Canada's Music Lobby Buys Government Access

An anonymous reader writes "Copyfighting law professor Michael Geist, who previously uncovered financial links between recording industry lobbyists and Canada's Minister of Canadian Heritage Bev Oda (who is responsible for copyright policy), has now identified what big cash donations will get you. He reports that Oda met with the President of the Canadian Recording Industry Association on a monthly basis last year just as the government was preparing copyright reform legislation and Canadian artists were calling for an end to P2P lawsuits. Is it any wonder that Canadians seem likely to lose their fair use rights?"

Ummm....

[Anonymous Coward]

A senior government figure met with the head of the industry she regulates? The horror! If getting our information from blogs is good enough for idiots like us, it should be good enough for our lawmakers.

Re:Sometimes I hate living in America Jr.

[wondersparrow]

Isn't it really too bad that DRM itself is not copyrighted to the point that nobody can share its implimentations or policies?

Re:duh

[Anonymous Brave Guy]

I know you're joking, but seriously, the only way to defeat the well-financed lobby groups is to bring votes. Governments can only be bought as long as that money translates into votes at election time. Shift your culture so people vote for what they believe in and not what they saw on TV and you've won. Change the rules so political parties can only accept donations from businesses that are on the same scale as what private citizens could realistically offer and you've won. But achieving either of these changes is going to take a long time and a lot of campaigning. (Odd, really, since the politicians have nothing to lose from the second, but there you go.)

My letter to my MP

[saskboy]

http://www.abandonedstuff.com/2007/01/15/fairusefi re/ [abandonedstuff.com]

It's important all Canadians write their MP and educate them about the CRIA shenanigans.

Re:Canadian Supreme Court

[Jabrwock]

The SCC ruled that, but they were basing their decision on the laws of the time (ie fair use and other relevant sections of the Copyright Act). If the government ammends the Copyright Act to remove or restrict fair use, there's not much the SC can do, since media consumption isn't a right mentioned in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms...

If they neglect to remove fair use though, it would be a valid argument against such a law. I'm assuming a DMCA challenge would be easier in Canada, because of that. They can't deny you the tools to be able to exercise your right to fair use, afterall...

Re:duh

[mastershake_phd]

Shift your culture so people vote for what they believe in and not what they saw on TV and you've won.

People vote for what they believe in, problem is they believe what they see on TV.

It's all government, not just USA/Canada

[Colin Smith]

Don't feel too bad, this is a feature of all government. Where you give government powers over something, that power is inevitably abused [wikipedia.org]. The solution is to limit the responsibility of government. The more areas it becomes responsible for the more areas become corrupted.
 

Re:Sometimes I hate living in America Jr.

[Anonymous Coward]

BTW, You're under arrest for violating Quebec's language laws. The police with be at your door in a few minutes to fart in your general direction.

You should know better than advertising Quebec without making French more prominent than English.

Spineless? Probably, but less so than the Cons

[Anonymous Coward]

I recall the Liberals telling Bush NO (on both Iraq and missile "defence") repeatedly under great pressure from conservatives, with Stephen Harper even undermining our government and insulting Canadians [www.ctv.ca] over it. And surprise surprise, what was the first thing Harper did while in government? SURRENDER to the US over lumber, despite the fact that Canada won every decision, sending a BILLION canadian dollars to the US industry in order to pay them to end their illegal actions. Harper is the spineless Bush-ass-licking coward, the liberals stood up to him, keeping us out of the ridiculous Iraq quagmire and defending our interests rather then cow-towing to the republicans.

Re:Sometimes I hate living in America Jr.

[GreyPoopon]

We copy all the best and worse that the US has to offer...

Tom - please note that the following is not directed at you...

Don't go dragging the US into this. This kind of crap goes on in every single government until the citizens of that government do something about it. If you live in a country where you think this doesn't happen, you are either naive or the government doesn't have resort to such tactics because they already have you by the balls. Most government leaders are in office for one of two reason: money or power. Most of them are there for both. Such behavior generally spirals out of control until citizens find a way to harass the perpetrator (maybe through lawsuits) in such a manner that it strikes fear into other politicians, or until there is some sort of uprising that generally results in significant changes to the government that basically reset the situation until it can happen again. Don't believe me? Take a look around at your leaders and their financial situations. How many of them would be considered middle class or lower? How many of them can claim that the greatest portion of their income is from the salary they get as a public servant? Don't get me wrong. There are a few people in politics who really have the citizens in mind, but it's rare.

Re:Sometimes I hate living in America Jr.

[iminplaya]

A REAL liberal would never, ever do such a thing. And neither would a true conservative. Don't let mass media re-write the dictionary, or extremists define your language.

Re:Not a Partisan Issue

[flight_master]

Indeed, the Liberals were also given money, and if the NDP were in power, the industry would try to give them money too. However, both the NDP and the Liberals listen to the public, to some extent. In case you didn't notice it, Harper does what he wants, when he wants, and how he wants.

Re:Sometimes I hate living in America Jr.

[Anonymous Coward]

Parent comment is NOT offtopic.
Grandparent comment talks about Quebec preserving rights... Move to Quebec and try to set up a business with an English sign.
You would be in contravention of the law.

My letter to my MP

[Ripley29]

Dear Mr. Shipley,

I am a constituent in your riding, and I am writing concerning an article from CBC.ca concerning fair-use rights in Canada (http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2007/01/11/cop yright-canada.html).

Like many Canadians, I am a lawful citizen who loves both music and technology. I am a Computer Programmer by trade, and am also a musician; needless to say, I take both of these subjects quite seriously, and I am concerned when my enjoyment of either of these become threatened by law. You see, I listen to all of my purchased CDs on my home computer and my portable music player. The first thing I do when I buy a Compact Disc is to 'rip' it to my home computer, so I can catalog and listen to all of my music as digital music files, or MP3s. Under current Canadian law, 'fair-use rights' allow me to do this.

If new legislation proposed by the Hon. Maxime Bernier and Heritage Minister Hon. Bev Oda is passed, my 'fair-use rights' will be taken away. I will considered a criminal in the eyes of the law if I choose to copy music in any way which I have purchased.

The simple fact is that we, as Canadians, already pay a 'private copying levy' on all blank media to supplement lost revenues due to piracy; those of us who buy blank CD-ROM media, even if used to backup personal data, are already giving the Canadian Recording Industry money. The continued stong revenues from music Compact Discs, added to the success of Digital Download services such as iTunes prove that piracy is not hurting the Recording Industry as much as they would like us to believe.

The problem is that taking away our fair-use rights, and enacting Digital Rights Management on musical Compact Discs would prevent copying of music for any purpose. The Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) would be given the ability to charge multiple times for the same music (Once for a Compact Disc, once for a PC and once for each Portable music player). This unfortunately appears to be the ultimate goal of Digital Rights Management; it has little to do with actually combating piracy. This is greed, plain and simple, yet disguised as anti-piracy measures. Canadian legislation should not be enacted merely to provide large industries additional revenue streams; the law abiding consumer loses in such a scenario.

I am not the only voter who would be affected by such legislation; this would affect every citizen that owns an iPod or other portable music player, or has ever listened to music on a PC. If this legislation is enacted, the outrage will be felt by many average citizens.

The Canadian people do not want this. The recording artists themselves do not want this. This legislation only serves the interests of the CRIA and major music distributors. It is also distressing to learn what close ties Hon. Bev Oda and the CRIA have, even though the voices of average citizens and Canadian recording artists are not being heard (http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/1631/125/ ).

I truly hope that you take this issue seriously, as I do sincerely believe that if this legislation is enacted and Canadian fair-use is taken away, Canadian citizens including those in your constituency will act swifty and harshly.

Thank-you for taking the time to read this. It is appreciated.

[Name]
[City and Province]
Lambton--Kent--Middlesex

CC: Maxime Bernier, Bev Oda

Re:Vive le Québec libre!

[hublan]

Yet another reason for separation of Quebec.

Oh, come now. Québecois politicians have corruption nailed down just as well as, if not better than, their Ottawa counterparts. Indeed the duplication of all levels of the Federal government in Québec simply encourages this. Ever wondered why the income tax is so high here?

Re:Vive le Québec libre!

[Anonymous Coward]

They are only imprisoned of their own choosing. I am neither rich nor well connected and I was born in Quebec, Yet I speak English, even though I was educated in French. I learnt English by speaking it with friends and family. All of my family and relatives are French Quebecois and yet my brothers, sister and parents also speak English. They too were educated in French.

We learnt to speak English because we chose not to exclude people based on language. Many, not all, Quebecois are xenophobic, especially my generation and my parent's generation. I've experienced it first hand when I lived in the Saguenay Region, the hot bed of French Nationalism. If you spoke English, you were shunned. If you where French and spoke English, you were considered a Traitor. You were not 'Dyed in the Wool Quebecois'.

I now live in the States and I miss my homeland. But when the whole topic of French Nationalism rears it head, I'm glad I'm not there to experience it. Yet again.

Re:duh

[IAmTheDave]

Man, you guys are idiots. Straight idiots. You know how much the presidential race is gonna cost this year? So I toss a couple of favors to Big Business... they've been like family these past few years. They rub my back, I rub theirs.

I mean, come on. You know how many canucks are gonna have to pony up $1100 to raise what one donation from Exxon nets? Thousands and thousands. And then you've gotta answer to like thousands of people! One donation from Exxon, and I just answer to Exxon. It's good common sense!

You guys are like straight idiots. You'll never catch us enacting such ridiculous laws.

Sincerely,

The US Government

Re:Sometimes I hate living in America Jr.

[quax]

Frankly it should be. And no I am not a French speaker. I am German and currently live in Toronto. My French is unfortunately pretty poor but Canada is supposed to be a bilingual country. I am tired of all those English speakers who seem to think it is such a terrible burden to learn another language. Mastering another language greatly enriches your life - stop acting like babies. Grow up and get over it.

 

Re:Sometimes I hate living in America Jr.

[Aidski]

Can you get a civil service job if you can't speak English in Alberta or Ontario or any English-speaking province? If you can't speak the official language of the province. You shouldn't be allowed to work in the civil service. Enough said.

Re:Sometimes I hate living in America Jr.

[GNious]

I live in Belgium, though not Belgian myself. My French is unfortunately pretty poor but Belgium is supposed to be a trilingual country. I am tired of all those French speakers who seem to think it is such a terrible burden to learn another language. Mastering another language greatly enriches your life - stop acting linke babies. Grow up and get over it.

/G

Re:It's all government, not just USA/Canada

[Emperor Cezar]

Corporations are constructs of governments. To create a corporation, you register with the government and register your officers. You then fall under different rules then a sole-proprieter. When you do this much of the responsibilty and risk is taken out of the business. Thus, no person in the corporation is responsible, or feels responsible for what it does.

The sole-proprietor independent pizza shop on the corner is the only business hierarchy that isn't built to take advantage of governmental constructs.

Remember, Corporations are people too. Literally.