NATO and Canadian camcording
p2pnet.net news view:- John Fithian, the President of the National Association of Theater Owners (yes, their acronym really is NATO), has put the Canadian camcorder issue back on the public agenda in the US.
Reuters reports that Fithian claimed at a press conference yesterday that the success of U.S. authorities targeting camcording has sent the practice north to Canada. Fithian is quoted as saying “there is a very large percentage of movie theft occurring in Canada, particularly in Quebec, because now they can get English and French (versions of films) and use it around the world.”
Leaving aside the fact that Fithian said not a single word about the Canadian issue in his prepared remarks, his comments are somewhat inconsistent with what he told his members just a few months ago.
In a November letter to association members, Fithian wasn’t talking about US successes. Instead, he suggested that Australia and Canada faced the issue, but emphasized problems at home, conceeding that “the thieves are migrating. At first, most camcorder movie theft occurred in New York and Los Angeles. Today, the thieves have moved, and we have seen camcorder theft in 15 new states since January 2005.”
Michael Geist
[Geist is the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa. He can be reached by email at mgeist[at]uottawa.ca and is on-line at www.michaelgeist.ca.]
Also See:
Ars Technica – Microsoft executive: Pirating software? Choose Microsoft!, March 12, 2007
long-established – Bill Gates praises Russia, November 8, 2006
Digital Copyright Canada – Microsoft’s Jeff Raikes says : If you must pirate, use counterfeit Windows, March 12, 2007
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Tired of being treated like a criminal? They depend on you, not the other way around. Don’t buy their ‘product’. Do bug your local politicians. Use emails, snail-mail, phone calls, faxes, IM, stop them in the street, blog. And if you’re into organizing, organize petitions, organize demonstrations and then turn up on your local political rep’s doorstep, making sure you’ve contacted your local tv/radio station/newspaper in advance. Don’t just complain. Do something!
March 14th, 2007 at 5:13 pm
I really wish these idiots would stop using that word out of context.