Canada's Proposed DMCA-Style Law Draws Fire 313
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... (Score:5, Interesting)
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
Liberals (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
Political Theatre (Score:5, Interesting)
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:Mac and Linux users... (Score:2, Interesting)
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."
that loading the program on puttin the cd in, Sony tried that shit already and got raped majorly for their effort's. they can't install anything on your computer legally without the owner of the pc's permission
Re:Liberals (Score:5, Interesting)
Confidence Motion? (Score:5, Interesting)
Moderators: Please note (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:Liberals (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
Re:Current Goverment Talking points (Score:1, Interesting)
Great, that's better, but get back to us once the anti-circumvention measures are taken out.
This one clause means that it will be sufficient for a copyright holder to simply add any type of copy protection to a work, even an ineffective easily circumvented one, to basically invalidate all the other consumer rights you have enumerated.
The industry is already moving away from DRM, why enshrine a reference to it in new legislation?
kthxbai
Re:Liberals (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
What's a device and what can I do with it? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Canada is Already a Police State (Score:5, Interesting)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_speech_by_country#Canada [wikipedia.org]
2. Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms:
Due to section 1 of the Charter, the so-called limitation clause, Canada's freedom of expression is not absolute and can be limited under certain situations. Section 1 of the Charter states:
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. (emphasis added)
This section is double edged. First it implies that a limitation on freedom of speech prescribed in law can be permitted if it can be justified as being a reasonable limit in a free and democratic society. Conversely, it implies that a restriction can be invalidated if it cannot be shown to be a reasonable limit in a free and democratic society. The former case has been used to uphold limits on legislation which are used to prevent hate speech and obscenity.[citation needed]
In the landmark Supreme Court of Canada case R. v. Zundel (1992), the court struck down a provision in the Criminal Code of Canada that prohibited publication of false information or news, stating that it violated section 2(b) of the Charter.
In April 29, 2004, Bill C-250 was passed which includes as hate speech propaganda against people based on their sexual orientation. It is now illegal to publicly incite hatred against people based on their colour, race, religion, ethnic origin, and sexual orientation. However, under section 319 on hate speech, a person cannot be convicted of hate speech "if the person can establish that the statements made are true."
Other laws that protect freedom of speech in Canada, and did so, to a limited extent, before the Charter was enacted in 1982, include the Implied Bill of Rights and the Canadian Bill of Rights.
Charter Of Rights And Freedoms [wikipedia.org]
Bill C-250 [wikipedia.org]
Re:Canada, eh? (Score:2, Interesting)
That women who has been pushing it (Tanja Karpela) is quite a big joke here, and she just blogs about stuff like how our capitol city should get more "for elite only" clothing stores. We're in good hands.
Re:We have to stop C-61 cold. (Score:5, Interesting)
Wait for the look of utter horror to crystallize on their faces, and then you can recruit them into the cause.
It's amazing how fast they go from "meh, it's not really something I'm interested in" to "holy hell, not my Simon!"
Re:Canada, eh? (Score:3, Interesting)
They are already taking the guns away from legal gun owners in record numbers up here.
Welcome to the police state.
In true Canadian fashon we will whine and bitch for a bit and then grab our ankles.
I'd like to see Canada shut down all oil exports to the US until softwood lumber, beef exports and your unwelcome interference in our political system is fixed to our satisfaction. But of course since politicians work for corporations and not voters it will never happen.
IP rights are supposed to compensate the creative people who contribute to society not corporate profiteers like they do now.
Re:Liberals (Score:5, Interesting)
They sold us out (Score:5, Interesting)
How much longer before we give up the pretense of being a sovereign nation? Out of economic considerations, our foreign policy is written with US interests in mind, and now the same can be said of our domestic policy. We have a branch plan economy, and now a branch-plant government. I know it has been that way for some time, but previous governments at least tried to give the appearance of being a little independent from time to time. I guess with Tony Blair retired and John Howard defeated, Steven Harper has chosen to make his move and become the US' new bitch^H^H^H^H^Hbest friend.
OK, that is perhaps a tad over-dramatic, but it is clear that this proposed law was not written with my best interests at heart. The same cannot be said of the US-based media cartels who probably had more to do with the authoring of the bill than any particular civil servant or party hack.
I would like for the opposition to show some spine and vote this bill down, but I doubt that will happen. The Liberals have abstained from so many votes on issues they claim to be fundamentally opposed in order to not cause an election. As a result, I do not believe that they have the moral authority to vote down government legislation until after the next election.
It's not like the Liberals would have done anything different - this legislation is quite similar to what Sam Bulte was preparing when she had that ministry.
It sucks when your nation's legislation is written by foreign corporations, for the benefit of foreign corporations - and it really doesn't matter which party introduces it. I fully expect the government to claim that this is a great day for the Canadian consumer and how the enhanced copyright protection will benefit any Canadian shareholders of those foreign media cartels. It probably isn't good politics to tell the voters the truth at the best of times...
BTW - I wonder if the phrase "public domain" appears even once in this bill which supposedly modernizes and improves copyright?
Re:Liberals (Score:4, Interesting)
I've been a Liberal supporter for almost 20 years. I've volunteered during every election since I was 12 years old to help out. The idea of having Stephane Dion for a prime minister frightens me. I'm glad they didn't trigger an election, no good could come of it. Either Harper gets a majority or Stephane will form a government that will smear the Liberal name as badly or worse than Brian Mulroney did for the Conservatives.
These are dark days in Canadian politics.
Re:Mac and Linux users... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Canada, eh? (Score:1, Interesting)
If you stopped exporting oil to us, the only thing that'd happen is we might finally wise up and start drilling in Alaska, and then you'd be shit out of luck getting anything from our country for being such whiny little babies.
Business is business. Grow up and stop throwing such a tantrum.
I live in Calgary... (Score:4, Interesting)
Are there any other Calgarians who would like to protest this at his office? And with Stampede coming, would anyone like to join me at his pancake breakfast on 5 July -- some place where he can't hide from us?
Re:Current Goverment Talking points (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Canada, eh? (Score:2, Interesting)
FYI, Alaska would supply roughly 2% of your usage, and it would take 3 years to start getting that if you started on it right now.
FYI, Canada currently supplies roughly 12.5% of your oil.
Re:Liberals (Score:2, Interesting)
If they would force an election it would at least slow him down. The beauty of a minority gov't is that it is supposed to keep stupid laws from getting passed, but that's only true if the gov't is afraid of being defeated. Thanks to Dion, this one isn't.
Re:Political Theatre (Score:3, Interesting)
My reply to Prentice's boilerplate email (Score:2, Interesting)
The allowances for copying content for devices we own are rendered null and void for any content medium that contains anti-copying technology, no matter how ineffectual that protection is. This bill would make it illegal for Canadians to archive their DVD collections, put movies they own on their own computers or video devices, illegal to put music on their mp3 players, and more.
Since when is it the government's business to enforce the failed technological approaches to copy protection by industry? They failed with DVDs, they failed with CDs, and they have failed with the new Blu-Ray discs. So, instead of the onus being on them to either come up with a protection scheme that actually works, or to give up the illusion that there is an actual protection scheme that is unbreakable, they have turned to the government to make bypassing these pathetically weak locks illegal.
I own the computer and I own the media I have purchased, and the idea of someone hacking their own property is so completely absurd it beggars belief that anyone could have fashioned this legislation.
Surely with our neighbour to the south playing at becoming a facist police state, our economy under seige from unethical countries that employ prisoners as labour, war around the world, and impurities and diseases in our food supply, the government has better things to worry about than what we do with music and movies. Get some perspective.
I will not be voting Conservative in the next election, which I hope is very very soon.
Re:Write Your MP (Score:5, Interesting)
I am not Canadian, and my first impression is that you guys already pay a CD tax to pay for copying discs, making file sharing legal, how does the new bill affect that? If it prevents you (legally) from making those copies, should the media companies lose that CD tax?
Got this same email today (Score:2, Interesting)
It seems they got my email address from an email I sent them about this issue via http://www.onlinerights.ca/ [onlinerights.ca]
When I sent that email I was actually surprised to receive a personal reply from my local MP himself. It took a few weeks, but I did hear back with some of the things he's been doing and where he stands on the issue.
Re:Mac and Linux users... (Score:3, Interesting)
They aren't idiots, but highly paid professionals. Presumably paid by the same corporations who paid for this law.