the customer. Who would have thought that a government owned telecom would actually end up LESS scummy than the commercial alternatives?

Re:Truck Drivers?

[gwait]

There are far fewer CDs being solde these days,
therefore less truck drivers are needed to ship them.

Blame Brittany Spears, Blame ITunes.

What an inane argument by a clueless government.
Shipping data digitally is so much more cost effective, cheaper, lowers gas consumption (which both lowers emissions, and the pressure on the price of gas).

If the government actually wants to help the citizens who (barely) voted them in, they should ban the physical shipment of anything that could otherwise be sent digitally.

But no, they are clearly in the sway of the media megacorps (none of which are Canadian) for some unknown reason (kickbacks) that they plan to set Canada back years to protect an obsolete business model.