Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

whisper_jeff writes "News has come out that Prime Minister Stephen Harper is planning on bringing the DMCA to Canada. As a Canadian, this disgusts me. Watching Harper sell out Canadians in favour of US lobby groups is an affront. I am hopeful that enough Canadians write to Harper and their MPs to voice their disapproval of this effort."

Comments

Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[WrongSizeGlass]

Wouldn't that be "Another Stab At a Canadian DMC'eh?"

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[Capt.DrumkenBum]

As a Canadian I am usually pretty nonviolent. But I have had enough of this asshole! Would somebody please take a stab at Harper?
He does not represent me, or anyone I know.
I think it is time for a revolution.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[scorp1us]

As an American, visiting Canada, I was surprised by how many DON'T say 'eh?' It seems to be of French Canadian origin and used by adults, around retirement age. I spoke to a lot of people, and even went to on of the biggest malls in the world (the mall in Edmonton) and never did I hear 'eh?'

Also, the usage seems to be only when they are asking for permission to continue, when they have [pre]supposed a fact and they expect the answer to be in the affirmative. Any time there was a legitimate question, it was never followed with 'eh'. And whenever I actually said 'no', to an 'eh?' it was followed by surprise.

Now the whole thing about 'aboot' is dead on and not exaggerated in the slightest. Also, 'aroond'.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[tsm_sf]

It's got to suck to see all of those "Canada is a US state/protectorate/pawn" digs gain traction, eh?

I'm surprised this hasn't become a huge political liability for him. Wouldn't it take just one commercial showing how he bends the country over for his "American corporate masters" to get him out of office?

Canada, you're supposed to be the sane one in this relationship. Don't make us hit you.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[z4ns4stu]

Since you have a British-style parliament, aren't you able to do things like votes of no confidence to get rid of a PM (or any MP, for that matter)? That's a far sight better than what most of the U.S. states have -- wait for the term to expire and hope like hell you can get another candidate with better name recognition on the ballot.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[Anonymous Coward]

We don't do it in front of foreigners

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[dubbreak]

I have to agree. As a west coaster I have been generally displeased with pretty much all government we've had to date (they tend to favour the political views of Ontario and Quebec), but I honestly hate Harper. It goes beyond his ridiculous policies. He is not very Canadian.

Of course I don't even like the way the guy looks, what with his beady little eyes and blank stare. Did you see footage of him at the 2010 Olympics? The guy had no emotion displayed on his face whatsoever. At least Gordon Campbell, the British Columbia Premier (who I am really not fond of either but for other reasons), was grinning and jumping around, banging on a drum.. while he pushed the limit to being nearly goofy at least he showed some personality. There front and center, best seat in the house, the Prime Minister sat with a look on his face like he'd rather be receiving an enema.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[atomic777]

Thank you -- now please go back home and tell your friends, so that I don't have to see stale "eh?" jokes every time Canada is mentioned...

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[blair1q]

He does not represent me, or anyone I know.

Welcome to America.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[dkleinsc]

Why not just put a pie in his face? It seems like that's almost par for the course, with reports like this.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[Jerry Rivers]

Canada already has a minority government and the alternative, a Liberal government, would be no better. Canadians already know this and this why the Tories they have been elected multiple times. The last time the Libs threatened a vote of no confidence they dropped in the polls to a near-record low. Canadians are sick of expensive elections too close together, and minority governments that only last six months.

If anybody actually thinks that putting the Liberals in power will really change anything, they are just fooling themselves. They would just cripple the armed forces then end up doing exactly the same thing the Tories are doing now with copyright law.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[Capt.DrumkenBum]

Also a west coaster here. Gordon Campbell's death needs to come more slowly. Preferably televised so everyone in BC can enjoy it.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[fyoder]

Since you have a British-style parliament, aren't you able to do things like votes of no confidence to get rid of a PM (or any MP, for that matter)?

No confidence would bring down the government. Then there would be an election, and because the left is split and Canadians collectively are too daft to vote strategically, even though the Conservatives only have 34% support last poll I looked at, they'd still get the most votes and we'd be right back where we are now.

What's required isn't a revolution, but a coalition such as that proposed after the last election. But the Liberals backed down. It's not difficult to see why they are so unpopular. A coalition would have represented the will of the Canadian people, the majority of which voted left of centre. The sooner the Liberal party gets rid of Ignatieff and replaces him with someone with some backbone, the better it will be for both the Liberals and the people of Canada.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[h4rr4r]

What armed forces?
Your entire airforce is a few squadrons of F-18s.

Might as well get rid of that too.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[Capt.DrumkenBum]

I am not advocating a change of government. I firmly believe that a minority government, such as we have now, at least prevents anyone from really fucking things up. Personally I advocate throwing the party leaders out on their collective asses. Lord knows they have proven time and time again they they can not work or play well with others.

I can not think of one that would be out of place working on a seedy used car lot.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[gyrogeerloose]

I have to agree. As a west coaster I have been generally displeased with pretty much all government we've had to date (they tend to favour the political views of Ontario and Quebec

Educate this ignorant person from South of the (Canadian) Border, if you will. How do the political views of Ontario and Quebec differ from those of BC?

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[ve3]

As another non-violent (usually) Canadian, I welcome this opportunity to tell my MP's that if they vote for this piece of monkey poo, I will do whatever I can to make sure they are never elected again.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[mirix]

Not sure about down east, but in the prairies it's generally "hey" or "huh"

That was a good game, (hey | huh)?

It might get slurred out to:
Was a good game, ey? or "that was a good game, uh"?

It's more for questions that you know the person you're asking is already in agreement with, not for actual questions. That's my experience at least.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[mirix]

I should also mention, I've never heard "aboot" in my life. it's always "abowt". Do you say it somehow very strange that makes abowt sound like aboot?

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[countertrolling]

I think it is time for a revolution.

Oh please! Why don't you count the votes first? He didn't force his way in.. unless the CIA was somehow behind it

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[frank_adrian314159]

I think it is time for a revolution.

You had your chance back in '76 (1776, that is). On the other hand, had you revolted back then, you probably wouldn't have decent public health care and you'd probably have your capital in D.C., so maybe it's for the better.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[frank_adrian314159]

They would just cripple the armed forces...

You have those? What are they for, to protect your Tim Horton's outlets?

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[arekusu_ou]

How did he get into office then?

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[arekusu_ou]

Uhm....the US has a vote of no confidence too. Unfortunately the only time in my lifetime that was exercised was over some sexual scandal and not say.....traitorous actions like Bush.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[compro01]

The effect is called Canadian raising. It's partially dependent on the listener. Someone who speaks in the same manner (other Canadians, people from the northwest states and New England, some Brits) will hear it as "abowt" as normal, whereas someone who speaks it differently may hear it as "aboat" or "aboot".

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[Anonymous Coward]

From a Displaced BC native living in Oregon,
Much the same as how in the US the political views in the northeastern states (and around Washington, DC) are different than the political views are in Washington state and Oregon. It is a differing view of the country, really. I have met and talked to many back east that have an attitude that Oregon is still 'the Wild West'. The view of BC/Alberta from Quebec and Ontario echoes that sentiment.
Also, there is different emphasis on political platforms. While Universal Healthcare is most important in some places, the economy is WAY more important in Oregon (high unemployment). Environmental concerns are higher in the West (probably because we still have lots more open, untapped space than the tightly knit cities and states on the Eastern seaboard). The western states also seem to be a little more liberal than their eastern counterparts, where all the money/power/large corporations seem to be centered.

Just a Canuck's opinion, though.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[Anonymous Coward]

"Canada already has a minority government and the alternative, a Liberal government, would be no better."

Honestly, I don't particularly care which party is in power at this point, as long as they continue to be a minority government, because it makes the politicians more accountable than usual. They neither want to trigger an election nor pass legislation that too many people oppose. It's great because they have to pay attention to public opinion and they have to get along in parliament, otherwise we'll take it out on them at the polls.

Had it been a majority government any time in the last 5 years we'd already have DMCA-style copyright law in Canada.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[jpedlow]

If I had mod points, you'd get all of them, Good Sir.

You got it bang on.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[Anonymous Coward]

Ontario: "We're the center of the universe! Bow before our awesomeness!"

(For those not in the know, Ontario is Canada's largest province, and contains around 30% of the country's population, making them a very important voting block).

Quebec: "You don't frighten us, English pig dogs. Go and boil your bottoms, you sons of a silly person."

(For those not in the know, Quebec was originally a colony of France. Quebec is a French-speaking province surrounded by English-speaking neighbors)

British Columbia: "Chill out dudes. You're harshing my buzz."

(For those not in the know, British Columbia is home to the best marijuana in North America. Residents tend to be granola munchers.)

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[jpedlow]

I'm very west coast (Victoria), and I was ALRIGHT with the conservatives thanks to them trying to scrap the gun registry, as I own rifles and hunt etc. (That's a whole debate in itself, ok?)

But, they've now effectively lost my vote. Digital rights is extremely important to me, and I hope that the newly formed pirate party (unfortunate name for some good ideas, but hey I guess the same with the green party) (speaking of which, have a look at the green party platform for BC, some cool infrastructure stuff in it) gets some votes from canadians now. The only way you can actually change anything is getting different groups (political parties) brought in. [and yes I realize I'm flipping back and fourth between federal and provincial parties, but hey im ranting anyway...]

You'll rarely see a genuinely excellent politician, note that the BC legislature gave themselves a 30% raise just a few years ago, because they thought they deserved more pay. Politics in general is brutal, some people vote based upon the "theory" of that party, some based upon their history, some to follow the crowd, some vote based upon unverified assumptions about that party. More people need to vote, and make an informed vote by doing their research.

Sadly, we're another step closer to 1984.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[ViralInfection]

...with his beady little eyes and blank stare

anyone else think he's a robot? and did he steal shatner's hair piece?

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[Anonymous Coward]

We have 35 year old P3s and some broken helicopters too!

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[Anonymous Coward]

As the founding provinces, Ontario and Quebec feel that they should get priority and the best picks of anything that the government dishes out.

As a latecomer to confederation who joined Canada because they were about to go bankrupt otherwise, British Columbia has as many ties to Washington State and Oregon as it does to Ontario and Quebec... basically, B.C. thinks it can survive well enough on its own thank you very much, and doesn't like having self-serving decrees out of Ontario govern how things are run west of the Rockies.

A lot of this comes down to the fact that combined, Ontario and Quebec hold the majority of the seats in parliament, so whatever they want to do, they can do, and protests from west-coast benchers don't carry much weight.

Of course, with the DMCA, EVERYONE abhors it, pretty much like the soon-to-be-invoked HST in Ontario and B.C.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[Em Adespoton]

You know what? Harper only represents two groups:
1) the members of his riding
2) the members of his caucus

Canada isn't the US -- we don't elect the Prime Minister; the other Ministers do. Until they elect him, he only represents his local riding.

What this means though, is that if enough elected representatives feel he has to go, they can get rid of him. So, if enough Canadians contact their representatives letting them know that this is the will of the people, they'll get rid of him and elect someone else to lead the cause....

oh well.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[S.O.B.]

Actually the Tim Hortons protect our armed forces.

Whose going to attack someone that gives you free coffee and Timbits?

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[dubbreak]

I don't think anyone will disagree that the gun registry was a huge flop. Poorly planned, poorly executed and half baked to begin with. The benefits of a gun registry are of course debatable.

The digital rights issues are of course a concern, but more is what has led to them: a government that panders to american politics, policies and worst of all american lobbyists (it's bad enough having to worry about our own lobby groups).

Another huge irk is when the conservatives brought up same sex marriage. We already did that one and decided on equal rights. Canada is supposed to be progressive and diverse (of course what do you expect from a group that calls themselve conservatives). In my experience Canada has been extremely good at recognizing the diversity of its citizens and making sure we all have equal rights (regardless of ethnicity, religion or even sexual orientation). In light of that the action of the Conservative party appears very un-canadian.

We definitely need more people out voting and we need the smaller parties to get more traction (such as the Green party, which is basically a throw away vote at this time). Don't even get me started on the provincial government and the HST they are shoving down our throats. Yes, we may need more tax revenue, but the way they went about it was all wrong.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[OnePumpChump]

The armed forces that got the longest distance sniper kill ever recorded.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[Shark]

Can you think of a country where the leader genuinely does nowadays? Governments stopped serving the people years ago. Give yourself a couple years after any replacement and you'll feel the exact same way, even if you voted them in.

It's not the public figure you're really angry with though, it's the ones pulling its strings. And guess what, you can't vote those in or out of where they stand. You honestly think Harper has any deep ideological views towards copyrights? He's just doing what he'll gain most from on a personal level.

You want things to change, shine a light on them like Michael Geist is doing. That's a principle you can apply to just about everything that's wrong with the way we are governed too.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[OnePumpChump]

Impeachment is NOT a vote of no confidence. It is the legislative equivalent of an indictment. It isn't saying "fuck this guy," it's saying "this guy should be in prison."

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[dubbreak]

Excellent analogy.

The concerns of the regions are very different but the area around Ontario and Quebec has the population to make the majority. BC's economy is resource based (forestry mainly) while Ontario is primarily Manufacturing. That difference alone means huge differences in how policies are viewed.

The west has traditionally been more liberal in general political viewpoints (the stereotype would be that west coasters are pot smoking hippies). The west also has a larger focus on environment (not a lot of eco-tourism east of the rockies). Lifestyles of the regions make a difference too on what is politically important to the constituents. But the same thing exists in the US (someone in Seattle has a different view on life than someone in Detroit).

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[Scroatzilla]

Phew! I thought that you were going to say that you've had enough of the stereotype that Canadians say "eh" and pronounce words like "about" funny ("aboot").

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[WebCowboy]

Would somebody please take a stab at Harper?

And then what? install Ignatieff as our new dictator? Layton's defence of keeping info free is admirable but he is out of touch with reality on so many other fronts as to be unelectable. Duceppe only has aspirations to lead Quebec..right out of Canada. Liz May? First she has to get a Green MP a seat. Then she might have a the chance a snowball has in hell to affect change.

The root of the problem is not HArper. It is thos who do not vote, and perhaps even worse, those who make ill-informed voting choices (mum and dad voted this way and so must I....or dude A looks shifty and I like dude B but dude C is polling #2 so I'll vote for him cuz dude A's shifty eyes make me nervous..but I don't know any of their policies...)

Seriously... the void left by voter apathy is ALWAYS filled by money. Abe the USA bullies with money.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[Flammon]

I couldn't agree more.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[TermV]

The Canadian "Eh" is equivalent to the American use of "Huh"... So we might say "That's cool, eh?" while you might say "That's cool, huh?".

Canadians don't say aboot, but depending where the person's from, he may abbreviate the vowel sound such that it sounds that way to somebody expecting it to be drawn out more.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[ls671]

I have come to hate Tim Hortons because of their advertisement on TV where everybody looks stupid and that always end up with stupid laughs after a stupid joke.

I swear I switch the channel every time I see one now.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[Roger W Moore]

And what politician in their right mind would want to have an election over copyright law?

Unless they make it a vote of confidence that is not required. Simply defeating a proposed law does not mean that the government has lost the confidence of the house....and if they turn it into a confidence motion then there is the risk it will blow up in their faces. All it would need is the libs and NDP to vote against it and no law plus no election.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[shadowbearer]

  (I'm a taxpayer in the US)

  Perhaps we should time our revolutions to coincide... might be more effective that way ;-))

  (nonviolent as well, but well aware of the fact that eventually it will become so)

SB

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[shadowbearer]

  There's also a large voting contingent from the states between East and West, as well.

  Not saying that the midwest has any more common rationality in politics than either end, probably less, actually...

SB

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[S.O.B.]

If you haven't seen it then you'll like Rick Mercer's version of a Tim Hortons commercial.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[haruchai]

Poorly executed, perhaps but it was a good idea. And it has broad support from the cops and emergency physicians.
But, they were too namby-pamby about it and a lot of the cost was from folks who were very much against it getting
in the way.
If they'd had real balls, they could have gotten it done more quickly and cheaply but since the money was spent
and the registry built, it would be a huge waste to dismantle it now.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[Dr Caleb]

Wow. Someone needs a civics lesson.

You know what? Harper only represents one group:
1) The party of which he is a member.

That is all. Parliament is centred around the party system. It's nice to think he's in Parliament to represent his constituents, but it's the Party and it's policies that matter. Read the Constitution.

"Canada isn't the US -- we don't elect the Prime Minister; the other Ministers do."

*Bzzzzzt*. Again, members of the party elect a leader, not ministers of Parliament (although as members of the Party, they get a vote). *All* members. Anyone can join the party for a fee, and they are the ones who get to vote for a party leader. The party with the most seats in Parliament, gets the leader sworn in as Prime Minister.

"What this means though, is that if enough elected representatives feel he has to go, they can get rid of him. So, if enough Canadians contact their representatives letting them know that this is the will of the people, they'll get rid of him and elect someone else to lead the cause...."

NO. The Party must vote on a new leader, and only then can he be replaced. The parties charter states how often a leadership convention must take place. There is no provision to 'recall' a Member of Parliament, or 'fire' a Prime Minister. And the only way to call en election, other than the fixed election dates that Harper ignores, is to have Government lose the vote on a matter of confidence (the throne speech, a budgetary bill, etc.) And Iggy failed on that matter, because he did not support the Budget, but still voted for it because he didn't have the balls (or money) to campaign for an election.

Until there is a leadership convention or an election is called, we are stuck this bastard. (saying that as a former supporter of the PC and Reform Partys')

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[mrbcs]

(For those not in the know, British Columbia is home to the best marijuana in North America. Residents tend to be granola munchers.)

I thought it was granola bars... whatever isn't nuts or fruits is flakes.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[angus77]

I think it is time for a revolution.

As a Canadian, I think it's time for a revolution, too, eh! Would someone be kind enough to start one for us, please?

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[bzipitidoo]

unfortunate name

I keep wishing the Pirate Party would find another name, something that appeals to voters over the age of 35. We understand what the Pirate Party is about, but I fear most people, particularly older people, wouldn't get it.

Perhaps call it the "Share Party" or "Sharing Party". Or maybe the "Library Party", or some mashup of "library" and "libre". Or even the "Public Party", but that last is too generic. "Share" seems the best term. "Library" might be too narrow to be seen as an important issue. Don't know about Canada, but in the US, "Share" could cause trouble with conservative sorts who would think that means "share the wealth", and fear it's code for changing to a socialist welfare state, as if that would be a disaster, causing half the nation to become "welfare deadbeats". Would also evoke memories of the hippie movement and their practically communist views on sharing of property. It's really amazing how much and how warped fears of laziness is in the US. No big deal, though-- people who think the worst of hippies and socialists are probably a lost cause anyway. So I think "Share" could work better than "Pirate", could appeal to more moderate, open minded voters.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[gstoddart]

It's got to suck to see all of those "Canada is a US state/protectorate/pawn" digs gain traction, eh?

Alarmingly, this current government is single-hand-edly the most sycophantic and leg-humping I recall in my lifetime when it comes to following US interests.

I'm surprised this hasn't become a huge political liability for him. Wouldn't it take just one commercial showing how he bends the country over for his "American corporate masters" to get him out of office?

I'm not sure most Canadians would be able to see it that way without some background -- I agree with you, but that idea sells as a little "fringe" up here in Canada because people don't think about it like that (or at all). Essentially, the same level of apathy as in the US on the topic.

Canada, you're supposed to be the sane one in this relationship. Don't make us hit you.

Don't hit us, but feel free to strongly object, and lob polite (but non-threatening) barbs at our current government -- god knows we do it to you guys all the time. :-P

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[gstoddart]

Since you have a British-style parliament, aren't you able to do things like votes of no confidence to get rid of a PM (or any MP, for that matter)?

You do realize that in the last several years Canadians have had what feels like a bunch of elections -- I think it's three elections since 2006, but I'm not 100% sure. I have quite honestly lost track.

A vote of no-confidence (which has caused the last few elections) causes a new election, and ends up with almost the same relative (and geographic) distribution of party power as the previous one.

We've been dealing with a minority parliament for quite some years -- it's largely dysfunctional since the government uses confidence vote as brinkmanship (vote for my bill, or force an election now).

We're in a bit of a deadlock -- the government won't work with opposition, who disagree with almost everything the (for Canada) "right-wing" government advocates. Opposition can't disagree too strongly with the government, or risk causing an election.

We have effectively four parties in federal politics (and one of them would like to form their own country), and the relative voting hasn't changed much the last few times we've gone to the polls. So, all that happens from a vote of "no confidence" is we spend a lot of money to get back exactly where we were, a slight shift in power ensues, and the parties then proceed to bicker about how to do things. On some things, they agree. On others, they strongly disagree. And, on some issues, some of them will team up with the sitting government to force an issue through if it meets their agenda.

And, every time they all disagree, the threat if a no confidence vote looms -- usually because the current government is prone to decreeing every debate as a confidence motion. Meaning, if the opposition doesn't vote in favor of it, they trigger an immediate dissolution of parliament and a new election.

Messed up, isn't it? :-P

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[Obfiscator]

Have governments ever truly served the people? Go back to the days of Rome and the situation wasn't any better. The Senate gave bread and circuses to the Head Count only to prevent them from rioting and disrupting the lives/business of the elites, not because of any altruistic feeling. It was also expected that governors, senators, consuls, etc. used their position to increase their own wealth and status.

Government is a necessary evil, but it's best to remember that, in the end, a large part of what it does is work to keep its own power.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[Kierthos]

Second-longest now. A British sniper hit two Al-Qaeda members from around 150 feet further out.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[perlchild]

On the other hand, with 30 million Canadians, and around 20 million of that in Quebec and Ontario. Just how democratic does the other way around sound?

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[Jerry Rivers]

The Armed Forces that are over there defending and dying for your ignorant ass in Afghanistan. The Armed Forces that got bombed by a trigger happy US F18 cowboy. The Armed Forces that are on the front line in the worst part of the war, and the Armed Forces that have shipped home 143 Canadians in a box. And the same Armed Forces that are the world's premier peace keepers.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[Jerry Rivers]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/afghanistan/casualties/list.html

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[vegiVamp]

Well, the British are *hopefully* bringing about their own political revolution at this very moment.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[Anonymous Coward]

Can you think of a country where the leader genuinely does nowadays? Governments stopped serving the people years ago. Give yourself a couple years after any replacement and you'll feel the exact same way, even if you voted them in.

When did they ever serve the people? Or, depending on your POV, when did they ever not serve the people? Governments haven't really changed. They're the same as they've always been. It's inherent in the species to think we live in extraordinary times, but we really don't. Current politics is as ordinary as it gets. You could have witnessed much the same (or worse!) in the 1800's.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[denis-The-menace]

Minority governments are the way to go for now.
Liberals+Conservatives in Canada are no different than Dems+GOP in the US.
They are all for sale at a price and any politician in a place of power is already bought by the corps.

We need a 3rd option that is:
-near the Center-right of the political spectrum
-Is not a political party for a Special Interest Group (NDP=Unions, Green=Enviro-at-any-cost, etc)

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[denis-The-menace]

Wont happen.
TV now exist to pacify the populace.
If you can kill TV, THEN people will has time for themselves and your revolution.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[DarthVain]

You would think so, however this is all being done on the down low.

The Conservatives have done their best to keep this out of the public eye and behind closed doors, and they have been largely successful.

It has been thwarted already 2 or 3 times in the past (I mean take the frakkin' hint eh?), but they continue to try and push this agenda.

The opposition to it is strong, but small, as most of the population has no idea this is going on or what it even means. People that frequent Slashdot, Boing Boing, and Micheal Giest's Blog are likely the vocal opposition.

However for whatever reason, this issue has never made it into the major media for the last couple of years. Either they think it is a non-story, don't understand it, or don't think the public will care or understand what is going on.

Worst is the fact that the Liberals have pretty much the same stance, only the NDP oppose this. Either way it is shameful.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[ceoyoyo]

They have tried this at least three times of the last few years, and each time the bill has been quietly forgotten about after public opposition and the sponsoring scapegoat, er, minister has been shuffled off to a different job.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[Locklin]

I don't believe we have enough F-18's to really qualify as a squadron, not to mention they are usually distributed across the country. We do have considerable manpower and ground equipment (relative the the size of our country) and significant expertise (excellent research and training budgets).

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[icebraining]

Sorry, not only have I misread GP's post, as I have mixed up scales. Disregard my previous post.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[Locklin]

It's worth reiterating that the Canadian Armed Forces have been continuously stationed in the worst areas of Afghanistan since the beginning. Areas where larger, better equipped countries have refused to go.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[Ironhandx]

Not necessarily true. The liberals refused a few attempts at this sort of thing outright under the Chretien government.

Unfortunately I'd like to vote the NDP into power, but I have a fear of a very very real possibility that once in they would sacrifice everything but their particular special interests just to stay in power. So they still don't get my vote for now. The greens aren't a real option. They're mostly PETA-like lunatics. I did see one very promising green a little while back... he was even reasonable, it was astonishing. I think hes NDP now. Which while not much better is still slightly better.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[Tarsir]

Governments stopped serving the people years ago.

When exactly did this happen? Who is the last PM (or whatever your head of state is called) that you believe genuinely represented the people? Do you have any theories on why it is our elected representatives stopped representing us and started representing... the lobbyists, I assume?

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[Five Bucks!]

While this Parliament is a minority one, it certainly hasn't been behaving like one... There are few objectives that PM Harper hasn't been able to push through without too much difficulty. Transparency in the government is not what it used to be and he's still gaining support in the polls despite his agenda that is far removed from the traditional Canadian mindset (Increasing military presence, reduced funding to women's groups, etc.).

I agree with you... I love a good minority government, but this one is so disjointed that it might as well be a Conservative majority. We would have been well served to have a coalition government of the NDP and Liberals at least so we could have an opposition with some chutzpah.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[OzoneLad]

Won't work. The opposition are a bunch of pussies.

There, fixed it for you. It's been clear for a while that the Liberals won't vote against anything for fear of having another election. That pretty much gives Harper a de facto majority government.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[Five Bucks!]

Holding politicians accountable requires the threat of an election: it's generally the only way they loose their jobs. Even disgraced Cabinet Ministers are MPs when they resign their post.

Therefore, if no party is threatening to declare non-confidence, the government stands and we continue to have issues popping up that should be thrown away (ACTA, DMCA) but aren't. As long as the Liberals and NDP are low in the polls, they won't cause an election because they know the result will be a Conservative majority.

What we're left with is a stable minority government where the Conservative government insists (wrongly) that they have a 'mandate' to govern and the balance of power is too afraid to tip the scales and trigger an election. This minority government lacks any leadership other than PM Harper and that pisses me off to no end.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[Five Bucks!]

I'm not sure if it's an oversight or dig, but Harper does represent two groups:

1) His caucus in Parliament as Leader and PM.
2) Calgary Southwest as MP

He doesn't even represent the Conservative Party of Canada, really. That's the job of the President of the Conservative Party of Canada: John Walsh.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[Maglos]

"HST they are shoving down our throats" Why are non Americans so quick to pick up American media's catch phrase of the week? It's bad enough hearing the British do it. Why can't we be a bit original like; We are getting Fisted with HST? or our proctologists are wearing HST gloves. or maybe putting down the HST WMT(Weapon of Mass Tax). In all serious I'm for HST, say what you will, but it in theory it'll increases tax revenue while improving transparency and reducing bureaucracy; its just bad politics.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[dubbreak]

OK. Rectally fisted without asking nicely first or applying the smallest amount of lube or even giving a cautionary, "Brace yourself."

My problem isn't increased taxes. It was that no options were presented to the public. "We need more tax revenue, so we're implementing HST." HST isn't the only option, and while in theory it's great (a single tax makes a lot more sense), the impacts weren't debated before it was decided that was the route to take. Because of the lack of debate and and was appears to be no forethought on how to handle previously exempt items (just tax them all) there is a backlash. Every time the finance minister goes on TV to support and explain HST more people sign the petitions against it.

Of course there is also the glaring issue that the Liberal party stated before being elected in 2009 that they would not bring in HST. Yes it may be needed, yes it may be the best way to generate more revenue and may reduce bureaucracy (I worked for the BC gov't so I have huge doubts on that one) BUT if that is the case then you had better do a really good job convincing the public that it is needed before going forward with something you claimed you wouldn't do.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[dubbreak]

By stating, "The benefits of a gun registry are of course debatable." I meant one could argue it either way. I've heard very good arguments on either side.

The reality is we ended up with an online registry that had completely unacceptable security holes when released (people were able to gather data about people who had registered and at least one break-in to a gun collector was attributed to it) and was a horrible user experience (my friends were pulling their hair out trying to register some guns that were obviously outside of the use cases they covered when developing the system).

It had potential, but as with many Gov't IT projects they botched it (howTF did that company win the bid anyhow?!).

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[pnewhook]

Harper / Obama are the best thing to happen to North America since the glaciers receded.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[negRo_slim]

Jokes aside this brings up a good point.

Countries can and do exist without a meaningful standing army! If you say you want peace than your goal should be no less than the abolishment of standing armies in our lifetime.

Whilst this statement is sure to be decried by my pears I believe it is an honorable goal and one worth trying to achieve.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[negRo_slim]

the Armed Forces that have shipped home 143 Canadians in a box.

What's your point?

Obviously the personal angiush such a thing is to bring is no laughing matter but in a world with wars such as we have had and the atrocities we continue to have 143 persons is nothing. Is it because they were white and from a rich industrialized nation I should care that much more than the thousands dying right now from easily preventable hunger?

It's just a police action occurring over there and to try and gussy it up as armed forces or a war is just a way of excusing the thousands upon thousands of innocents killed and maimed in this mess.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[Ironix]

... the left is split and Canadians collectively are too daft to vote strategically

I refuse to ever vote strategically. It will lead to the downfall of a nation if everyone were to think like this. I've always voted for the party/candidate that best represents my interests, which generally happens to to be the NDP. Yes, I am splitting the leftist vote, but at least I can say I haven't sold out my values for the sake of having a lesser of two evils in government.

If everyone were to vote with the mindset of "oh, I don't want them in power, so I'll vote for the most popular opponent", we'll quickly end up with a two-party system not unlike that of the United States. Think of this another way, imagine how many more seats the NDP would have had in the last election if people did not vote strategically! There were very many close calls between the NDP and Conservatives/Liberals in many ridings.

No, I am sorry, I will not cast my vote based on who I don't want in power. I would much rather place a positive vote towards those who I would like to see running this country instead.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[Jerry Rivers]

Nobody's gussying up anything. My response was in reply to a post mocking the C.A.F. If you want to trivialize the contribution of a middle power go ahead, but you are also mocking the families of all those who have sacrificed, and of a country that has taken a higher percentage of causalities than all other allied nations there. As for them being "white and rich" (and therefore less significant) that's just a racist, presumptuous attitude not even worthy of a defence. When I look at those faces I don't see white or rich.

Re:Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA

[OnePumpChump]

That reflects badly on both of us, Patty. This record should be held by an American.

Perhaps you should check your priorities...

[CorporateSuit]

Would it be ok if they were selling you guys out to Canadian lobby groups?

Re:Perhaps you should check your priorities...

[Anonymous Coward]

Such a prospect assumes that there exists Canadian IP that is worth protecting.

Re:Perhaps you should check your priorities...

[Anonymous Coward]

Typically moreso than American

Re:Perhaps you should check your priorities...

[WrongSizeGlass]

Such a prospect assumes that there exists Canadian IP that is worth protecting.

Isn't William Shatner worth protecting?

Re:Perhaps you should check your priorities...

[Mordok-DestroyerOfWo]

I think Celine Dion, William Shatner, Bryan Adams, and Nickelback would beg to differ!

Re:Perhaps you should check your priorities...

[Darkness404]

Exactly! We need to protect everyone from the horrors of Nickleback. Perhaps we should give them 300 year copyright?

Re:Perhaps you should check your priorities...

[biryokumaru]

Such a prospect assumes that there exists Canadian IP that is worth protecting.

I think Celine Dion, William Shatner, Bryan Adams, and Nickelback would beg to differ!

They must have a fairly low opinion of themselves, eh?

Re:Perhaps you should check your priorities...

[Anonymous Coward]

I think Celine Dion, William Shatner, Bryan Adams, and Nickelback would beg to differ!

And that bitch Anne Murray too...

Re:Perhaps you should check your priorities...

[shutdown -p now]

Oh, c'mon. Canada has long since redeemed itself for Celine Dion!

Re:Perhaps you should check your priorities...

[ControlsGeek]

You're absolutely right but now we need to start apologizing for Jusin Bieber.

Been waiting...

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm quite disgusted also. I've been emailing the office of the prime minister for over two months in regards to the ACTA. It is quite pathetic they cannot even take the time to address an issue in the active public eye. Even a generic spin would be nice. All I've been asking for is some information on the stance of my own government.

We as Canadians should lobby. This is a disgust that the Harper government is not taking into account the will of the people whatsoever.

Re:Been waiting...

[rsborg]

All I've been asking for is some information on the stance of my own government.

What we're witnessing, I fear, is the broadcast model of government: You and your country's wealth are the product, to be sold to the highest bidding corporation(s). We've had this system in the USA for quite some time, and it's been great for the Corporations.

Re:Been waiting...

[ae1294]

What we're witnessing, I fear, is the broadcast model of government: You and your country's wealth are the product, to be sold to the highest bidding corporation(s). We've had this system in the USA for quite some time, and it's been great for the Corporations.

That's why it's my honor to introduce, for the first time, and probably, last time here on /. ... "The Corporation"... An organization funded by Americans for Americans that will lobby, bribe, steal and rape for each and every shareholder of our Corporation. For a small quad-monthly fee of $150,000 US you too can have your very own army of high price yes men, lawyers and what power elite's package would truly be complete without the blackjack tables and those wonderful high price escorts!

This is a limited time offer, join today, restrictions apply, void where prohibited (unless you pay extra), operators have been strapped down and are waiting to take your call...

Re:Been waiting...

[alexo]

I've been emailing the office of the prime minister for over two months in regards to the ACTA.

You are doing it wrong.

Join the Canadian Pirate Party

[Anonymous Coward]

Along with writing your MP, you could also get involved in the Canadian Pirate Party.

Don't let 'em, congress!

[T Murphy]

I hope our US congress claims copyright over the DMCA and files a takedown notice on you Canadians. Stealing our horrible draconian legislation? You wish!

Re:Don't let 'em, congress!

[noidentity]

I hope our US congress claims copyright over the DMCA and files a takedown notice on you Canadians. Stealing our horrible draconian legislation? You wish!

Copying, not stealing. I wish they'd steal the DMCA from us.

Sell-out

[gyrogeerloose]

Watching Harper sell out Canadians in favour of US lobby groups is an affront.

If it makes you feel any better, watching our own Congress sell out all of us who live in the United States to US lobby groups was just as bad.

Re:Sell-out

[OrwellianLurker]

Watching Harper sell out Canadians in favour of US lobby groups is an affront.

If it makes you feel any better, watching our own Congress sell out all of us who live in the United States to US lobby groups was just as bad.

Yes, US lobbying groups, who represent multinational corporations, own our Congress.

Re:Sell-out

[countertrolling]

It can't be that bad.. After all, you watch your congress sell you out time after time, and yet, you punish them by reelecting them to office time after time. The job must be really horrible to subject them to this kind of treatment..

Re:DMC-

[useless4321]

*sigh* nevermind, wrongsizeglass beat me to it

Ok, really?

[Darkness404]

Ok, looking at what the US DMCA has done, can you really say its improved the US in any way? Lets see here, thanks to the DMCA we now have judges wasting their time on victimless crimes, record companies still screwing artists and a rush of high-tech jobs out of the US.

The DMCA hinders education, harms jobs and makes developing in China and India even better. Why Canada would even consider such a terrible piece of legislation is beyond me.

Re:Ok, really?

[vux984]

Why Canada would even consider such a terrible piece of legislation is beyond me.

Its probably something stupid like a bargaining chip in the softwood lumber tarrif disputes or some such nonsense.

Re:Ok, really?

[Mashiki]

Considering we have strict copyright laws already in existence and a levy system on most blank media. This is stupid, idiotic, and removes the right that you "own" a device. And I'm a member of the CPC who votes at delegate conventions. I guess it's physical letter writing time to my MP and others again, along with some other things.

Re:Ok, really?

[Nerdfest]

When I sent in a letter to my MP against Bill C61, I got a form letter back. It was an email actually, and this time I will send a physical letter.

Re:Ok, really?

[Mashiki]

Physical letters always work best. Email is always dismissed out of hand despite the use of it, even in parliament. I'll say this, politicians get worried when they drown in paper from the public.

Re:Ok, really?

[Anonymous Coward]

Because NOBODY IS FUCKING LOSING ANY MONEY

I won't be buying your shitty album or paying to see your shitty movie. This is true if I download it or I don't download it.

End of discussion.

Re:Ok, really?

[CondeZer0]

> This is stupid, idiotic, and removes the right that you "own" a device.

Exactly!

The harder they try to crack down on copyright infringement, the more they illustrate that so called "intellectual property" is inherently incompatible with real physical property.

The US is paying an extremely heavy price for the DMCA, and instead of fixing things it now wants to pull everyone down into the same nightmare, and now Canada is willfully following down that same path :(

I'm sure that next the US will start exporting the Patriot Act and the TSA.

Re:Ok, really?

[Late Adopter]

Ok, looking at what the US DMCA has done, can you really say its improved the US in any way?

It's kept sites like Youtube afloat, by explicitly absolving them of liability from user-uploaded copyright violations.

Re:Ok, really?

[Andorin]

Right, and you've brought up one of the few good things about the DMCA. Unfortunately, this and its other positive benefits do not justify all the other negative crap that went into that law.

Re:Ok, really?

[shadowbearer]

Lets see here, thanks to the DMCA we now have judges wasting their time on victimless crimes, record companies still screwing artists and a rush of high-tech jobs out of the US.

  Yeah, some things haven't changed much in the last few decades, have they.

  The DMCA wasn't the cause of all that, just another horrific side effect, one that made things even worse.

SB

Re:Canadians taking action.....

[Locke2005]

Actually, being upset with your PM sounds a lot more British than American. Being pissed off because your President has dark skin -- now THAT'S American!

Re:Canadians taking action.....

[irreverant]

I'm just surprised their doing something.... i mean it's Canada.

Re:DMC-

[biryokumaru]

You're just useless, aren't you?

Canada...an incredible country

[bogaboga]

Canada has always fascinated me. If Americans were to close his/her eyes then open them when in Canada, they would not notice that much of a difference. Exceptions would be in the currency and the way they spell some of their words like "neighbour".

But on a serious note, none of the big tech companies in the USA launch their products across the border.

Heck, setting up an online store to charge Canadians the full price of say the HTC Incredible would not hurt the vendor. All costs/risks etc could be met by the purchaser...but big store companies will not even take orders from Canadians!

Why? You would wonder...why? Can a Slashdotter explain? Is it Canada's fault that the situation is this way?

Re:Canada...an incredible country

[cayenne8]

"Canada has always fascinated me. If Americans were to close his/her eyes then open them when in Canada, they would not notice that much of a difference. Exceptions would be in the currency and the way they spell some of their words like "neighbour"."

Yeah..but if you go up there and and say publicly that "I think [insert racial, sexual orientation, etc type slang] suck" and you can actually get busted for "hate speech".

Re:Canada...an incredible country

[Anonymous Coward]

There are legal problems. First of all, the product would need to have labelling in French and English. Second, for telecomm products, the Canadian equivalent to the FCC needs to approve it. If there is media involved, then it has to have a certain % of Canadian content, by law. Then there's customs and duty.

These are not insurmountable problems, but most U.S. companies figure the market is too small (only 30 mil people) for them to bother putting in the extra effort.

Re:Canada...an incredible country

[Jerry Rivers]

The chances of anybody getting "busted for hate speech" are close to zero. Canadians love free speech as much as anyone. It's even enshrined in their constitution.

Re:Canada...an incredible country

[cayenne8]

"The chances of anybody getting "busted for hate speech" are close to zero."

Anything above zero...is too much, IMHO.

Re:Canada...an incredible country

[atomic777]

I think it is mostly due to laziness on the part of American businesses and the administrative headache of dealing with different country-level regulations.

There are two markets for the American MBA: America, and not-America. When your average PHB looks at the potential money to be made in Canada selling products/services, he looks at it as going through a whole lot of effort to gain an (English-speaking) market a bit bigger than Texas (Quebec brings Canada's population up to 34m, but adding another language to the mix makes it even less desirable)

Once a business has saturated the US market and is looking to expand abroad, that's when we seem to get the goods, although I'm increasingly seeing US businesses bypass Canada and head for the UK market first.

This often works in reverse though -- many European businesses look at Canada as pseudo-European (or America-lite, depending on your viewpoint) and will test out products here first. For example, the Smart car was available in Canada long before it was available down in the US.

Re:Canada...an incredible country

[JustNiz]

>> and the way they spell some of their words like "neighbour". ...and what makes you incorrectly presume that the US is the reference authority of the English language? Actually its the US that is the odd country out when it comes to spelling English words properly.

Re:Canada...an incredible country

[Anonymous Coward]

Obviously, the right to publicly hate on minorities (or majorities) is totally awesome! I love societies where you're allowed to publicly insight violence by repeatedly loudly shouting shit like: "Blacks are are lazy bums that cause all our problems"
  and "Jews own the banks and they caused the GFC (The blacks told them to do it)" that kind of stuff should TOTALLY be legal!!

I wouldn't want to live in a country where I couldn't say that!!

PS. I live in Australia. Seriously, getting busted for hate speech is hard. You *really* have to go all out and say some pretty ridiculous shit. And you have to say it a lot. You probably have to have it recorded on video too. And someone has to get offended and actually report it.

Re:Canada...an incredible country

[Man On Pink Corner]

PS. I live in Australia.

Then you have very little moral authority on the matter of freedom of speech, or many other freedoms for that matter.

Re:Canada...an incredible country

[frank_adrian314159]

If Americans were to close his/her eyes then open them when in Canada, they would not notice that much of a difference. Exceptions would be in the currency and the way they spell some of their words like "neighbour".

They'd see more hockey, too but, other than that, yeah...

Re:Canada...an incredible country

[ADRA]

I don't know what the heck you're trying to say about "HTC Incredible" full price. The Incredible isn't available in Canada because nobody is selling it here yet. HTC has to choose to open the retail chain supply for Canada, Google has to bless their part of the deal which is the apps / market, a store has to be compelled to actually carry the phone, and buyers have to be compelled to buy them. On top of that there's the fed who can hold up any device from being used (aka sold) in Canada if the device was never certified for electrical interference, etc..

The question why 'Enter some product here' isn't available in Canada (or any other countries not already supported) usually comes down to 2 reasons:
1. The market rewards aren't big enough to justify the hurdles of entering the market
2. Said company wants to market the product in said country, but haven't met all the regulatory or market limitations needed to make a compelling entry into the market

For your example of the Incredible, the most likely reason why it isn't in Canada is because they probably haven't found a carrier to subsidize the phone day one. Why wasn't the iPhone not sold in Canada for a year after being available in the US? The reason is probably the same. Until they had a carrier agreement with Rogers, no iPhones were sold directly to customers in Canada.

"But on a serious note, none of the big tech companies in the USA launch their products across the border."
This is just wrong. Get educated or stop making inflammatory comments.

"but big store companies will not even take orders from Canadians"
Many companies couldn't be bothered to support Canada or other nations because of the stupidly complex system of taxation, levies, surcharges, etc.. that a company needs to jump through in order to properly sell any products across borders directly to consumers. Besides the few retailers online like Paypal / Amazon, there aren't many services that will offer to buy / sell products from/to anywhere in the world.

Re:Canada...an incredible country

[shutdown -p now]

and the way they spell some of their words like "neighbour". ...and what makes you incorrectly presume that the US is the reference authority of the English language?

Where did GP claim the U.S. to be the "reference authority"? He merely remarked that Canada does things differently (though in practice, I do see a lot of American spelling here).

In any case, there's no single standard for English, so arguing which one is "more right" is, frankly, moronic (though reading the talk pages on Wikipedia on articles such as aluminum/aluminium can be a lot of fun!).

Re:Canada...an incredible country

[theheadlessrabbit]

...Canadians love free speech as much as anyone. It's even enshrined in their constitution.

actually, in Canada, its not "free speech" its "free expression",
2. "Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms: ... (b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication"
so it sounds even more powerful than the American 1st amendment...we can express ourselves freely across any medium.

but then their are the weasel words from section 1 that take all the teeth right out of that statement:
"The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society"

reasonable limits?
well, that's not so good.....but its still reasonable, I guess.....it's a good thing we don't have a notwithstanding clause at the very end of the charter, turning the entire document into a farce...oh, wait...Damn.

Re:Canada...an incredible country

[laughingcoyote]

Obviously, the right to publicly hate on minorities (or majorities) is totally awesome!

Yes, actually, it is. Now that doesn't mean actually doing it is awesome, or that I in any way agree with doing such a thing. In fact, most people find such speech highly offensive (and that includes many who are not members of the minority in question).

However, it means I can also say things, without worrying if people find them offensive. I can say "Religions are fairy tales for adults" or "The last president was a sack of shit and this one's only marginally better if at all" or "I wish all corporations larger than a certain size would be broken up". I cannot be prosecuted for saying any of those things, even though there are people who will strongly dislike each of those statements.

In exchange for that right, I'll gladly accept a few idiots wearing their white hoods and going around spouting crap. If anything, that educates the public on just how ridiculous and ignorant those people are. And a lot of people exercise the right they do have in that scenario-to point out just how stupid it is.

Re:Canada...an incredible country

[grcumb]

Yeah..but if you go up there and and say publicly that "I think [insert racial, sexual orientation, etc type slang] suck" and you can actually get busted for "hate speech".

No you can't.

Hate speech requires that you make actual threats against a given group. In fact, even saying 'All ${FOO}s should die!' isn't enough to get you busted. It has to be clear that you are actually advocating for their collective demise. You could even say, 'I'm going to kill that ${FOO} right now!' and not be guilty of hate speech, because your hatred was aimed at an individual whom you incidentally were calling names.

But way, way before you get to the point of being arrested, you'll be shunned for being the bigot that you are, if you don't get punched in the face for your efforts. See, we Canadians value free speech so much that we try[*] to be polite and respectful when we use it.

If you want to be a know-nothing, racist fuckwit in Canada, you can. But it'll be a pretty lonely existence.

-------------
[*] All bets are off at a hockey game.

Re:Canada...an incredible country

[SpeedyDX]

Actually, there are many barriers to entry into the Canadian marketplace. Taxes, ownership restrictions, tariffs, operational regulations, etc. are all important considerations. In fact, for many products and services, entry into the Canadian marketplace faces more barriers than many other EU or Asian countries.

One of the first and most restrictive factors is the ownership and management restrictions. Take the wireless industry for example. A wireless carrier has to have at least 50% Canadian ownership in order to operate in Canada. This means that T-Mobile, for example, can't just waddle over across the border and start buying frequency, putting up towers, and offering a service. We've had a recent case where it was debated whether or not a certain wireless carrier (Wind Mobile) actually met that ownership requirement. There's also a general requirement for all corporations that the Board of Directors is comprised of at least 25% Canadians (or a minimum of 1 Canadian if the Board has less than 4 Directors).

Many of our industries are much more tightly regulated than are your industries. As I've briefly mentioned in a previous comment, Canada really is more of a socialist country with a market framework. The skeletal infrastructure of our economy is based on market economics, but we flesh that out with quite a heavy load (comparative to America) of social regulations that protect consumers from power asymmetry that arises from market failure, e.g., information asymmetry, natural monopolies,etc..

Many of these regulations are restrictive enough such that a company may consider that an investment in complying with such regulations would not really be worth it for a shot at the comparatively smaller marketplace. Since American companies design products and their respective distribution plans with American regulations in mind, it would take a significant investment to create another roll-out plan for the Canadian marketplace. We only have 30-odd million people, 1/10 of the American population, and our buying power for non-essential items is generally lower because of the way our consumption taxes are structured*.

On the one hand, we don't get many of the new and sparkly fancy gadgets right away. But that's okay, I'm pretty patient for the most part. It's not that big of a deal. Companies big and successful enough will eventually bring their products over the border. On the other hand, we as consumers and taxpayers are protected from many of the perils that arise from market failure. The biggest recent example is the global financial crisis. While many global banks and companies required bailouts, our financial institutions continued to post modest profits and showed a remarkable ability to quickly recover.

So yeah, there are many barriers to entry into the Canadian marketplace, mostly because of our traditional approach towards market economics that's more skewed towards the socialist side. But even though we may not get the latest cool gadgets or the cheapest deals, we're very well protected from many potential disasters that result from market failure. I wouldn't really call this a fault. I'm a patient guy. I can wait 3 more months for that iPad, or another 6 months for that HTC phone. Small price to pay, in my book.

* It's worth noting that our minimum wage is higher than in America, the last time I checked. The general minimum wage is $10.25 an hour in Ontario, and the average is over $9 across Canada (with only 2 provinces falling below $8.50). However, there are a few factors that influence buying power. The first is that non-essential items are almost always taxed higher throughout Canada. For example, groceries, utilities, etc. are exempt from the federal consumption tax. Alcoh

Re:Canada...an incredible country

[Anonymous Coward]

Her name is Sheila Copps and she was the first "Heritage Minister". She instituted policy that (among other things) raised the price of imported American print media - magazines are what come to mind - significantly. This was done in the name of protecting our Canadian Heritage from the influence of the big, bad USA.

Plenty more that cunt did to fuck us over, not insignificantly she was the catalyst behind the Liberal Party Infighting during Chretien's leadership and partially under Martin. It wasn't uncommon to hear insults hurled at Sheila during Question Period back in the day. She was a lippy hosebag who never should have been elected a second time. (everybody gets one up here)

Re:Canada...an incredible country

[Toonol]

I love societies where you're allowed to publicly insight violence by repeatedly loudly shouting shit like: "Blacks are are lazy bums that cause all our problems"

So do I.

Re:Canada...an incredible country

[TermV]

Actually that's not true. Canada has a human rights commission that runs tribunals for suspected hate speech. These guys get to set the definition of hate speech and enforce rulings from tribunals that require a significantly lower standard of evidence than normal courts.

In any event, the Canadian charter of rights and freedoms contains a notwithstanding clause that allows laws to be passed that will deny any of the rights in section 2, 7-15 of our charter. That's actually extremely frightening when you read what those are. Theoretically Canada could legally reproduce the holocaust, but we can't take away your right to speak French.

Re:Canada...an incredible country

[dryeo]

We get idiots going around in white hoods, burning crosses, and spouting all kinds of crap, in other words exercising their free speech. What they can't do is do it right in front of some black folks home.

Re:Canada...an incredible country

[dryeo]

And yet the local paper is full of letters to the editor saying much what you describe.

Re:Canada...an incredible country

[yukk]

And you have to not be Pauline Hanson apparently.

Re:Canada...an incredible country

[Jerry Rivers]

There's also a time limit of five years on the clause, though it can be renewed by a new parliament. It's also only been used for relatively minor provincial laws, all of which have expired. So there are other checks and balances in place. It's not as simplistic to use as you make it out to be.

As for the commission, it is also free to decline to hear cases, which it has done, and few if any have ever resulted in any kind of censure.

So, I stand by my previous statement. The chances of you EVER being convicted, let alone accused, of hate speech in Canada is close to zero. You would have make it a career and publish broadly to even get a hearing.

Re:Canada...an incredible country

[SuiteSisterMary]

The Canadian version can be rephrased as 'your right to throw a punch ends where my nose begins.'

Re:Canada...an incredible country

[JustNiz]

>> In any case, there's no single standard for English

Of course there is. Its as used in England. Thats why its called English.

Re:Canada...an incredible country

[shutdown -p now]

It's called English for historical reasons. That doesn't mean that English people own it exclusively. But if you insist, we could rename it "American". After all, that's what most non-native speakers know.

Frankly, looking at how the Brits mutilated their own language in the last 200 years or so (such as sticking "-our" randomly all over the place, even where it doesn't belong morphologically), I think that they've lost any moral claims to guardianship of the language.

(No, I'm not an American.)

Re:Canada...an incredible country

[JustNiz]

>> But if you insist, we could rename it "American".
Much better. I agree wholeheartedly.

>> After all, that's what most non-native speakers know.

Sorry but I think the population of India, Australia, Canada and all the other ex-colonies except the US would disagree with that.

Re:Canada...an incredible country

[shutdown -p now]

Sorry but I think the population of India, Australia, Canada and all the other ex-colonies except the US would disagree with that.

Hence why I said "non-native".

(English is a native language for the majority of Indians, by the way.)

Re:Canada...an incredible country

[Rudeboy777]

This isn't exactly true given the rise of federal and provincial Human Rights Tribunals in Canada. Jailtime may not be a big risk, but financial ruin is.

http://www.macleans.ca/article.jsp?content=20080227_1488_1488

Ted Kindos of Burlington, Ont., has already spent $20,000 of his own dough defending himself against a "human rights" complaint and estimates he'll add another six figures to that before it's all done.

Keep in mind this is occurring OUTSIDE OF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND THE COURT SYSTEM

I am deeply ashamed this can and does happen in Canada today. General discontent against these Human Rights Commissions is building, but not fast enough.

Re:Canada...an incredible country

[JustNiz]

OK well by that definition that includes all the European countries except the UK, as British English (i.e. not American) is the official EU language, yet is not the native language of EU countries (except the UK) so is a second language to everyone except Brits. The EU alone provides nearly 3 times the entire population of the US as non-native British English speakers.

Why is it that Americans are always so arrogant/naive in assuming everything they/the US have and do is biggest/best? Is the education system there really that low quality?

Re:Canada...an incredible country

[shutdown -p now]

OK well by that definition that includes all the European countries except the UK, as British English (i.e. not American) is the official EU language, yet is not the native language of EU countries (except the UK) so is a second language to everyone except Brits. The EU alone provides nearly 3 times the entire population of the US as non-native British English speakers.

Any kind of "official languages" or other legal fiction doesn't enter into it. A non-native speaker is someone who speaks the language, not everyone living in a country which has that language as an official one. Do you claim that all Europeans who learn and speak English, learn and speak British English specifically?

Why is it that Americans are always so arrogant/naive in assuming everything they/the US have and do is biggest/best? Is the education system there really that low quality?

I. Am. Not. An. American. (why do I have to repeat it, again?). I don't even live in U.S. I'm not a native speaker. I was taught British English originally.

I do think that it's Brits who are naive (arrogant is a given) in assuming that British English matters much today, or is going to matter in the future. In practice, American English is a de facto standard communication language on the Net for people of all nationalities, and increasingly so outside of it, as more and more people learn their English on the Net. Those of us who don't often still switch, because, well, most everyone else spells it American way.

What I find especially ironic is that, here in Canada at least, I do see a lot of American spelling, despite you claiming that it's a "British English country". Nominally it still is, sure. Let's see how long that lasts.

-1, Redundant

[Andorin]

The ACTA will do that anyway.

Remember the plagiarised report on copyright?

[Scrameustache]

a deceptive, plagiarized report on the digital economy that copied text from the International Intellectual Property Alliance (the primary movie, music, and software lobby in the U.S.), at times without full attribution. The report itself was funded by copyright lobby groups (U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Canadian Anti-Counterfeiting Network, Copyright Collective of Canada which represents U.S. film production) along with the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation. The role of the Ontario government obviously raises questions about taxpayer dollars being used to pay for a report that simply recycles the language of a U.S. lobby group paper.

Re:If no one will say it, I will......

[gyrogeerloose]

careful canada, you guy's are dangerous.

Hey, you've obviously never spent any time in one of those wild Canadian border towns. Take in the Donkey Show at West Lynne, Manitoba some time and you'll see how dangerous those Canucks can be.

Re:If no one will say it, I will......

[irreverant]

Is it anything like the Donkey show in Tijuana?

Take the time to write your MP

[Fuji Kitakyusho]

I became aware of this while reading Michael Geist's blog this morning (http://www.michaelgeist.ca/) - a good resource for information about copyright law, privacy matters and so forth. I'm in the process of composing a letter to my MP right now, and I encourage all of the Canadians here to follow suit. Only by voicing your concerns can you be an agent of change.

Re:Take the time to write your MP

[Digital Vomit]

Only by voicing your concerns can you be an agent of change.

Surely, by "voicing your concerns" you meant "lining their pockets", right?

The Deal Is Done

[mindbrane]

It's unlikely to do any good lobbying Harper. Harper's unfulfilled dream is to be President of the U.S.A. He's as much big business, especially big oil business, as any American President could be. Further Harper's modus operandi demands he serve the wishes of the copyright lobby. His use of the media to cast his opponents in the worst possible light is his guiding star as a politician. He's a consummate sophist, seemingly utterly without any philosophy, other than to win and hold onto power. He has done cameos in various popular TV shows in slick, self deprecating clips. A politician who relies as heavily on superficial, mass media self promotion as does Harper will cut a wink 'n nod, tacit deal with big media companies. I think it's critically important to note the heavy use politicians in all countries make of mass media to further their political agendas. In the U.S.A. a loop is closing around the American citizenry. Big government, the military industrial complex and big, mass media corporations comprise an unholy trinity. In Canada the military industrial complex is missing but the possible crippling of the rights of individual citizens remains as much of a threat as corporations are given greater entitlements while being able to shield themselves from just punishments for their wrong doings. Two main problems come from the need to create jobs and compete internationally. Politicians need job creation programmes to bring home the bacon to their constituents and big business can deliver massive job creation programmes as well as threaten massive job losses. Further the majority of advanced, industrialized countries seemed to have opted for promoting mega corporations as a new, privileged class akin to medieval knights whose resources better ensure successful international competition.

How can the internet get involved?

[Hovden]

I'm not Canadian, nor is most of the internet. However, I feel the internet can have big influence. Slashdot culture is well aware of this. So I ask, how can I (and others) get involved? There is a world of literate people who will get involved.

buh-bye isohunt

[el chief]

I guess this would mean the end of isohunt? a great canadian torrent tracker

Re:buh-bye isohunt

[k3vlar]

AFAIK IsoHunt isn't a tracker... that's how they've avoided takedowns by the CRIA and similar for so long. They simply index the content of other trackers, acting like a search engine.

Takedowns are _not_ a creature of the DMCA

[John Hasler]

The DMCA DRM provisions are pernicious (though not as powerful as most here seem to believe). The DMCA "Safe Harbor" provisions are not. Takedowns would exist without them. However, without "Safe Harbor" they would not have to follow a prescribed form, there would be no counter-takedown procedure, there would be no 30 day deadline for filing for infringement, and most important of all, service providers would be liable even if they complied with takedowns. The DMCA Safe Harbor does not expand the rights or powers of copyright owners in any way. On the contrary, it reduces them. Without the DMCA there would be no YouTube.

Unfortunately from what I have seen the DMCA-like statutes proposed in other countries seems to only expand the rights and powers of copyright owners without providing any additional protection for users. Don't let them pass. If that puts you in violation of TRIPS, tough. Withdraw from the damn thing: it's crap. If you must enact a local DMCA, at least make sure it goes no farther than the US one does (and insist that it create a fair use right if you don't already have one and does not reduce it if you do).

Re:Takedowns are _not_ a creature of the DMCA

[Lloyd_Bryant]

Unfortunately from what I have seen the DMCA-like statutes proposed in other countries seems to only expand the rights and powers of copyright owners without providing any additional protection for users. Don't let them pass. If that puts you in violation of TRIPS, tough. Withdraw from the damn thing: it's crap. If you must enact a local DMCA, at least make sure it goes no farther than the US one does (and insist that it create a fair use right if you don't already have one and does not reduce it if you do).

And most importantly, include some real penalties for misuse. The single largest (but by no means only) flaw in the U.S. DMCA is the fact that while those misusing it can *potentially* face charges of perjury, in reality there's no chance of anyone being prosecuted for doing so unless they are already on the shit list of a US Attorney.

The DMCA should have *civil* penalties for those who abuse it, so that those who are victimized by the abuse have a direct recourse, rather than having to rely on the government to deal with the abuser.

electoral boundaries

[Chirs]

The Prime Minister is not elected directly, he's simply the head of the party that got the most seats.

Currently the Conservatives are the government, but they don't hold a majority of seats in the house of Commons, so to get anything passed they need to convince at least some representatives of the other parties that it's a good idea.

The Conservatives were largely elected because of a happen-stance of how electoral boundaries are drawn. For instance, I myself live in the city but my electoral district includes a lot of rural area. The rural area tends to vote Conservative, so my own vote for _any_ other party is basically worthless.

Re:electoral boundaries

[SpottedKuh]

The Prime Minister is not elected directly, he's simply the head of the party that got the most seats.

To clarify further, the prime minister can actually be any person at all (it's constitutionally questionable whether the prime minister even need be a Canadian citizen over 18 years of age). The Canadian system of government is very different from the American system, and few Canadians know how our system actually works (thanks to bombardment of American media and their electoral system).

The head of state is the Queen of Canada, Elizabeth II, who is also the Queen of England. Her duties are carried out by the Queen's representative in Canada, the Governor General (currently Michaëlle Jean), who is appointed by the Queen on the advice of the prime minister.

When elections are called in Canada (which happens every five years, or sooner if the government loses the confidence of the house), Canadians go to the polls and elect 308 representatives to the House of Commons -- one representative from each riding in the country, in a first-past-the-poll vote. While there are some independent members elected to the house, typically the members come from one of the four major political parties: the Conservatives (right-of-centre), the Liberals (central), the New Democratic Party (left-of-centre), or the Bloc Québécois (a Quebec-interest-only party). The Green Party (left-of-centre) has also nearly elected some members to the house, and briefly held a house seat after one member crossed the floor.

Once the 308 members have been elected to the house, the Governor General chooses someone to be the prime minister. That person will form a government by choosing people (here, I mean anyone he or she pleases from the general population) to be their ministers.

The newly formed government, with the prime minister chosen by the Governor General and ministers chosen by the prime minister, then faces a vote of confidence by the house. Here is where the elected representatives of Canada have their say: do they have confidence in the abilities of the newly formed government to lead the country? If they say no, the Governor General must either find a new prime minister and government that could hold the confidence of the house, or dissolve parliament and call a new election to find 308 new representatives.

So, in practice, in order to ensure that the chosen prime minister and government will have the confidence of the house, the Governor General will appoint the leader of the party with the most seats in parliament as the prime minister. But, with all that said, it's important to note that our system is very, very different from the American system in which a president is elected.

I sent this:

[Khyber]

To the contact provided on this web link and I bet this will put a fat dent in it coming to fruition:

Mr. Harper,

Speaking as an American citizen, I'm glad you are selling out to our interests. I love having more slaves indebted to our system and YOU especially make a rather appropriate addition to our collection of sockpuppets with no real power or intelligence.

Keep up the good work, and bring me more slaves to do our bidding!

Re:I sent this:

[squinty_s]

lol, like politicians understand satire.

Re:I sent this:

[ceoyoyo]

Hey! That's a good idea! Send one to the Liberal leader while you're at it, but word it so that he's likely to give it to the media as a shot at Harper.

Re:I sent this:

[Khyber]

That's the point. He'll think I'm totally serious.

Re:Canadians taking action.....

[ControlsGeek]

Harper is a little busy right now telling the EU to get stuffed, we are not gonna tax OUR banks to pay for THEIR losses, Telling Hillary Clintons various and sundry non profit groups to get stuffed we are not gonna pay for abortions in the third world, and telling assorted Canadian opposition parties to get stuffed in general, But when he's free I'm sure he'll have time to answer your friendly note and tell you to get stuffed.

Bleh...

[alexandre]

Harper is just a totalitarian freak, 99% of the last round of comments on Bill C-61 were against it in one way or another...
http://www.michaelgeist.ca/ has been awesome at covering this and not letting it all go under the carpet but he can't save Canada alone!

Re:What, AGAIN?

[davecb]

The PM said it didn't matter...

--dave

American Style Corruption in Canada?

[gink1]

Sounds like Stephen Harper has been taking a few of those American style Corporate Millions. Sure can change you legislate eh Stephen?

Take some aqction that matters.

[TihSon]

If you did not know why Canada needs The Pirate Party of Canada before today, I imagine it is becoming clearer to you. http://www.pirateparty.ca/

Re:Take some aqction that matters.

[Hindgrinder]

We are standing on the brink of a Golden Age of Information Freedom....i'd hate to trade that for corporate profit regulated by revised maritime law. Fair use for the win! Go Pirates Go! HG

Levy Tax

[Hamsterdan]

So I guess they will remove the Levy Tax on recordable media?

Re:If no one will say it, I will......

[hampton]

you guy's are dangerous.

I'm not your guy, buddy!

If at first you don't succeed...

[Xelios]

One of the most disgusting things about this situation is that assholes like Harper can just keep introducing DMCA-style laws over and over again. Didn't make it through the legislature? Too much public opposition? No problem! We'll give it 6 months then we'll just start all over again. Eventually they will succeed in sneaking it through, and once it's through it's pretty much there for good.

Sometimes I just hate the world we live in.

RISE!

[hom3chuk]

Rise my Canadian comrades!

United North America, here it comes

[squinty_s]

I'm sure this is just one of the items on the roadmap of those pushing for the NWO. Certain things need to be in place before North America starts using the 'Amero' currency.

Cory Doctorow

[DarthVain]

Had a nice lecture on TVO (TV Ontario) last week on Copyright. I watched the whole thing.

I couldn't find the lecture, but I did find the interview:

http://www.tvo.org/TVO/WebObjects/TVO.woa?videoid?50148434001

The left had doesn't care what the right hand...

[eldurbarn]

One branch of our government works hard to ensure Canadian content. They are charged with ensuring that we are not overwhelmed by the colossus that is the US media industry. They fear that our culture could be eroded when all that's available in the public media forum is someone else's culture.

Another branch of government is bowing to pressure from the US: "Adopt our style of enforcement or we will stop supplying your people with vast quantities of 'entertaining' material that extols the obvious virtue our culture." (Notice that I neglect to even address how this supply is designed to make money flow from other countries to the US.)

I see such a simple solution here: keep a nice, free copyright environment here in Canada that encourages new, creative and vibrant work, which is the stated purpose of copyright in the first place, and let the US worry about not overwhelming us.

Win-win.

(YMMV, IANAL, and other disclaimers apply)

Re:If no one will say it, I will......

[BigJClark]

Hmm, how well did that solution serve you for two-term bush?

We need a Canadian EFF

[Qwertie]

I would give plenty of money to it. I suppose I'll have to settle for the Pirate Party of Canada.

It's not the people, it's the system!

[jonaskoelker]

Personally I advocate throwing the party leaders out on their collective asses.

And once the parties elect new leaders, then what?

I don't think policies are bad because politicians are bad, because all politicians are bad. I think policies are bad because the system that makes the policies is a bad system.

Democracy worked well when everybody met at the marketplace in Athens. When you have to take a day off from work and travel for several hours to meet your national politicians (if you live in a small place), only the well-off will be able to show up personally and pressure their politicians.

See also the fall of the roman empire: when the provinces got too far away from Rome and didn't have any real political influence, they didn't really stick. Similarly when the US detached itself from English rule: the citizens were too far away from and had too little influence on those who were making policy.

But now we can all talk over long distances without moving our bodies (by tube, truck or pipe). I think maybe---just maybe---participatory democracy might give the people more sane policy. It's said (somewhat derogatorily) among economists that in a democracy, you get the policies the average voter can understand. I think this is true for a participatory democracy, but this is much better than the pork what's-the-word policies you get when the politicians are hidden away from the public view.

I think this would be a better system, not one composed of better people (who are few and far between).

Re:Canadians taking action.....

[irreverant]

you mean using they're as opposed to their as in they are taking action? Your right they're should have been used, it's proper grammar, however, subtleties are lost on you, cause us ignant amerikans can't not spell. Especially with the fact that i just misspelled both ignorant, and Americans all while using a double-negative, It was a play on words meaning, that I used their as a possessive term, in that Canadians are owning their - correct usage - rights, and doing something about it, but your write ( homonym pun ), us Americans are dumb like that. But I hope all Canadians are not as nescient as you are. Oh, and if you don't know what that means, look up it's synonyms in a Thesaurus.