Archive for August, 2006

European Music Study on Industry Decline

Screencast, a UK consulting firm, concludes: It is easy to point the finger at piracy but factors like the gradual erosion of music dedicated shelf space in big retailers like HMV and Virgin and its replacement with DVD's, book, games and mobile phones cannot be ignored. Seen in this light […]

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August 24, 2006 Comments are Disabled News

CRTC Asked To Order Hate Sites Blocked

Lawyers for Richard Warman, Canada's leading online hate fighter, have filed an application with the CRTC requesting that it issue an order enabling carrier ISPs to block two foreign hate sites that have issued death threats against Mr. Warman.  One of the sites – a blog hosted on blogspot – […]

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August 23, 2006 15 comments News

Canadian Soldier Ordered to Stop Blogging

Rob points out that a Canadian soldier in Afghanistan has been ordered to stop blogging.

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August 23, 2006 3 comments News

Steal This Film

Cory brings attention to a new Swedish documentary titled Steal This Film!.  The documentary is well worth downloading since it provides a powerful illustration of the pressure that the U.S. exerts on other countries on copyright policy.  Further, the film demonstrates that Sweden's political parties have begun to recognize that […]

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August 23, 2006 2 comments News

30 Days of DRM – Day 05: DRM Labelling and Consumer Awareness (Public Protection)

If government is to incentivize the use of DRM by enacting anti-circumvention legislation, it must also address the significant consumer protection issues that are likely to follow.  Most consumers know little if anything about DRMs and the limitations that may be placed on consumer entertainment products such as CDs, DVDs, video games, or digital download services.  While there may some limited disclosures – DVDs indicate the region code, if your eyesight is good enough you might notice that some copy-controlled CDs warn on the back corner that they may not play on all computers, and digital download services all feature lengthy user agreements that few consumers will ever read – they are plainly insufficient and the government should not support the legal fiction that "informed" consumers are knowingly purchasing products that contain a host of limitations. 

For many consumers, these DRM products are simply not fit for purpose – they often won't play on your DVD player, on your iPod, or permit usage that most would expect is permissible.  Moreover, consumers frequently can't obtain a refund for their purchases as many retailers won't accept returns on opened CDs and DVDs and digital download services do not offer refunds to disgruntled downloaders.

The federal government might argue that this is provincial problem, since consumer protection issues typically fall under provincial jurisdiction.  The reality, however, is that the federal government can and should play its part to address the issue.

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August 23, 2006 Comments are Disabled News