It's really telling that the opposition to the Canadian DMCA has come from real grassroots: artist groups, citizen groups, technologists, educators, disabled-rights groups, archivists -- people who don't hide their funding or their affiliations behind false flags. Meanwhile, the only support for this law has come from slick, fraudulent PR campaigns that shroud their origins in secrecy in order to disguise the fact that this is just the same four record labels running around in circles, wearing several hats, pretending to be a crowd.
__________________ Uncertainty is an uncomfortable position.
But certainty is an absurd one.
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Those absolutists out there, who are babyish in their approach to copyright legislation who think that any idea that copyright reform would be an attack on individual citizens are people who frankly don't get. Let me amend what I said a minute ago. Don't ignore those voices. Those people who are out there who are saying that copyright legislation, copyright reform is not good, these are people who are dressing up the fact that they don't believe in copyright reform at all. Right. These people out there who don't believe in copyright at all. They will say, well Bill C-61, the old copyright legislation, we disagreed with these specific provisions. Well, Bill C-32 we have these specific amendments.
Don't fool yourself. These voices that are out there, these people that are out there who pretend to be experts that the media cite all the time. They don't believe in any copyright reform whatsoever. They will find any excuse to oppose this bill, to drum up fear, to mislead, to misdirect, and to push people in the wrong direction and to undermine what has been a meaningful comprehensive year-long effort to get something right. This hasn't been done since 1997, three years after I graduated high school. It's been a long time. We need to amend our legislation. Those people out there who try to pretend that they are copyright experts and they want to amend copyright in a meaningful way, don't be fooled by some of these people. They don't believe in any copyright. They don't believe in individuals' right to protect their own creations.
When they speak, they need to be confronted. If it's on Facebook, if it's on Twitter, or if it's on a talk show or if it is a newspaper, confront them and tell they are wrong. Canada, from the Hudson's Bay Company through FTA and NAFTA to the G8 and G20, Canada always has been and always will be a trading nation. Our future and our past and our prosperity has always been dependent on investment into Canada, being in compliance with international standards, opening ourselves up to the world, welcoming investment and working with the world. Not being an outlier in the world, disregarding international treaties like WIPO that we've signed, disregarding our obligations to protect foreign investment into Canada, Canadian investment into Canadian businesses, we need to protect those investments and protect those jobs.
Make sure that those voices who try to find technical, non-sensical, fear-mongering reasons to oppose copyright reform are confronted every step of the way and they are defeated. When we do that this bill will pass and Canada will be better for it.
^ What a tool James Moore is. The vast majority of Canadians aren't against modernizing copyright, they just want to be able to use their purchased content fairly.
The saddest part about this is that he truly doesn't seem to understand that criminalizing the breaking of digital locks punishes people that actually support the industries that he's trying to prop up.
I think that this bill is much improved over the last one, and the major sticking point could be overcome by allowing the breaking of digital locks for personal and educational uses. Will that harm the industry? Nope, because the content was already purchased. And the public's opposition will be substantially quelled.
He kind of does have a bit of a point (while missing many other points). When it was announced that there was going to be a new copyright bill, many were up in arms before even reading the legislation.
As for :
Quote:
these people that are out there who pretend to be experts that the media cite all the time
... Those people out there who try to pretend that they are copyright experts and they want to amend copyright in a meaningful way...
If he is talking about Michael Geist, well, he kind of is a copyright expert. Much more so than the people voting on any proposed legislation.
On a semi-related note, those of you that own a PS3 will be able to access the video store and buy/rent movies and stream them to your machine. That starts tomorrow apparently.
But, alas, the new Hulu service that will be coming to American game consoles will not be available in Canada. Seems like the industry here doesn't want to provide legal, convenient movie/TV viewing and would rather sue torrenters instead.
He kind of does have a bit of a point (while missing many other points). When it was announced that there was going to be a new copyright bill, many were up in arms before even reading the legislation.
Well to be fair, we've had a good long look at the American version of it. And a look at their previous bills they had attempted to bring in. If it was anything close to those - which you could safely assume it would be - then people had every reason to be up in arms about it before even reading the new wording.
If you're like me and oppose Bill C-32 on its Digital Lock clauses, contact your MP and Tony Clement, make it very clear you don't support this.
Personally, I'm okay with the rest of the bill as long as those Digital Lock clauses are removed. I'd also be just as happy if the whole bill was killed entirely.
It's back. I hate how it just snuck into parliament on a day that I wasn't watching, but it's back in session.
Yesterday Bill C-32 was opened in the house for a second reading and the initial debate. That debate continues into today in the House, according to the House of Commons website.
This link is part of the bill summary, and specifically starts right at the public's reaction to the amendments the bill would make to media within the realm of circumventing digital locks on things like DVD's, Blu-Rays, Video games, etc. Interesting read.
Last edited by HeartsOfFire; 11-03-2010 at 06:34 AM.
Reason: Added second link
Bill C-32 has finished second reading, according to the traitor to Canadian Consumer's MP James Moore, and is now off to committee.
In committee, a panel of officials will review the bill thoroughly and speak with experts. No doubt they will include lawyers, professors, and other professionals including Michael Geist.
The committee has the ability to recommend amendments to the bill before passing it back to the House for the third and final reading.
For those interested, this link transcribes the remarks made in debate on the 3rd under the Government orders section, and Copyright Modernization Act.
Last edited by HeartsOfFire; 11-05-2010 at 09:40 AM.
Presently? Little. Bill C-32 has to go through committee, then it has to go through third reading. If it manages to pass through the third reading, then it gets sent off to the Senate for an additional three readings. If it passes through the Senate, then it receives Royal Assent and becomes law with all applicable amendments made since first reading.
It has a long way to go, but it is making progress. By comparison, Bill C-61, which was the Conservative government's first attempt at a Copyright Modernization Act, was so shoddy and anti-consumer that it never made it out of the First Reading stage, it was shot down violently.
MP's in the Liberal and NDP party's are deeply concerned about the digital lock clauses. to quote one of them from the debate on the 3rd:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Honorable Minister Glenn Thibault, Sudbury, NDP
I happen to have a seven-year-old daughter who is a huge Hannah Montana and Jonas Brothers fan. We must buy as many Jonas Brothers and Hannah Montana movies and music as we possibly can in my household. I can rhyme off Hannah Montana songs. I am sure many other MPs who have young children could do the same thing. I will not sing one for the House. I do not want to embarrass myself that badly because I am not a great singer. My daughter has a CD collection but we cannot find CD players, so we need to put those on to our MP3 player. Under the bill, my seven-year-old daughter is now breaking the law.
I have a strong suspicion that while the bill is in committee, it will receive amendments that will allow consumers to do what they wish with their purchased media in the privacy of their own homes, because otherwise, Bill C-32 is pretty solid.
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I have a strong suspicion that while the bill is in committee, it will receive amendments that will allow consumers to do what they wish with their purchased media in the privacy of their own homes, because otherwise, Bill C-32 is pretty solid.
That sums it up. I think that it will be viewed as anti-consumer if someone isn't allowed to migrate a DVD to an iPod, for example. As much as the entertainment industry would love us to have to buy the same content over and over again, they should be thankful that someone actually bought it once. Throw the book at actual piracy for all I care, but don't make it illegal to use content that you purchased in a personal manner.
Another thing to keep in mind regarding Copyright Modernization legislation is the impact ACTA negotiations have on the proposed Bill. I don't know the exact details, but there was some news a few weeks ago about how Bill C-32 now actually goes far and above what ACTA would implement, and so would give the House more incentive to scale things down a bit. I'll try and find the info, because what I just described does sound awfully vague.
EDIT: Found a Geist article that a former prof of mine (he teaches at Athabasca now) linked to.
So the House of Commons legislative committee has had their first meeting this past Tuesday.
The Conservatives wanted to prioritize the matter of 'balanced' copyright and make the committee work intensely on it. By that, they mean devote devote 18 hours of study per week for two or three weeks. The opposition squashed that bid. The committee will devote two to three hours of study per week for a minimum of six weeks. It's believed their proposal, whatever it may be, will not be ready until at least February.
Additionally, Quebec legislature voted unanimously against Bill C-32, not that it means much. They were in favor instead for a blank media levy extending to MP3 players.
Today it is also being reported that the Liberals are looking for a compromise by including a personal exemption to the digital lock provisions. This makes sense as you should be able to format shift your legally-purchased content from a DVD to an iPod, for example.
Becoming WIPO compliant doesn't have to be at the expense of consumers - many other countries have exemptions for breaking locks/TPN for personal use. Frankly, to now allow for personal use of legally obtained content is blatantly anti-consumer.
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