You wrote "it is my understanding they committed the offense while not in the US", but as they are not US citizens and their company is in the Isle of Man, they are subject to the laws of the Isle of Man. As such, they have not committed any crime.
On the other hand, if the US law prohibits US citizens from using the service, then it is the US citizen that has broken the law and should be punished under US law.
"Before the Copyright Act was amended in 1998, copying any sound recording for almost any purpose infringed copyright, although, in practice, the prohibition was largely unenforceable. The amendment to the Act legalized private copying of sound recordings of musical works onto audio recording media - i.e., the copying of pre-recorded music for the private use of the person who makes the copy."
So it's legal to make personal copies of music in Canada.
Microsoft have tried to support a *real* O/S, Xenix. I used this on AT class hardware many years ago and this got me hooked on Unix and other derivatives (AT&T SvR4.3, Minix, SCO Xenix, SCO Unix, Novell / SCO Unixware, and obviously Linux). ( See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenix for a brief history of Microsoft's involvment in Unix) But, as you note, they seem to be primarily a marketing company, and it's in their best interest to promote the O/S that sells and gives them the greatest return for their investment.
Well, as a Canadian, I'm interested in the tax on blank media. So after a couple of minutes on the Copyright Board of Canada's web site at http://www.cb-cda.gc.ca/info/act-e.html#rid-33760 I've found:-
Copying for Private Use
80. (1) Subject to subsection (2), the act of reproducing all or any substantial part of
(a) a musical work embodied in a sound recording,
(b) a performer's performance of a musical work embodied in a sound recording, or
(c) a sound recording in which a musical work, or a performer's performance of a musical work, is embodied
onto an audio recording medium for the private use of the person who makes the copy does not constitute an infringement of the copyright in the musical work, the performer's performance or the sound recording.
So copying for private use (no selling or re-broadcasting) is not a copyright infringement in Canada. So I'll keep paying the tax on the blank media and downloading music (for personal use) onto that media.
Whenever life gets you down, Mrs. Brown, And things seem hard or tough, And people are stupid, obnoxious or daft,
And you feel that you've had quite eno-o-o-o-o-ough,
Just remember that you're standing on a planet that's evolving And reolving at nine thousand miles an hour. It's orbiting at nineteen miles a second, so it's reckoned, The sun that is the source of all our power. Now the sun, and you and me, and all the stars that we can see, Are moving at a million miles a day, In the outer spiral arm, at fourteen thousand miles an hour, Of a galaxy we call the Milky Way.
Our galaxy itself contains a hundred million stars; It's a hundred thousand light-years side to side; It bulges in the middle sixteen thousand light-years thick, But out by us it's just three thousand light-years wide. We're thirty thousand light-years from Galactic Central Point, We go 'round every two hundred million years; And our galaxy itself is one of millions of billions In this amazing and expanding universe.
Our universe itself keeps on expanding and expanding, In all of the directions it can whiz; As fast as it can go, that's the speed of light, you know, Twelve million miles a minute and that's the fastest speed there is. So remember, when you're feeling very small and insecure, How amazingly unlikely is your birth; And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere out in space, 'Cause there's bugger all down here on Earth!
The Galaxy Song, from: Monty Python's The Meaning of Life
This thread seems to be getting increasingly off-topic, but here's my two pence / cents worth. When I became a Canadian (I'm originally from England) I had to swear allegiance to the Queen, but as a Brit, I never did!
I was going to use a $179 Linux based Agenda PDA as a universal programmable remote control. It already contains a consumer infrared remote (CIR) interface along with the IRDA interface. Although it is still a lot more expensive than the preprogrammed remotes, it is significantly cheaper than the other LCD based universal remotes (Sony, Phillips, etc..)
Slashdot Mirror
"What specific forms of blank recording media are subject to the levy? Analog Audio Cassette Tapes:
CD-R and CD-RW:
CD-R Audio and CD-RW Audio:
MiniDisc:
Non-Removable Memory Permanently Embedded in a Digital Audio Recorder:
"
So as a Canadian, I believe in getting my money's worth from the Piracy tax.
On the other hand, if the US law prohibits US citizens from using the service, then it is the US citizen that has broken the law and should be punished under US law.
What do you think?
And how big is each bag? It's normally 1 1/3 l (one and a third litres). Just wondering where this size came from?
See http://www.moneyfactory.gov/section.cfm/4 for a description. I've never seen one but I believe that it is still legal tender.
"Before the Copyright Act was amended in 1998, copying any sound recording for almost any purpose infringed copyright, although, in practice, the prohibition was largely unenforceable. The amendment to the Act legalized private copying of sound recordings of musical works onto audio recording media - i.e., the copying of pre-recorded music for the private use of the person who makes the copy."
So it's legal to make personal copies of music in Canada.
Although Tucows is listed on the American Stock exchange, it is actually Canadian based company (non-US based).
Head Office:
Tucows Inc.
96 Mowat Avenue
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
While impressive, Isabel's flight was not "free-flown" and does not count towords the list.
Microsoft have tried to support a *real* O/S, Xenix. I used this on AT class hardware many years ago and this got me hooked on Unix and other derivatives (AT&T SvR4.3, Minix, SCO Xenix, SCO Unix, Novell / SCO Unixware, and obviously Linux). ( See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenix for a brief history of Microsoft's involvment in Unix) But, as you note, they seem to be primarily a marketing company, and it's in their best interest to promote the O/S that sells and gives them the greatest return for their investment.
Well, as a Canadian, I'm interested in the tax on blank media. So after a couple of minutes on the Copyright Board of Canada's web site at http://www.cb-cda.gc.ca/info/act-e.html#rid-33760 I've found:-
Copying for Private Use
80. (1) Subject to subsection (2), the act of reproducing all or any substantial part of
(a) a musical work embodied in a sound recording,
(b) a performer's performance of a musical work embodied in a sound recording, or
(c) a sound recording in which a musical work, or a performer's performance of a musical work, is embodied
onto an audio recording medium for the private use of the person who makes the copy does not constitute an infringement of the copyright in the musical work, the performer's performance or the sound recording.
So copying for private use (no selling or re-broadcasting) is not a copyright infringement in Canada. So I'll keep paying the tax on the blank media and downloading music (for personal use) onto that media.
Take that, Captain Copyright.
Whenever life gets you down, Mrs. Brown,
And things seem hard or tough,
And people are stupid, obnoxious or daft,
And you feel that you've had quite eno-o-o-o-o-ough,
Just remember that you're standing on a planet that's evolving
And reolving at nine thousand miles an hour.
It's orbiting at nineteen miles a second, so it's reckoned,
The sun that is the source of all our power.
Now the sun, and you and me, and all the stars that we can see,
Are moving at a million miles a day,
In the outer spiral arm, at fourteen thousand miles an hour,
Of a galaxy we call the Milky Way.
Our galaxy itself contains a hundred million stars;
It's a hundred thousand light-years side to side;
It bulges in the middle sixteen thousand light-years thick,
But out by us it's just three thousand light-years wide.
We're thirty thousand light-years from Galactic Central Point,
We go 'round every two hundred million years;
And our galaxy itself is one of millions of billions
In this amazing and expanding universe.
Our universe itself keeps on expanding and expanding,
In all of the directions it can whiz;
As fast as it can go, that's the speed of light, you know,
Twelve million miles a minute and that's the fastest speed there is.
So remember, when you're feeling very small and insecure,
How amazingly unlikely is your birth;
And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere out in space,
'Cause there's bugger all down here on Earth!
The Galaxy Song, from: Monty Python's The Meaning of Life
Symantic difference between British English and American English.
British burglars burgle.
American burglars burglarize.
This thread seems to be getting increasingly off-topic, but here's my two pence / cents worth. When I became a Canadian (I'm originally from England) I had to swear allegiance to the Queen, but as a Brit, I never did!
They still have tabs on some of the (lesser used?) international home pages, such as Swedish Chef, and Swahili
This is a cluster of borgs^h^h^h^h students at Prof. Mann's ECE1766 course at the University of Toronto. http://wearcam.org/ece1766/class2.jpg
I was going to use a $179 Linux based Agenda PDA as a universal programmable remote control. It already contains a consumer infrared remote (CIR) interface along with the IRDA interface. Although it is still a lot more expensive than the preprogrammed remotes, it is significantly cheaper than the other LCD based universal remotes (Sony, Phillips, etc..)