Canada Encouraged US To Place It On Piracy List 199
An anonymous reader writes "Copyright, U.S. lobbying, and the stunning backroom Canadian response gets front
page news treatment today in Canada as the Toronto Star covers new revelations on copyright by Michael Geist (who offers a longer post with links to the cables)
from the U.S. cables released by WikiLeaks. The cables reveal that former Industry Minister Maxime Bernier raised the possibility of leaking the copyright bill to U.S. officials before it was to be tabled in the House of Commons, former Industry Minister Tony Clement's director of policy Zoe Addington encouraged the U.S. to pressure Canada by elevating it on a piracy watch list, Privy Council Office official Ailish Johnson disclosed the content of ministerial mandate letters, and former RCMP national coordinator for intellectual property crime Andris Zarins advised the U.S. that the government was working on a separate intellectual property enforcement bill."
Clearly wikileaks must be stopped !!! (Score:5, Insightful)
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Can't have people getting used to the truth now, can we ?
they already know that governments are full of lying sacks of shit. in fact all governments are liars and murderers. yes even yours. quit pretending yours is special because you were born in that country. patriotic rhymes with idiotic for a reason.
this is what happens when you celebrate hierarchial society and tell people you're either a "leader" or you're a nobody. makes positions of authority irresistable to sociopaths who will say or do anything to get them.
problem is what to do about it. who
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patriotic rhymes with idiotic for a reason.
Because they both end with -iotic.
Re:Clearly wikileaks must be stopped !!! (Score:5, Insightful)
they already know that governments are full of lying sacks of shit.
Yes, true, but in many circumstances, it's important to know the specifics.
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Someone recently did a mash up with the Cookie Monster and Tom Waits [youtube.com] which did the rounds on FB recently which seems to fit the bill.
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Knowing someone is "generally" a lying sack of shit, and knowing exactly where and when they lied and what were the contents of lies, is the same as artillery knowing where "generally" enemy is vs exact spotting co-ordinates.
Former is largely pointless for other then "watch out for them". Second is utterly devastating for targeted parties.
Re:Clearly wikileaks must be stopped !!! (Score:4, Insightful)
It's not just governments - it's people in general. Same goes for relationships, business and since government is made of people, that too. There's nothing you can do about it. Well, except put computer algorithms to handle it, but even then the algorithm designers would try to cheat and get some advantage towards them. People in general are full of shit.
The kind of "full of shit" that most people experience is denial. Usually of their personal weaknesses, insecurities, shortcomings, etc. They protect and excuse these things because they are identified with them. Identification with them means that letting them go would feel like a sort of death. Mostly they mean well, they just don't objectively see themselves or understand that their motivations for doing most things are a lot less wholesome than what they imagine them to be. Believe it or not, most people who are manipulative don't realize it. They only know that people respond to them when they behave that way and it seems to get them what they want so it must be "correct".
A lot of people would, in fact, be horrified to actually realize the daze they are in that prevents them from seeing how selfish they really are. A side-effect is that almost nothing is done for its own sake because it is good to do. There is always a secondary motive. The saying is "most people have two reasons for what they do: the good reason, and the real reason." Usually the closest the average person comes to understanding this is to realize that they have a lot of inner conflict and have grave difficulty being at peace with themselves, truly relaxing, or being content without some kind of entertainment or distraction.
That's bad enough, and goes a long way towards explaining why they are so willing to tolerate liars and portray it as normal ("eh he's a congressman what do you expect, of course he lies"). Yet it's different from actively, knowingly and deliberately trying to deceive. There's a plan and a purpose combined with an awareness of what one is doing. It's perpetrated by people who are sworn to do what is best for the nation and entrusted with a lot of power with which to do it. There's an element of betrayal here that isn't present in the "little white lies" most people tell.
It's part of why, perhaps surprisingly, telling a really big lie to masses of people tends to work out more successfully than telling a small one. Hitler was quite explicit about this in Mein Kampf:
The size of the lie is a definite factor in causing it to be believed, for the vast masses of the nation are in the depths of their hearts more easily deceived than they are consciously and intentionally bad. The primitive simplicity of their minds renders them a more easy prey to a big lie than a small one, for they themselves often tell little lies but would be ashamed to tell a big one.
Even there you can see a hint of ego perspective or selfishness. The people assume their leaders must be just like them. Therefore if they would be ashamed to tell a big lie, there leaders must be also. The inability to perceive that other people don't function anything like the way you do and would do things you would not do is part of what makes people vulnerable to this kind of deception.
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I don't think it has to do with big and small lies. I think most people deep down want to believe that other people are good, or that they have the potential to be good (The Vader Effect). Of course, there are limits to this optimism. But a politician hoodwinking his or her constituents is no different than a grifter tricking an old woman out of her pension. They both rely on a psychology that may be instinctual to humans due to our species' predilection for social structure; we by default want to trust tha
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Isn't the defining trait of sociopathy not caring about justifications, but simply doing whatever you want and think you can get away with?
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"There is no universal sense of justice - there are as many views on what is just as there are people on the planet. That is why wars are fought on all levels, from individual to world."
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The thing about the villain is they never feel they are the villain because to them there is always a reason for their actions.
To be fair Socrates [wikipedia.org] formulated that idea about 2400 years ago: "No one does evil intentionally."
Credit where credit's due.
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How long before corporations have the same right?
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Revealing the lying sacks of shit in the act gives lying a disadvantage it previously didn't have, leading, just maybe, to less lying.
These metaphors remind me of a quote from Mark Twain:
Politicians are like diapers; they need to be changed often and for the same reason.
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Obviously, they are a terrorist group. [youtube.com]
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But but don't you know? PEOPLE ARE GOING TO DIE!!!
(ignore... Filter error: Don't use so many caps. It's like YELLING. - I know).
Could someone summarize the summary? (Score:2, Insightful)
What a mess of adjectives.
I think it says: one Canuck politician tried to get his way in a Copyright legislation deal by using America as muscle.
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That Canuck politician is their equivalent of the POTUS. Obama only dreams of having the kind of control over the Democrats that Stephen Harper has over their Conservative Party.
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Except that it wasn't Harper. Maxime Bernier (a Member of Parliament, formerly Minister of Foreign Affairs) comes off looking not so well, as does the bureaucrat Zoe Addington.
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Harper is well known for his tight grip on his Cabinet. It wouldn't be overstating the case to compare him to Roger Ailes.
Politics are bad mmmm'ka? (Score:5, Insightful)
I know politics can get evil at time but seriously, WTF?
That's as close to treason as I can see to the tech industry.
Media Levies? Fine, thank you for protecting us from RIAA type tatics.
But then to turn around and sell out the entire COUNTRY to further your agenda? That's plain evil and I wish someone had the gonads to actually put people in jail over this.
Yo Grark
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Well we, as Canadian citizens, can demand that this politician be sanctioned. All it takes is to make a bit of noise so that the right people feel they can't ignore the issue. Write to the media, to your local representatives, spread this story to your friends, on Facebook, and be sure to tell people "We can get the guilty punished, we simply need to act. Let's do it!".
I'm going to do just what I said above. Will you?
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They won the last election. They got a MAJORITY (even if only by a couple thousand votes). They DO. NOT. CARE.
Look at all the scandals from income trusts to Gazebogate to Kairos and beyond. Look at how they cover up their wrongdoing to hide it from the Auditor General, and nothing happens. Look at how they instruct their political staffers to abuse their offices of government and the political staffers get fired/resigned for the election and sneakily hired back afterwards. Look at the RCMP investigation of
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I know politics can get evil at time but seriously, WTF?
That's as close to treason as I can see to the tech industry.
Treason might be a bit harsh, but abuse of office and failure to represent the country's best interest, probably. - I hope we'll see heads rolling over this.
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That's as close to treason as I can see to the tech industry.
Why "close"? This is government officials, who have a duty to (and many are even sworn to) serve their country, intentionally placing the interests of a foreign country above theirs where there is a clear conflict of interests. My common sense tells me that this is textbook treason.
Re:Here's the good thing (Score:5, Insightful)
These cable leaks will effectively neuter the Conservatives for the next four years, since their entire policy is based on sucking American cock.
Are you kidding me? There are three types of us; those who know what's going on and act on that knowledge (a.k.a. politicians), those who know what's going on and don't act on that knowledge (you and I), and the vast, vast majority that don't read about any of this and wouldn't understand or care if they did.
All the politicians need to do is keep smearing each other with "they tax you too much" and "they are killing our health care/education/whatever" and "he's a pedophile". Nobody brings real issues into campaigning because the majority of constituents don't understand real issues not because they're stupid but because they don't want to.
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With any luck, some weightier opposition MPs will make sure that the Conservatives get to wear this when appropriate. I remember when the bill was last before parliament and one of the opposition parties tried to broaden the media levy. The government response was that it "wouldn't work", but now it looks like the real writer of the bill was Obama (countersigned by Disney), so there was no real hope for change.
Sure. But my point is that when the opposition says "the Conservative government did this" and describes the issue, the majority of the voting populace will hear "the PCs did something you don't understand or care about." Meanwhile the PCs will be saying "the opposition wants everything in your wallet, and the wallet itself. They're evil and greedy and not at all like us."
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In Canada a good scandal can break a political party. The Liberals haven't had a real shot at forming the government for years because someone hired an ad agency he shouldn't have. Before that, the conservative party, which had a decade long grip on power was decimated by introducing an unpopular tax and some kickbacks from Airbus. They never recovered - the present conservative party is basically the Reform Party, renamed Alliance, renamed Conservative Party of Canada.
Re:Politics are bad mmmm'ka? (Score:4, Insightful)
You shouldn't be blaming the politicians, you should be blaming the voters who admire the leadership skills of these politicians.
Or just blame both.
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The reason the Conservatives won a (not so strong really) majority is primarily due to Liberals not fielding strong candidates and having shitty leadership from Ignatieff. I can't recall exact percentages, but the number of Liberal ridings that turned Conservative is astounding.
it should also be noted that this is Harper's first majority government, and if (when) he breaks the trust of the people who swung their vote to the conservative side, it will be back to a minority-coalition quagmire, unless either t
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"the NDP"
Are you referring to Her Majesty's Official Opposition? Recall that the minor (and regional) party that formerly held that position is now the government.
Well, I am not shocked... (Score:5, Insightful)
For those that don't know, we currently have had pretty far right leaning neo-conservative governments (still not as far right as the US tea party, but pretty bad).
They have been caught lying to parliament and making illegal backroom deals in the past, yet because the Liberals can't seem to field a leader who isn't a blithering idiot (Dion) or perceived as weak (Ignatief) our left of centre vote gets split between Liberals, NDP and Green (which combined makes up over 50%) and the right of centre vote goes all towards the Conservatives.
It just goes to show you, that first past the post doesn't work well...
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And what about the Constitutional Coup that Harper conducted with the Governor General ?
In my mind, that is sufficient reason right there for Canada to become a Republic.
Re:Well, I am not shocked... (Score:4, Interesting)
And what about the Constitutional Coup that Harper conducted with the Governor General ?
In my mind, that is sufficient reason right there for Canada to become a Republic.
As if that's a cure-all solution. Cf. the USA.
I think what you really want is a government truly bound by a constitution with which it may not fsck, and barring a very messy and violent revolution, that's a pipe dream.
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I think what you really want is a government truly bound by a constitution with which it may not fsck
Canada has the Constitution Act which sets out many limits on both feds and the provinces, and it seems to be adhered to more strictly (and reinterpreted less creatively) than in US.
For example, did you know that Canadian healthcare system (that many US liberals are quite jealous of) is actually run on provincial level, with voluntary cooperation and coordination via the feds? Furthermore, any province has right to opt out. This is because Constitution Act specifically enumerates healthcare as being under p
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To all those who replied to my post, it seems you've (to varying degrees) missed this bit of what I wrote:
... a government truly bound by a constitution with which it may not fsck ...
Trudeau fscked with it when it was "repatriated", the US fscks with theirs in innumerable ways daily via multiple vectors (Congress, USSC, US Trade Reps, ...).
It ought to be a LAW ON GOV'T that specifies WHAT GOV'T MAY AND MAY NOT DO/GET AWAY WITH. It also should be worked over to death to ensure it's correctly crafted and all duties and responsibilities spelled out first, and it should be difficult a
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Ignatieff may or may not have been able to do things more effectively as leader. But that's not anywhere near the whole story. The Conservatives, thanks to the fundraising efforts they made to collect major political subsidies, are sitting on huge piles of money. They have millions to waste in advertising even before the election. And they do spend millions in advertising before the election. Even Jesus Christ would have had trouble defending himself against all the slander backed by subsidised CPC ads. Th
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"It just goes to show you, that first past the post doesn't work well..."
Yes, it's one of those things you shouldn't have copied from Britain.
It's so bad that even our most left wing mainstream party is now well right of centre, so that rather than any hope of government that's representative of the people we have nothing but right wing idiocy, there's not even any hope of some rational centrism.
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Do you know what the TEA Party wants?
An intolerant white christian state, with no gay marriage?
A smaller government. A government based on the founders' principles of minimalistic, well defined roles.
Sure that too. But that's a plank all platforms pay lip service to. Mostly its the white christian state with no gay marriage that makes them the butt of the jokes though.
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A smaller government. A government based on the founders' principles of minimalistic, well defined roles.
Sure that too. But that's a plank all platforms pay lip service to.
maybe the R's, but no one else pays lip service to reducing the size of government (only lower taxes).
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Why not make the churches change the word they use?
If they want to differentiate the people THEY 'properly' marry they can use any other word they like, but why should people that don't get married in churches (atheists do exist you know) suddenly no longer be considered married?
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Which TeaParty ? TeaPartyPatriots.org, TeaParty.org ? Which one has the official TEA Party platform. They differ quite a bit in their specifics as to how to create limited government and balance the budget. Some of TeaPartyPatriots economic suggestions are fairly sound some aren't. TeaParty.org seems more of a front for the Michael Savages/Rush Limbaughs of the world.
Regardless official statements like this (off of TeaParty.org's 'about' link):
(Yes, We Are A Christian Nation) You don't have to be a Christian to enjoy freedom. The Tea Party welcomes all Red Blooded U.S. Citizens.
Make me fairly disinterested in anything they have to say.
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Hmm, that's a good point. We should sooner sell ourselves into slavery than consider the opinions of people whose words can be interpreted, regardless of intent, as even slightly racist, exclusionary, or cliquish.
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Nice false dichotomy, or alternatively, right dichotomy wrong assignments.
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If you have to ask, the answer is NO
Re:Well, I am not shocked... (Score:4, Informative)
"Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires." -Steinbeck
"Americans, like human beings everywhere, believe many things that are obviously untrue. Their most destructive untruth is that it is very easy for any American to make money. They will not acknowledge how in fact hard money is to come by, and, therefore, those who have no money blame and blame and blame themselves. This inward blame has been a treasure for the rich and powerful, who have had to do less for their poor, publicly and privately, than any other ruling class since, say, Napoleonic times." -Vonnegut
"It is a crime for an American to be poor, even though America is a nation of poor. Every other nation has folk traditions of men who were poor but extremely wise and virtuous, and therefore more estimable than anyone with power and gold. No such tales are told by the American poor. They mock themselves and glorify their betters. The meanest eating or drinking establishment, owned by a man who is himself poor, is very likely to have a sign on its wall asking this cruel question: “If you’re so smart, why ain’t you rich?”"-Vonnegut
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.-Albert Einstein
Get the drift yet?
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The Canadian Tea Party [canadianteaparty.com] needs your help now!
LOL, those pathetic Yankee Tea-baggers are probably green with envy - perhaps so "envious" they'll puke.
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The "founders" lived in a land of farmers and small, independent businesses, where getting from town to town took a day, and from state to state took a week.
Judging by their policies, I think getting back to that is pretty high on the Tea Party's agenda...
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOoUVeyaY_8 [youtube.com]
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Don't forget the slaves used for menial labor too. Wonder if the Tea Party wants to remove the right to vote from black people? Or women? How far back do they want to take politics?
Re:Well, I am not shocked... (Score:4, Informative)
You can't form a majority government unless you win 50% +1 of the seats in the house. To do that you do NOT need 50%+1 of the vote.
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Only true if there are only two parties. I'll let you do the math on what percentage is needed if there are three relatively equal parties, and it's first past the post. I'll give you a hint. It starts with a 3.
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You mean SEATS, not VOTES. This time around, it only required 39.62%
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_federal_election,_2011 [wikipedia.org]
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That's going too far. But it does make a strong case for some form of proportional representation.
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The overall Democratic party hasn't been on the left quite a while - they're best described as center-right.
None of this is any surprise (Score:5, Insightful)
None of this is any surprise to anyone who has been paying attention.
To paraphrase Douglas Adams, they are not above being sleazy in the same way that the ocean is not above the sky.
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It's not, but it is generally required to have some substantial evidence to string someone up, even when everyone around knows that they deserve it. Hopefully this is it.
You know ... (Score:4, Insightful)
I think this sort of information should be forced to be disclosed legally.
How are people supposed to know who to blame for the mess of legislation if this sort of thing is done under wraps? I'm sure this guy wouldn't see another term in office if this sort of thing was known earlier.
I realise doing it in secret was the whole point of it, but these people should be held accountable, they are meant to represent the people, and the people need to know what they're doing.
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... they are meant to represent the people ...
It's the 21st Century. Your naivete is showing.
the biggest leakers - governments (Score:5, Insightful)
and they typically 'leak' information for political reasons, for power and influence, for purposes of manipulation and propaganda.
that is why government prosecutions of 'leakers' are the ultimate hypocrisy. government itself is the biggest leaker of all.
Piracy schmiracy (Score:2, Insightful)
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and many publishers are coming up with similar system
But that's a bad thing. Steam itself isn't too bad, but it's still prohibits resale without lowering prices and causes a lot of other irritation.
The appropriate reaction to multiple publishers all trying to make their own Steam-type platform is disgust and terror. More proprietary bullshit, more integrated systems to figure out when one (Steam) was enough from the consumer perspective (and that's ignoring those who hate Steam already), and more opportunities for situations like Sony's nightmarish mismana
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Steam does lower prices significantly, frequently, and early-on, though. Further, the trade is not one-sided; you get some utility in exchange for the freedom you lose - the ability to re-download your entire game library for as long as steam continues to exist. And this includes downloading versions for OSs other than the one you originally bought it for, if those versions exist.
continues to exist (Score:2)
for as long as steam continues to exist
How many online WMA DRM music stores no longer continue to exist? Even Microsoft couldn't keep running its DRM servers forever [arstechnica.com].
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Resale is not usually something most people do unless they are console gamers, and consoles have their own built in DRM. While I agree with the principal of being able to resale, the software industry as well as the government has basically frowned upon this practice for over a decade unless you are operating a console system. The appropriate reaction for one person is not the same as what you deem appropriate, because opinions differ.
Sony is a giant piece of shit, and this has been proven when people boyco
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Obviously (Score:3, Insightful)
Piracy is legally sanctioned in Canada by the surcharge added to the price of digital media to compensate for its use in making unauthorized copies of copyrighted materials. If you're NOT pirating media in Canada, you're not getting all of what you've paid for.
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Strictly speaking, this only applies to CD-Rs, because the original late 90s legislation was passed in response to the music industry's demands. A few years later, hard drives and anything with them got a levy too, but they were dropped a few years ago. An opposition party member tried reintroducing the hard drive levy idea last year, but was shot down.
AFAIK, recordable DVDs do not and have never had a levy.
Same thing happened in Spain (Score:4, Informative)
The head of Spain's RIAA has been found to have encouraged Spain to be included in the "Special 301" list, as well.
This is especially irritating, since it is that same organization who has used "Special 301" as an argument to pressure the government into modifying our laws to combat webs which offered links to warez. It is worth pointing out that those same webs have been found to be completely legal for years, since they don't actually host the copyrighted material.
It is just amazing that a country will bow and modify its laws just because it was included in a "piracy list". Especially if what they intend to change is rather ineffective and too vague. Any web which links to material without the original author's permission can be blocked, which will probably result in 1. no less piracy and 2. abuse of this new law by others.
I don't understand why they would block the webs that link and do not host the material, instead of blocking those that do host the material.
Well, actually I do. It is, of course, because P2P links would be impossible to block (users would need to be blocked) without resorting to a HADOPI-style law - which they don't like because it is considered too impopular.
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This is especially irritating, since it is that same organization who has used "Special 301" as an argument to pressure the government into modifying our laws
Of course, that's the whole point. That's exactly what they did in Canada, as well.
Be Proud to belong in the 301 (Score:2)
My country has been in the Priority 301 for a couple of years, and the fact that remains there means our government is not willing to bend and prosecute their own people to satisfy foreign interests.
The main reason is US pharmaceutical patents which we do not enforce. People's lives are above US corporations, period. And they can all leave for all we care; there is still a whole world willing to trade with us and many do so without "IP" restrictions (technology transfer) in many countries who "coincidently"
Aren't Canadians wondering... (Score:2)
...what the hell all this stuff was doing in US diplomatic cables? A lot of it sounds like ordinary internal discussion that occurs while forming policy, but why was the US embassy in on it? Makes Canada look like the US puppet that the Bolsheviks always said it was.
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Actually, this is Canada carefully manipulating the USA, we just want it to look like we're the victim. The overall plan is to implement Canadian currency as the Common North American currency.
-eyeballs Mexico-
This isn't about Canadian politics (Score:5, Informative)
This would have happened whether a "Conservative, right-wing" government was in or the Liberals. To understand, you need to read a 2008 story from the same watchdog, Michael Geist (to whom all Canada should be deeply indebted for tracking these issues for years):
http://www.thestar.com/sciencetech/article/443867 [thestar.com]
The key phrase in the story is "Canadian officials arrived ready to talk about a series of economic concerns but were quickly rebuffed by their U.S. counterparts, who indicated that progress on other issues would depend upon action on the copyright file."
Americans are sometimes surprised to learn (Condi Rice was one, which was disappointing from a foreign-affairs scholar) that Canada is the US' largest trading partner, more bilateral trade than with your #2 (China) and your #4 (UK) combined, nearly as much as China+Japan (#3). So imagine how large a trading partner the US is for Canada - 80% of the total, last time I checked, that is, 4X as much trade as with all other partners combined.
When the US really wants to lean on Canada at trade discussions, their only difficulty is choosing which levers to pull: making trouble over standard inspections of meat and grains? Lumber? Re-investigating whether Canada subsidizes iron ore, holding up imports while doing so?
So you can find some profoundly anti-Canadian stances being taken by Canadian trade officials - until you see the larger picture and find they were arranging to charge all Canadians an extra $100/year for media content ($3 billion from 30 million people) to smooth the path for $6B in exports - of the $76B total, they only have to pick less than 10% to threaten.
Harper could school Machiavelli and Karl Rove. (Score:4, Informative)
It had everything to do with the ends justify the means right wing politics of Harper.
Read the OP:
“In contrast to the messages from other Canadian officials, she said that if Canada is elevated to the Special 301 Priority Watch List (PWL), it would not hamper — and might even help — the (government of Canada's) ability to enact copyright legislation,” the cable says.
Days later, Canada was elevated on the piracy watch list.
Harper has been copying the republican play book throughout his term in politics. Manufacture a crisis that needs the response he wants anyway.
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Harper has been copying the republican play book throughout his term in politics. Manufacture a crisis that needs the response he wants anyway.
Um, no. That's been the _LEFT-WING_ play book for the last century or more.
Re:Harper could school Machiavelli and Karl Rove. (Score:4, Insightful)
No, it's the "political faction I disagree with as contrasted to the one I agree with" play book for the last century or more.
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I am deeply ashamed that my country could elect a dishonest shyster like Harper. There are few limits on what the Conservatives will do to maintain their agenda and hang on to power. Sadly a huge demographic here in Canada is blind to their abuses of the Canadian people and keeps voting for them.
I don't think you can be a Conservative and also be a moral person. Harper is living proof.
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Petroleum products - Canada still is the #1 supplier to the US. What's the US going to do - ban Canadian oil? That's the equivalent of a permanent Hurricane Katrina shortfall, and there's nobody to take up the slack. $300/bbl oil if the US does that.
Auto parts - sure, if you want to shut down all US auto manufacturing.
And don't forget, the US then not only cripples itself, but also it's biggest export market. Canadian
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A few points:
The Bloc Quebecois lost official party status at the Federal level when they were pretty much wiped out by the National Democratic Party (NDP); their leader quit, and you never hear anything about them any more.
You left out the Green Party. With Jack Layton gone, and the talk (even if nothing comes of it) of a merger between the Grits (Liberals) and the Dippers (NDP) diluting the lines, a good chunk of the left-of-center vote (and some of the centrist vote) is going to say "a pox on both you
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You left out the Green Party. With Jack Layton gone, and the talk (even if nothing comes of it) of a merger between the Grits (Liberals) and the Dippers (NDP) diluting the lines, a good chunk of the left-of-center vote (and some of the centrist vote) is going to say "a pox on both your houses" and shift to the Greens next election. While they may not get many seats, they will affect outcomes.
I am not so sure - other than their environmental platform, the Greens are not particularly "left-leaning" in much of their policy - though I do think they are thought of as being left-of-centre.
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Indeed. I'm glad that I wasn't drinking coffee when I read that joke about the Conservatives being 'far right'.
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Under Harper, they're somewhat right of center. Now that he has a majority and if he thinks he can get away with it, you'll see an ever-rightward shift, more so if Ontario elects a provincial Conservative party next month.
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Sure, if you look form a vantage point of either libertarian utopism or totalitarian fascism (both considered "far right") then everything else seems "left wing". To a European, with actual socialist and communist parties, there is quite a larger right wing.
Really clumsy politics (Score:2)
But it's so obvious. Any politician who's remotely against American "cultural imperialism" is going to see it for what it is and actively work against the measures urged by the US. Surely the watch list does as muc
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Why is anyone paying any attention to this piracy list?
That is the question. Wasn't it the US' GAO that admitted it was worthless, considering it was made up solely of numbers provided by the *AAs?
There are much more subtle ways to get his message across.
I think they've come to the conclusion that the US House of Reps & Senate are so bought off now, subtlety's no longer necessary. Think about it: who even cares about this issue other than pirates, patriots, bought off legislators, and the *AAs? The rest of the population, considering their buying habits, clearly don't give a flying fsck about any of this, if th
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I wouldn't count on that. Downloading is rampant in Canada, because our government signed off on a surcharge for blank CDs that assumed everyone was using them to burn pirated music. As a result, downloading music is LEGAL in Canada -- we've paid for the privelege as a society.
Needless to say, the *AA are not happy about shooting themselves in the foot by pushing for that surcharge. They were just after the money, and didn't think about it's legal implications.
Go Dig Around Opensecrets.org for US Politicians (Score:2)
A bigger question - WHY was this redacted? (Score:2)
If this is new information, I assume it stems from the recent full release of all documents.
So now you have to ask - just WHY was this redacted in the original set? This seems exactly like the kind of thing wikileaks is there to air. So why did they decide to hold this item back?
This is just further evidence that a third party has no businesses redacting anything. Any leaks group should act only as a conduit, not as a arbitrator who decides what stays secret.
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This is just further evidence that a third party has no businesses redacting anything. Any leaks group should act only as a conduit, not as a arbitrator who decides what stays secret.
Making an assumption and claiming it as evidence. Really?
BAD BAD BAD (Score:2)
AFAIK, that's exactly what Wikileaks was trying to do
Releasing it to other limited sources who would then redact is exactly the opposite of what I was saying should be done.
NO ONE outside the organization managing the information is qualified to say what should be redacted and what should not. In the end they are simply tools for groups furthering a political agenda with selected leaks.
As I stated this articles illustrates just how wrong that model was. Why was this information with end, when clearly no
Contact your MP (Score:3)
http://www.parl.gc.ca/MembersOfParliament/MainMPsCompleteList.aspx [parl.gc.ca]
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"They also cite cabinet minister Maxime Bernier raising the possibility of showing U.S. officials a draft bill before tabling it in Parliament."
FYI, from TFA, the paragraph immediately following reads:
The cables, from the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa, even have a policy director for then industry minister Tony Clement suggesting it might help U.S. demands for a tough copyright law if Canada were placed among the worst offenders on an international piracy watch list. Days later, the U.S. placed Canada alongside China and Russia on the list.
What strikes me as astonishing is how monumentally stupid this makes the US' powers that be look, as this action was immediately viewed with scorn and disbelief by pretty much anyone who noticed. Yet, has any of that scorn and disbelief made any dent in US policy intentions? Hell no, full steam ahead, ignore the peanut gallery. Let 'em eat cake.
Holy legislative capture, Batman!