We don’t need no DMCA!
p2pnet news | Politics:- “If you’re a Canadian and you want to talk to Industry Minister Jim Prentice (right, with friends) about his proposal for a Canadian DMCA, a copyright law that’s even worse than the ten-year-old American legislation that resulted in lawsuits against 20,000+ Americans without stopping infringement or paying artists, now’s your chance!” – posts Cory Doctorow on Boing Boing.
Doctorow is, of course, Canadian.
And, suggests Michael Geist, “People should call in today.”
Because thanks to Canada’s weak-kneed politicians, we could be saddled with our very own DMCA and that REALLY SUCKS!!!
Continues Doctorow:
This Saturday, Minister Prentice is hosting an open house in Calgary at his constituency office. This is the best chance we will ever have to make our feelings known about the Canadian DMCA. If you are in or near Calgary, plan on attending this event, along with local activist Kempton Lam (sign up on the Fair Copyright for Canada Facebook group).
Dress neatly. Be polite. Be firm. Be friendly. Ask the Minister tough questions (the CBC has collected over 250 questions about this, all of which Prentice has refused to answer) in front of his constituents, the people who voted him into office (you don’t need to remind him that that the last two MPs who tried to introduce a Canadian DMCA lost their jobs — he knows!).
Prentice’s open house runs from 1PM-3PM tomorrow, Saturday, December 8 at 1318 Centre Street NE, Suite 105, Calgary, AB (details on Prentice’s website)
Not in Calgary? NO PROBLEM! Plan on calling the Minister tomorrow or on dropping him an email, expressing your regrets that you can’t attend the open house, but letting him know how you feel. Here are the numbers:
Ottawa office – (613) 992-4275
Calgary office – (403) 216-7777
Minister office – (613) 995-9001
His email address is: Prentice.J@parl.gc.ca. Once you send an email, print it out and mail it (no stamp needed!) to:
Jim Prentice
House of Commons
Parliament Buildings
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6
The word is that the Minister’s office is reeling from the overwhelming, national response to this badly written, badly planned bill. Bringing this legislation to Canada is Prentice’s “series of tubes” moment, the point at which Canada’s Internet Czar shows himself to be largely ignorant of its workings and power.
I believe that we can stop this bill. I will be calling the Minister tomorrow, and sending him a letter. I hope you do so as well. Canadians don’t need to follow the US off the copyright cliff. We can have a sane and balanced copyright law, one that protects the Canadian public and Canadian artists.
Tell your friends. Tell your family. If you care about the net, this could be the most important thing you do this year. Take action and save the country.
Stay tuned.
Jon Newton – p2pnet
(Thanks, Michael)
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December 7th, 2007 at 7:54 pm
This proves that the government shouldn’t have the power to make large sweeping changes like this without a referendum. The people should be involved more in major changes to law.
December 10th, 2007 at 9:04 am
People,
Don’t forget to contact your local MP;s as well. They need to know that you are against the DMCA part of this legislation and that there are no Fair Usage aspects included (at least from the reports).
Let them know that the DMCA can lead to major legal hurdles for businesses. Things like being sued for creating a universal remote control. This is good for lawyers but bad for inventors and businesses. Just what we don’t need with a coming recession.