Canada's Proposed DMCA-Style Law Draws Fire

litui writes "Michael Geist assesses the problems with new copyright legislation presented today. In short, it looks like unless it's heavily contested, Canadians are in for a worse piece of law than the DMCA." CBC News' story quotes one critic, Scott Brison, who warns that enforcing the anti-circumvention clauses of this legislation would turn Canada into a police state — which, considering the pervasive eavesdropping it would take to make sure that people aren't enjoying their rights to fair use (or "fair dealing") of hardware or media, seems like a fair prediction.

Mac and Linux users...

[farrellj (563)]

Would become criminals under the new law...

With the new law, it is going to be illegal to bypass any "digital" locks
that a content creator/publisher puts on their work.

One of these systems that is used by some Record companies prevents you from
coping a CD on a Microsoft Windows machine. The way that it works is that it
automatically loads up a program when you put the CD into the computer that
prevents the transfering of CD's music to either your computer or Ipod. This
is known as Digitial Rights Managment or Copy Protection.

But what if you a Mac, or a Linux machine?

As the software that is automatically loaded from the CD to prevent you
copying only works under Microsoft Window, it would thus be illegal to put
that CD into your Mac, as it would be a "circumvention of the copy
protection" on the CD.

This law is stooopid!

ttyl
          Farrell

Re:Mac and Linux users...

[KillerBob (217953)]

But... but! That's what WINE is for!

Re:Mac and Linux users...

[CastrTroy (595695)]

Wouldn't holding down the shift key, and disabling autorun also count as circumventing their DRM?

Re:Mac and Linux users...

[digitrev (989335)]

Not only that, but if this bill gets passed, you just broke the law by saying that.

Liberals

[JebusIsLord (566856)]

I know the NDP and probably the Liberals will vote this down, and we currently have a minority government so the Conservatives won't be able to push this though.

Hopefully... lately the Liberals (our official opposition) have been obstaining from votes rather than trigger an election when they're down in the polls. A sad state of affairs, really.

Re:Liberals

[JebusIsLord (566856)]

Just to clarify for Americans who don't understand the parliamentary system, basically the Conservatives hold the most seats, but not the majority of seats, so they can loose motions. If it is considered a confidence motion, then the goverment is overthrown and we have another election. Usually minority governments are unstable and dissolve after a few months, but this one has been around (IMO) far too long.

Re:Liberals

[digitrev (989335)]

Yeah, but if this bill is considered a confidence motion, then Stephane "The Coward" Dion will just make the Liberal party sit out on the vote, and it'll pass right on through. I'm no fan of the Liberals, but I'll take another 13 years of Liberal rule than deal with the consequences of this bill.

Re:Liberals

[sayfawa (1099071)]

Exactly! Those cowards just sat out a bill which they were against involving immigration. The bill basically goes over the head of our point system which judges a potential immigrant impartially, based on their skills and instead gives whoever is in charge of immigration at the time way too much power to pick and choose, based on their predilections, who comes in and who doesn't. Similar to how it was in first half of the century when 'Great White North' referred to more than just snow. This bill will have serious consequences for many people and families. The Liberals were completely against it but, because it might have triggered an election, they slink off during the vote and let it through.

If they can't stand up for their beliefs for something as important to Canada as immigration, then no way do they have the guts to make a big deal out of copyright reform.

Re:Liberals

[mrsteveman1 (1010381)]

Can you send us a little of that "overthrow government" stuff you guys have up there?

pretty please? we promise to buy lots of maple syrup

honest we will

Re:Liberals

[Deadplant (212273)]

I wish we had some to spare.
Sadly the Liberals (kind like your Democrats) are performing just like your Democrat controlled congress.
They have decided that their party politics and political strategy is more important than any of the actual issues that have come to a vote.

Write Your MP

[whisper_jeff (680366)]

Please write your MP [parl.gc.ca] and let them know you want no part of this bill. Please write a polite and informed message to them, encourage them to check out Michael Geist's page (link in article above). The world does not need another DMCA that empowers big media at the expenses of consumers' rights. Write your MP.

Re:Write Your MP

[PFAK (524350)]

Check out Online Rights Canada's new action alert, "Tell MPs What's Wrong with the Prentice Bill":

http://www.copyrightforcanadians.ca/action/firstlook/ [copyrightforcanadians.ca]

Here's what their website says about it:

"After months of hesitation, Industry Minister Jim Prentice has finally revealed his re-write of Canada's rules of copyright. Tell your MP just what you think of it."

A small piece of hope

[Tragek (772040)]

The government said a second reading of the legislation wouldn't occur until the next sitting of the house. With the government breaking soon for the summer, such a reading would not occur until the fall.

This gives three months to rally against it. Though, Micheal Geist looks at it slightly differently:

The government plans for second reading at the next sitting of the house, effectively removing the ability to send it to committee after first reading (and therefore be more open to change).

Re:A small piece of hope

[JebusIsLord (566856)]

Or 3 months for the media to get bored with the issue, and then they can quietly pass it without a fuss.

Current Goverment Talking points

[digitrev (989335)]

I received an e-mail from the Minister of Industry, Jim Prentice ([e-mail]), presumably because I've e-mailed him about this in the past. In it are the current government talking points. Please, do your best to refute these and point out the horrible, horrible flaws in this bill. Find your MP by postal code [parl.gc.ca], and give them a good thrashing.

The Government of Canada has introduced Bill C-61, An Act to Amend the Copyright Act. The proposed legislation is a made-in-Canada approach that balances the needs of Canadian consumers and copyright owners, promoting culture, innovation and competition in the digital age.

What does Bill C-61 mean to Canadians?

Specifically, it includes measures that would:

• expressly allow you to record TV shows for later viewing; copy legally purchased music onto other devices, such as MP3 players or cell phones; make back-up copies of legally purchased books, newspapers, videocassettes and photographs onto devices you own; and limit the "statutory damages" a court could award for all private use copyright infringements;
• implement new rights and protections for copyright holders, tailored to the Internet, to encourage participation in the online economy, as well as stronger legal remedies to address Internet piracy;
• clarify the roles and responsibilities of Internet Service Providers related to the copyright content flowing over their network facilities; and
• provide photographers with the same rights as other creators.

What Bill C-61 does not do:

• it would not empower border agents to seize your iPod or laptop at border crossings, contrary to recent public speculation

What this Bill is not:

• it is not a mirror image of U.S. copyright laws. Our Bill is made-in-Canada with different exceptions for educators, consumers and others and brings us into line with more than 60 countries including Japan, France, Germany and Australia

Bill C-61 was introduced in the Commons on June 12, 2008 by Industry Minister Jim Prentice and Heritage Minister Josée Verner.

For more information, please visit the Copyright Reform Process website at www.ic.gc.ca/epic/site/crp-prda.nsf/en/home

Thank you for sharing your views on this important matter.


The Honourable Jim Prentice, P.C., Q.C., M.P.
Minister of Industry

The Honourable Josée Verner, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Canadian Heritage, Status of Women
and Official Languages and Minister for
La Francophonie

We need to contact the MSM

[Geof (153857)]

Most people still get their news through the mainstream media. Many of them have published warmed-over versions of the government press release. We need to contact them to let them know how disastrous this law will be. Some examples:

Ottawa brings copyright into the digital age -- The Toronto Star [thestar.com]

The federal government tabled new legislation Thursday morning designed to make it easier to track and prosecute anyone caught downloading copyrighted files, such as music and movies, from the Internet. -- The Globe and Mail [theglobeandmail.com]

Controversial copyright legislation positioned as a made-in-Canada solution to stamp out online piracy -- The National Post [financialpost.com]

Re:We need to contact the MSM

[digitrev (989335)]

Don't forget The Ottawa Sun. [ottawasun.com]

The bill would also allow consumers to record television and radio programs to watch or listen to later. And it would allow Internet programs to be recorded as long as they are simultaneously aired on television or radio.

There would also be limits on the time such recordings could be kept, so consumers couldn't build a library of recordings.

Department officials weren't able to say how long recordings would be allowed to be kept for later viewing.

Political Theatre

[Citizen of Earth (569446)]

There's a good chance that this is just political theatre. The Conservatives promised their big-entertainment paymasters that they would introduce this bill in this session of parliament, so they are doing so, but this is the end of the session and the bill is hugely unpopular, so it will likely die when the parliamentary session closes.

What I would like to see for is the Conservatives to make the bill a matter of confidence, the Liberals to vote it under thereby forcing an election, and then the Liberals wining a majority government by harping on this piece of unpopular legislation. This would show the politicians that bills of this kind are political suicide for whatever party introduces them.

Re:Political Theatre

[digitrev (989335)]

The Liberals? Force an election? If they didn't do it over Afghanistan or the budget, what makes you think they'll do it over something that the average person knows nothing about? My biggest fear is that this will be a matter of confidence, thus shooing away the Liberals and giving this bill a free ride through parliament.

Tell MPs What's Wrong with the Prentice Bill

[PFAK (524350)]

Check out Online Rights Canada's new action alert, "Tell MPs What's Wrong with the Prentice Bill":

http://www.copyrightforcanadians.ca/action/firstlook/ [copyrightforcanadians.ca]

Here's what their website says about it:

"After months of hesitation, Industry Minister Jim Prentice has finally revealed his re-write of Canada's rules of copyright. Tell your MP just what you think of it."

Confidence Motion?

[shma (863063)]

For a year or two, now, the Conservatives have been able to push through almost any legislation by making it a confidence motion. For those of you in the US, all major bills (budgets and any bills involving new spending), double as motions of confidence in the government. Their failure means the government falls. The main opposition in Canada, the Liberal party, has feared bringing the government down (even though they have the votes) because their party is not polling any better than they did in the last election. They either register a vote of 'abstain' or do not show up to vote where major legislation is concerned. The result is that the Liberals have given the Conservative government an effective majority in Parliament. So the major question here is whether defeating this legislation can bring down the government. Because if it is not a matter of confidence, then the Liberals will join with the other opposition parties to easily defeat it.

The Sci-Fi Present

[CopaceticOpus (965603)]

More and more, I'm feeling like the sci-fi stories we've all been reading for years are becoming less far-fetched as time goes on. I'm not talking about the technology of such stories, but rather the trends of governments and societies towards insane laws that stifle freedom and progress, and which make life worse for all but a few of the citizens.

Cory Doctorow's recent story "I, Robot [craphound.com]" comes to mind.

How do these laws keep getting pushed through in the "free world" of democratic governments? Yes, I understand the influence of lobbyists and big business, but still. Is it really too complicated for the average person to understand the significance of these laws? Or do they just not care?

Perhaps it is just a limitation of our systems of government. As a US citizen I hate DMCA-style laws. But I only get one vote for a given office, and I have to find ONE candidate to agree with me not just on DCMA, but on war, health care, economics, and all the other issues. Furthermore, I only get two choices with a realistic shot at victory, and it's likely they've both already been bought by big media.

So what's left to do? I'm asking honestly, how do we work towards change? I'm hoping for something between "angry blog post" and "bloody military coup."

It's even worse than you think

[hyades1 (1149581)]

If you read the bill over quickly, it appears to guarantee certain consumer rights, such as copying CD's you legally bought, time-shifting and such. Closer examination, though, shows that those rights are actually non-existent. All a corporation needs to do is put copy protection on a CD/DVD or tell you they don't want you to reproduce the music or whatever and disobeying their wish would be illegal. So if the producer put "DO NOT COPY" on the cover of a CD, you're screwed...even if you just brought it home from the store.

I won't bother going into detail on the whole police state aspect to this abortion because somebody's already done so. But it's scary as hell.

Phoning In and Mailing In

[Tiberius_Fel (770739)]

I already phoned in to my MP, Prentice, Verner, Dion, and Harper. Use this to get your local MP's mailing and phone information.
http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/Compilations/HouseOfCommons/MemberByPostalCode.aspx?Menu=HOC [parl.gc.ca]

I plan to write some letters tonight.

Re:Drawing Fire

[hyades1 (1149581)]

If only it was that simple. The opposition is in disarray, which is why a minority Conservative government dares to pull crap like this. Their main opposition, the Liberal Party, doesn't have the money or leadership to fight an election, so they'll pretty much agree to anything in order to dodge one. The other two major parties, the Bloc and NDP, don't have enough seats to do anything about it. The Conservatives will find a way to make the vote a matter of confidence, the Liberals will fold, and that will be that. It has nothing to do with what the majority of Canadians want.