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EU Demands Canada Gut Its Copyright and Patent Laws
An anonymous reader writes "Late last year, a draft of the European Union proposal for the
intellectual property chapter of Canada, EU Comprehensive Economic
Trade Agreement, leaked online.
The leak revealed that the EU was seeking some significant changes to
Canadian IP laws. Negotiations have continued and Michael Geist
has now obtained an updated copy
of the draft chapter, complete with proposals from both the EU and
Canada. He says the breadth of the demands is stunning — the EU
is demanding nothing less than a complete overhaul of Canadian IP laws
including copyright, trademark, databases, patent, geographic
indications, and even plant variety rights."
I remember the last time some upstart European thought he could tromp all over the territorial rights of other countries. That didn't end so well for him.
His name?
Frank Stallone.
I, for one, welcome our new EU Overlords!
Blame Canada?
Global harmonization through treaties is creating a race to the bottom as far as the citizen's general welfare is concerned.
I can't imagine why Canada is still negotiating such a treaty when it seems to be so insanely one-sided.
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
Well, they also demanded we stop the seal hunt. Are they going to request that we all wear visors while playing hockey too? Honestly. How naive.
I say we take Alberta first, just to make Ontario Jealous. Then add them one by one, leaving Quebec for last. Just because they're going to be the hardest to convince. I suggest a heavy does of New Orleans style persuasion complete with mardi gras tickets.
How do you say "fuck off" in Canadian?
Since when did the EU run Canada?
Seriously, as a Canadian this disgusts me. The EU, the US... What the hell gives these assholes the right to demand ANYTHING?
Makes me absolutely sick to read this. There is nothing wrong with Canada's laws. And that is exactly why they want it changed, so there IS something wrong with it to throw the balance off hugely in favour of coporations.
Despicable.
Canada is in Europe now?
Well I think you know the answer to that.
Ottawa can always threaten the Europeans with the American army.
And to think that the EU had taken such a great stand with the ACTA. Then this has to happen.
Our culture doesn't get smarter, it just finds new ways of being retarded.
Is copyright ancillary to the author, or the author ancillary to the copyright? If human lifespan in becoming longer, shouldn't copyright extensions past an author's life be shortened instead of lengthened? Or does it still hold that the good die young?
Would that be "Up yours, mate!" or "May I have some more, sir?"
Actually, it’s the other way around. This is older.
But I still agree that now I won’t believe any anti-ACTA statement from the EU, until ACTA is dead, buried, and all its successors too.
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
The EU Commission is a non-elected body which has as it sole mandate[1] to restrict the rights of citizens, and extend the rights of EU based corporations. It is the Commission that negotiate these treaties, and in general propose new legislation.
The EU Parliament is an elected body which cannot propose new legislation, but can, and sometimes do, block the proposals from the commission. The good stuff you hear from the EU is usually from the Parliament, but they contribute their share of crap as well, as parliaments do everywhere.
[1] Judging by its actions.
...it doesn't involve granting more protections to the consumer or public interest.
93rd rule of Slashdot: No matter how obvious my sarcasm is, my comment will be taken seriously by someone.
I've always thought it would be cool to work in Europe for awhile, but I wasn't aware that we were members of EU. When did that happen? Is it because we've got the queen on our money?
Loose lips lose spit.
I will not pay for this.
As someone here in the States, I have to say that I hope the Canadians tell everyone to piss off.
Seriously, what's the EU going to do? Invade?
Present the digitus impudicus.
--
BMO
or at least the famous Sun headline on a previous EU strong arm attempt "Up Yours Delors".
In many cases this is a myth, a nice fiction we can tell ourselves to make us feel better. Treaties can be convenient way for governments to institute unpopular measures. Here's how it works:
Keep in mind that the real push for this comes from multinational media corporations. Governments are not negotiating as independent actors: these corporations intervene on all sides to coordinate and even draft proposals. What we really have is a group of likeminded businesses who operate in concert using individual countries as a front. The treaty then appears to be the result of self-interested negotiations between independent actors: in fact the aim is to stage-manage it to appear that way. Given a means to diffuse opposition (e.g. policy laundering), governments - or, more specifically, the relevant politicians and bureaucrats within governments - may find that lobbyists make sure it is in their personal interest to cooperate.
I have no personal knowledge of how this treaty is being negotiated. I am not accusing anyone of anything. I hope that the relevant individuals in government are representing the interests of Canadians. But I have no doubt this is the kind of thing the usual suspects are trying to pull. In which case the suggestion that "we can just say no" neatly conceals what's really happening.
One final point: Canada is in no way the equal of the EU. The EU has over 500 million people to Canada's 32 million. We tend to anthropomorphize negotiations as though countries were freely contracting equal citizens. They aren't. They are unequal powers.
There was always a heavy corporations-run-the-world theme in them
Maybe if they get the original director who did Robocop and make it so OCP now owns a major record label and use Robocop to intimidate copyright infringers
New Prime Directives:
1. "Serve the public trust"
2. "Protect the innocent"
3. "Uphold the law"
4. "Protect OCP's intellectual Property"
5. (Classified)
It's not an EU vs Canada vs US thing.
It's an administrative branch vs legislative branch thing. The administrative branches of the rich nations have united against their respective legislatures. Unfortunately, the constitutions of the diverse countries usually do not allow the legislatures to unite against their respective governments.
The buggers in Brussels don't give a f*** about the people, they just want the power.
Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't a hidden clause to subsume Canada into the EU and replace its currency with the Euro. After all, Quebec must feel like home to them......
Would that be "Up yours, mate!" or "May I have some more, sir?"
You're thinking of Australia. Our response would be "Up yours, eh?"
"Notably, the draft includes many new rights for broadcasters. These rights form part of a proposed Broadcast Treaty at WIPO that has failed to achieve consensus. The EU is seeking to build support for the treaty by requiring Canada to implement many new provisions that would give broadcasters a host of new rights and force public places to pay additional fees for carry broadcasts."
So... in other words they want places that provide public benefit to pay more money to people who don't. That's... rational...
In the EU bureaucracy, power is pretty much split into 3 blocks:
- The European Commission - non-elected, nominated and agreed by and between the countries governments
- The Council of Europe - representatives of each country's governments
- The European Parliement - directly elected
Somehow I suspect this treaty is being negociated by the European Commission, same as ACTA. That would make the "EU's" demands it contains not surprising at all: the Commission is (unsurprisingly) the one force in Europe which is deepest in the pocket of corporate special interests (for example, they were the ones that wanted Software Patents in Europe).
The European Parliement on the other hand tends to side more with Citizens and Consumers (again, unsurprisingly).
The funny bit is that, if the Commission does manage to get this treaty signed by Canada, it might still be voted down in Europe by the European Parliement.
Australians are more likely to say "F _ _ _ OFF C_ _ _"
If your neighbours roof is flying past your window, you know it's cyclone season.
Since when do we have European elections then? Each time I have to vote in the "European elections", I can only vote for national parties, and the amount of national seats is fixed beforehand. I never had the chance to vote for French socialists, Italian Catholics, the German Green party or any party at all that has an international reputation of being serious in their own ways.
Even though I have voted in these ridiculous "elections", I am still waiting for elections where I can put my vote on the European
party that deserves it, rather than on our national parties.
Nae king! Nae laird! Nae yurrupiean pressedent! We willna be fooled again!
We've never given the commission a democratic mandate to parcipate in negotiations like this, and we can't remove them if we don't like what they do since they're not democratically elected. Yet the're representing us, trying to enforce a position that a lot of europes wouldn't support.
Just let America annex you. Come on, you know you want to join. Obama can be your President too! Being in union with America, you'll be part of a country which pushes others around, rather than being bullied themselves. Let alone, you'll get us up to 59 stars. Yeah, you can keep Quebec though.
That is the idea.
Kind regards,
The USA.
PS, read up on lebensraum, or the trek west. Different direction, same result and tactics.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Looking at the recent history of Australia, I wouldn't count on it...
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
The EU sets out what it wants, Canada sets out what it wants. In this particular section, the EU is asking for a lot more than Canada, but quite possibly in other sections Canada is asking for more than the EU (I've not read the full text of the draft).
Then the two parties sit down and start horse-trading. Maybe there's something that Canada really wants that they'll happily swallow these copyright provisions to get. Maybe Canada will say, no, we can't accept these provisions, but we'll concede something else instead, or maybe the EU will say insist, in which case the Canadians will say "no deal". Most likely there'll be a lot of compromises by both sides, with both getting some of what they want, but not all.
It's interesting to consider why the Canadians are considering a free-trade agreement with Europe, considering that they're already in NAFTA. I understand the Canadian government has been unhappy with what they see as persistent US non-compliance with their NAFTA obligations, so perhaps they're looking at a deal with the EU as a Plan B.
Dear World,
As one of the few countries in the world whose economy is not absolutely sitting in the toilet, we, the People of Canada, would like to politely ask you all to fuck off, eh. We appreciate your opinions on our intellectual property laws but, given that we're not bordering on bankruptcy and/or forcing our people to live in a Nanny-state like the rest of you seem to be, we are forced to assume we must be doing something right while the rest of you aren't exactly laying down templates of "how it should be done."
We do apologize for the broad generalizations that may be made in this message but, really, the point remains - fuck off, eh. Mind your own damn business and we'll mind our own. We've done pretty well at minding our business and are just fine with things as they are. Thanks.
Sincerely and respectfully, Canada.
I cringe when I read about any treaty or legislation intended to implement "global harmonisation" on the way things are run. It implies that there is a best way of doing things, which might be true if all people had the same ambitions and circumstances - but they don't.
There is no one best way of doing things. Global harmonisation will be a disaster for at least a large minority of people (and possibly the majority) who will be left with nowhere to flee to escape the new rules.
The same is happening with multiculturalism. In its name we are lead to believe that all cultures are to be celebrated, but in reality, all cultures are gutted and toned down in order for them to be able to sit side by side. In the end, there is nothing of substance left of any culture which exists in a multicultural environment except for a few meaningless symbols. All they will be left with is the shopping mall, and that, of course, is the whole point of multiculturalism - cheap labour who can believe what they like so long as they work hard and spend money.
[quote]
Because our gov. cares more about the well being of corporations then its citizens. Nothing new here but I think in the next 15 years will be a huge turning point around the world towards corporations controlling more and more of our lives. I'm ready for showdown, my parents did it in the early 80's in Poland and I'm ready to take their attitude towards corporate governments.
[/quote]
I will be ready to run some shadows then....
Ummm can I get a Mr. Jonhson here?
Great, yet another one drinking the kool-aid.
#1 Clubbing seals is just stupid. Trust me, seals aren't as cute cuddly and friendly as you have been led to believe. Shooting them is A) the most humane way to go about it and B) the safest way and C) the surest way to make sure you actually, you know, GET the seal which is the end goal. Even the natives don't club them anymore. How stupid do people have to be to believe this "they're all out beating them to death with sticks" bullshit?
#2 They're not banned for any real reasons. The reasons are made up, bullshit. PETA was trying to get video of someone clubbing seals. You know what happened in the end? They PAID people to go club seals while they video taped it. Yes, PETA paid folks to go out and club seals. The ends justify the means though, right?
#3 You are comparing killing other human beings with killing another animal. We are omnivores, that means meat, we require the proteins from it. Absolute best case scenario we resort to keeping them in pens for their Milk and Eggs in order to get the proteins we need which in my opinion is actually LESS humane than letting them live and frolick naturally until killed for food.
#4 Yes, there are traditions that involve some sort of tool that was used at one point to hunt seals. I believe I've already covered the fact that this isn't used anymore, not by anyone doing it for a living. At most it is used for trational ritual type things. Should this practice be stopped? Sure. This is one thing I agree on. However you're going to have to get past all the cries of racism and persecution to do so, and those ones are a lot louder than the ones claiming 20 or so seals have been killed in a traditional fashion this year.
Maybe I just have read and not paid much attention, maybe slashdot has always been this way... but whats with the amount of articles with titles and basically vague/wrong descriptions seemingly aimed at pushing one countries readers against anothers?
China vs USA
Canada vs EU
Then if you actually read the articles linked, its nowhere near as serious as the poster makes it out to be. Like the site, but quality is better than quantity!
The source article originaly was in french, it is EU as in Etas-Unis(united states). Not as European Union.
Maybe it's just that EUCETA is friendlier to European businesses and ACTA is friendlier to US businesses, therefore the EU wants the international IP agreement to be EUCETA and not ACTA...
I haven't read EUCETA so it's just a guess...
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
it doesnt matter zit whether it is legal. what matters is, at our current time and age, we, as human civilization, are abhorring that kind of practice.
it doesnt matter whether you are killing someone or you are selling your daughter or you are clubbing a seal to death. what matters is the fact that attitude towards ALL of these make mankind's level of civility at any given time.
and currently you canadians are the only 'developed' country which insists on continuing brutal traditions of the past. you could find millions of people who would rationalize and justify slavery, had you asked around back in 1780 AD, with very similar arguments to your own.
Read radical news here
really, why post anonymously, whereas the person you are replying to doesnt hesitate what he posts ?
Read radical news here
and they just can't get enough of the NAZI way, only without bombs this time.
Looks like we'll have to do some more ass kickin'.
The EU is throwing its weight around I see.
It doesn't yet have a military, but if MEP Daniel Hannan is correct then they are already drafting laws to make a military.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
Tell that to your buddy, guy!
Canada tells the EU to go fuck themselves.
Eat shit and die.
Global harmonization through treaties is creating a race to the bottom as far as the citizen's general welfare is concerned.
When I see films, or read books, such as Judge Dredd I wonder how could this shit become reality? I ask myself whether there would be enough external sources to ensure a general liberty and rights of it citizens? Then I see shit like ACTA and this happening and I suddenly understand - scary.
Jumpstart the tartan drive.
In Canada "First Nations" are defined as groups of ethnic minorities much like Canadians of Italian Descent. Has anyone checked the legal definition of what is exactly a "First Nation"? There are only two ways to kill a treaty, if both sides agree that the treaty is over or if one of the parties is dead. Well "First Nations" never signed a treaty in Canada (Cree, Mohawk etc did but not "First Nations"), so legally they are dead and a treaty is a legal document.
Seriously. The USA is by FAR our biggest trading partner. They have been trying to bend us over for years about IP, Copyright and Patent law. If we are not about to capitulate the them, what makes the EU think we give a flying fuck what they say....
Take off, you hosehead!
Shooting them is A) the most humane way to go about it
Actually, fun fact: Shooting them isn't necessarily the most humane way to go about it. The problem is that, unless you're a very good shot, you're far more likely to wound the animal rather than killing it outright. But a well-placed strike with a hakapik is very quick and effective in trained hands, comparable with established and acceptable humane killing practices according to the Agreement on International Humane Trapping Standards.
As you say, though, the whole thing is massively overblown thanks to organizations like PETA. Hell, in that wikipedia link, there's a rather interesting quote from a WWF study on seal hunting practices:
But, hey, what does the WWF know?
We're not your friend, guy!
It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.
- E. Debs
Canadians, tell the EU to screw itself over this point.
Keep in mind that the individual states use the EU to force through lousy ideas and laws (usually bought by the industry), which they cannot do locally.
Do it through the EU, though, and they can sob on TV that they hate the idea, but their hands are tied...
Free PC version of ChipWits at http://www.breueronline.de/klaus/chipwits/
I'm sorry, but since when did doing cruel things to other humans equate to killing animals?
I'm going to keep eating chicken and beef and pork too.
- Michael T. Babcock (Yes, I blog)
Your IP laws already mirror those in the US, because go ahead and try to say nay to us, and you will be left to trade with polar bears. I mean look, you cannot even legalize marijuana, because the precious neighbor will disapprove.
I would seriously consider hopping on EU wagon, because it's either them or US!
"Names Bum... James up my Bum"
or
"Who does number 2 work for?.... Oh, the EU."
or
"I'm Canadian and the EU is telling me to bend over and take it up the EH!" (Hmmm...actually, i think i'll copyright THIS one!)
soylentnews.org Go there to enjoy the people!
we resort to keeping them in pens for their Milk and Eggsr.
Seals lay eggs? Shit! I've got to read up more on marine mammal reproduction.
Only I can judge you.
i agree, screw the EU they have no power in canada. They should stick to their own countries and maybe helping them stay out of bankruptcy before commanding other countries on the other side of the world how to run their country
#3 You are comparing killing other human beings with killing another animal. We are omnivores, that means meat, we require the proteins from it. Absolute best case scenario we resort to keeping them in pens for their Milk and Eggs in order to get the proteins we need which in my opinion is actually LESS humane than letting them live and frolick naturally until killed for food.
As a point of information, humans don't need protein (or anything else) from meat or even other animal products. Plenty of people live on an entirely plant-based diet, usually more healthily than their omnivorous neighbors. Even if you also skip dairy and eggs the only thing you're missing is vitamin B12, but you only need tiny amounts of that, and it's gleaned from plant-based sources and added to most multivitamins and to things like soymilk.
So you can say you WANT to eat meat, but you cannot truthfully say that you NEED it.
Space game using normal deck of cards: http://BattleCards.org
tradition.
who's to say which tradition can be valid and which tradition cant ? everyone's tradition to themselves. so, if someone uses 'tradition' excuse to do anything uncivilized, others will find courage to demand similar or more extreme things. and they actually do it too.
Read radical news here
I'm not your guy, buddy!
We've really got to stand up to this kind of bullying. There is no good reason why we should give such preference to the EU, particularly when Russia is our next door neighbour and shares a similar territory and climate to Canada. I doubt that the Russian Federation or the Commonwealth of Independent States would make such outrageous demands in return for favoured trading status.
Russia Yes!, Europe No!
[quote]But a well-placed strike with a hakapik is very quick and effective in trained hands[/quote]
But a well-placed bullet with a gun is very quick and effective in trained hands.
There, fixed that for you.