Balanced Copyright in Canada?
p2pnet view P2P | Freedom | Entertainment | Music | Movies | Politics:- Looks like there is going to be an old-time dog fight during this upcoming election in Canada. On one side you have the Conservatives, which are apparently in the pockets of Big Content and Bell/Rogers, as they want everything on the dream list from their draconian copyright masters.
Digital locks, usage based billing, throttling, web censorship, and they are also strong supporters of the new iPod levy on digital objects that play digital files. They are also willing to give some leeway on Net Neutrality as long as ISPs comply with some simple rules. Retain everything on everyone for no less than 180 days, “for law enforcement purposes”. Ya, right, and I also write articles for Forbes… The data retention caveat is primarily to appease the demands of the MAFIAA in order to begin exploiting their customers in the courts. As near as I can tell, not being Canadian, is that Canada has the closest balance between consumers and content providers in the known world.
Note that I did not call Canadian Copyright balanced, but the closest balance I have seen in the free world. Similar to Spain and Denmark (which both are about to change rapidly, and will no longer be examples), Canada has some of the last vestiges of consumer friendly snippets in its’ copyright regime that few other countries enjoy. And yet, year after year, the MAFIAA places Canada on the Special 301 report, mainly because they refuse to bow to the cartel’s demands – digital locks, iPod levies and data retention for civil prosecution. I thought I would never type that headline, but in the face of overwhelming lobbying by the MAFIAA, Telcos, ISPs, content providers, and the aging musicians, anytime the public themselves gets and inch back from the draconian copyright cartels, it has to be considered a win. With the elections looming, the parties have put their cards on the table…
The Conservatives:
- want anti-spam legislation, which is good
- defended the fair dealing reform of C-32
- pressured the CRTC to reconsider Usage Based Billing (UBB)
- refused to budge on the digital locks provision, including electronic device levies
- want steadfast lawful access legislation requiring ISPs to retain data on its’ customers, “for law enforcement purposes”. More like the first step in facilitating copyright infringement lawsuits similar to the ones we have here in the United States, the “pay-up-or-else” business model
- mostly want to just sweep this under the carpet until after the election
After protestors to the Digital Economy Strategy compiled over 300,000 signatures in protest, the National Democratic Party (NDP) took notice, and modified their platform accordingly…
The NDP want:
- enshrinement of “Net Neutrality”, forcing ISPs to be “dumb pipes”, and nothing more
- to end price gouging and net throttling by prohibiting Usage Based Billing, with clear rules for ISPs that will be enforced by the CRTC
- introduction of a bill for copyright reform to review Canada’s stance concerning international obligations, while balancing consumer and creator rights
- to rescind the 2006 Conservative industry-orientated directives, and require the CRTC regulator stand up for public interests, and not just Big Content and the telecommunications industries (namely Bell/Rogers)
So, it looks like there is going to be copyright reform in Canada, whether Canada wants it or not. The question remains, will the Canadian people stand up for whats right?
It seems they already have with the massive protests concerning C-32 and all the publicity it has created. Dr. Michael Geist does an impressive job of keeping the public on Canada informed concerning copyright issues, and you should really read his blog if you are Canadian, and even if your not Canadian, it gives you very good insight in how the MAFIAA is attempting to subvert governments all over the world to their demands.
What it looks like to me is the NDP is pro-consumer, while the Conservatives are pro-MAFIAA. A rather oversimplification I realize, but it is not hard to see where loyalties lie in reading the Digital Economy Platform for each party. So the question remains; will Canadians vote in the NDP and potentially get some consumer friendly legislation out of the deal, or will Canadians vote for the Conservative party, that apparently wants to serve up Canadian citizens to the MAFIAA as hors d’œuvres?
Stay Tuned…
surfer – p2pnet
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April 16th, 2011 at 10:48 pm
more i talk to people more people are not going to vote this election
they are saying all presented parties are crooks
below a certain number of people voting government becomes null and void
April 17th, 2011 at 2:55 am
i agree with most of your article-news. don’t call it a protest though
protest > pro test > test of a pro [something] > law dictionaries state it as 3 day trial time of something that will be agreed on anyway
better to call it a rejection, disagreement, contest, revolt … anything but protest
“The question remains, will the Canadian people stand up for whats right?”
what’s needed is 10000+ men and women to make up their own rules about this, have them notarized – each and every one separately, stick them in front of powers that be – tell them this is the way it is and that’s it, government and corporations are obligated to adapt or be in dishonor of the public … they become defunct and or loose their jobs
April 17th, 2011 at 9:24 am
Drew Wilson does a much better job breaking down both sides of the argument. I am not Canadian, but I will stand by anyone having draconian copyright laws forced down their throat. Like in New Zealand, they snuck in 3-strikes on a Bill designed for earthquake relief.
The intent is ‘who would be against a bill for earthquake relief’? These copyright parasites are never going to give up.
April 17th, 2011 at 10:21 pm
surfer:
i’ll make it simpler – a Bill is what you get for buying something. it’s the Law of Commerce. look it up in law dictionaries
what is it that you bought by accepting a Bill as you say? more controls? more payments from your hard earned money? double payments? – so the natural tendency and smarts is to ‘reject’ it since you have not received anything for it but problems and heartache.
Starting to see the deception, their play on words, their extortion, their fraud?
‘Copyright’ is exactly that – Right to Copy. PERIOD – no need read anything else past that point
Under Common Law you have the right to copy anything you want as long as you don’t hurt someone, damage their property or breach the peace. This simple.
April 17th, 2011 at 10:49 pm
@gabbi:
“a Bill is what you get for buying something”
Depends on what “bill” you’re talking about.
There’s the bill you pay for a service.
Some people still refer to a receipt as “the bill”. :S
Theatre itineraries are also called “bills”.
Birds also have bills.
They’re born with them, and I don’t think they have to pay anything for that.
Most cash purchases you make these days is made with bills.
But, most importantly to the discussion, a “bill” from a legal perspective is usually…
a) a draft of a proposed law presented for approval to a legislative body, or
b) a law enacted from such a draft, or
c) a document presented to a court and containing a formal statement of a case, complaint, or petition.
April 18th, 2011 at 6:10 am
Devil’s Advocate:
Very True
yet birds are ‘free to do as they wish’ and are under Natural Law and Universal Law – it is Unlawful to keep a bird, any animal or living thing unless you are going to eat it – you are obligated to respect it’s Nature. Failure to respect this is cause to get kicked out of community
theater itineraries / programs / bills are accounting and part of commerce / Admiralty Law / UCC code since you are receiving a service initiated by Admiralty system. When you go to one of their theaters you get a ‘receipt’ after you pay
cash purchases when dealing with a ‘business’ or corporation you get a bill – commerce / Admiralty Law / UCC code
cash purchases between men and women don’t require bills – Common Law / barter / trade / gifts / sharing
this distinction is of utmost importance when looking at Law systems
Admiralty / Canada – a 5 mile body of water ‘surrounding’ the Land called Turtle Island – it has no power on Land unless by agreement of inland Port or business/corporation thereof. It is your right to choose
your words say it all:
“bill” “legal” = Admiralty / accounting / UCC
a) “draft” + “law” + “legislative body” = Admiralty / accounting / government of accounts
b) “law” + “enacted” + “draft” = Admiralty …
c) due to words used -> “document” + “court” + “containing” + “formal” + “case” + “complaint” + “petition” = Admiralty Court and Law system, not Common Law … look them up in their law dictionaries.
Why do they have different meanings than regular English?
Why are they part of a “code”?
“code” is a hidden thing, as in secret
starting to see the extent of deception by Admiralty?
starting to see how they superimposed over top of Common Law to commit extortion and fraud?
April 18th, 2011 at 9:20 am
recognizing the absurdity of current law, whether it be admiralty or common, is realistic, losing sleep over it is just obsessive behavior.
April 18th, 2011 at 12:52 pm
surfer:
yet it is necessary to explain to those whom don’t know it or have been tricked into some sort of fiction.
your fist comment on this page is kind of pessimistic so i decided to give you and everyone hope
in whichever country or nation you are in Common Law trumps business law. it is your Remedy, your Rights, your [for lack of a better word] your salvation from a tyrannical, slave based, greedy, protectionist, elitist system of commerce. main virtue of Common Law is it’s simplicity of common sense approach
if one wants to go a step higher then there’s Sovereign Law. one step above this is Shaman Law / Gods Law / Natural Law – Law of nature and full operations of life on Earth. and finally above all else is Universal Law – Laws of the Universe.
just the knowledge of Laws in this paragraph puts one automatically on a kill list of powers that be today and as is evident for last 6500 years.
it is my hope that people will wake up, learn their rights and learn how to protect themselves before greedy death dealers fully take over and cause a mass global genocide in their quest for global domination. if http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_Guidestones is not clear enough of their plans then i don’t know what is
so, what all this copyright bull is really about is to stop the dissemination of knowledge to the masses. sharing MP3′s, movies and links is only the weakest link for them to attack.
April 19th, 2011 at 1:12 pm
I don’t trust the NDP either! In BC they cut funding for so many social programs, which is quite counter to what they are supposed to be about. In Ontario… two words: Bob Rae.
Jack Layton could be what we need. Could! But there’s one problem, I don’t want unions like the CAW (who run more like corporations than organizations that are fighting for people’s rights) exerting political influence any more than they currently do.
A union is meant to be a group of employees that band together to improve work conditions to a fair level, fair benefits and a fair wage. Sorry but 6 weeks vacation and $24.53/hr to start (2001 stats) is NOT fair wages for a ‘sweeper’ (aka: person who rides a mobile vacuum unit). I’ve been in the union, CAW, and they were more about fighting for the sake of fighting, and trying to fill me head with bullshit such as the company is trying to take everything away from you, so you must take everything from them. Which we have seen the result: outsourcing of parts, plant shutdowns, etc… That negative Us vs Them mentality is part of what the NDP supports and is strongly influenced by.
So NDP isn’t the best choice because we know the unions ONLY support those that pay their dues, so much for caring about workers rights!
Ah the Conservatives, the last 5 years have shown just what they are about, like we knew any different? Seriously, a sponsorship scandal is not worse than what we have endured. Yes I know it was the Liberals who put JTF2 on the ground in Afghanistan in 2001, so they are partly to blame as well.
And the Liberals. How about a leader like Chretien, in fact how about Chretien? How could I vote in 2008 for Dion when he could not even answer a simple question on TV regarding a time line “do you mean two weeks ago? or a week ago?” You mean you can’t find a single leader who can stand up to corporations or the US for the people?
The Green Party is actually quite ‘conservative’ if you trust the CBC’s experiment with categorizing the political parties.
There’s no one in power worth voting for. The only thing we can do is express that by abstaining from voting and writing in saying “GET OUT!” and replace them with people who have integrity. They do exist!!!!
George Carlin performed an amazing rant on politicians. “Maybe it’s the American people who suck?” Or maybe it’s the current politicians ONLY LETTING IN the people who suck???
We have to break that mold and get rid of corporate influence. It’s very simple, you bribe our organization again (say it were the CRTC) to rule in your favour, and we’ll fine you so severely you’ll join Nortel in the ranks of Great Canadian Has-beens.
Alas, back to reality. Too many sheeple don’t want to wake up to make a difference. That’s the problem!
April 26th, 2011 at 4:35 pm
I’ve been seeing alot of voter apathy around me as well here in Winnipeg, but i keep telling everyone the same thing, go vote and if you don’t want to vote for any party, deface your ballot, then it gets counted, and if 53% of the voting population do that, then that should send quite the message to the government that they have to do some serious overhauls