Comments for Canadian Copyright Reform In Force: Expanded User Rights Now the Law at http://www.michaelgeist.ca , comment 1 to 48 out of 20 comments http://www.michaelgeist.ca Fri, 24 May 2013 02:05:33 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6692/125/#comment-49613 Thank you Michael for putting out this article. I found it in the Toronto Star and it's one of those things that is super helpful but can't be easily found anywhere else. - John Sat, 10 Nov 2012 18:31:09 +0100 http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6692/125/#comment-49600 "Duplicating a disc now has a higher penalty than stealing one!" But, duplicating a disc you haven't paid for *is* stealing. That's the point. - Karen Fri, 09 Nov 2012 17:09:30 +0100 http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6692/125/#comment-49599 As far as I know, it's downloading copyrighted vids to your hard drive which would be illegal. Just viewing them should not be illegal at all. If the content on Youtube or whatever site is copyrighted, then it should be the site's obligation and liability to take the content off, especially if notified by a content owner. And Ytube has actually been pulling a lot of copyrighted videos off their site, the last little while. Anyone should have the right to view whatever is available on Youtube or any other legal site. Watching is not the same as downloading. It's not as if the people who are watching the copyrighted vid are actually keeping it for their own personal use. - Peepers Fri, 09 Nov 2012 17:08:24 +0100 http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6692/125/#comment-49595 +1 ripping youtube or using VPN's. Ripping youtube videos is the same as viewing them if using software, if it's from a website (eg: keepvid) then it depends on the site. Suing someone for ripping a freely available youtube video is ridiculous IMHO - I think it should be considered timeshifting. Some services (Spotify) already offer offline use, why doesn't youtube? If they still don't like it, embed ads into the video itself. Posting copyrighted stuff on the other hand, probably will be enforced. - Dman Fri, 09 Nov 2012 14:23:07 +0100 http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6692/125/#comment-49591 It would appear the VPN business is going to be booming pretty soon. The Rapidshares among them log your connection, but a lot do not log anything. You might as well make the switch; before long the "account holder is responsible" balloon will be floated here as well. - Byte Fri, 09 Nov 2012 02:37:18 +0100 http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6692/125/#comment-49590 Sorry, meant to say the chances may be a little lower somewhat for someone downloading off a file locker site, like RS? - Peepers Thu, 08 Nov 2012 21:41:12 +0100 http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6692/125/#comment-49589 How are they going to enforce laws for online infringement? Yes, it's pretty evident that someone could be caught rather easily by using the torrents. The chances maybe a little higher for being nabbed downloading off a file locker site like Rapidshare? What about Ytube or similar tube sites? Unless there would be some collusion for Youtube to collect peoples IP addresses, and then handing them over to content owners, how else would someone be caught downloading? How would even the people who run Ytube know if someone is downloading the content off their site or not. - Peepers Thu, 08 Nov 2012 21:37:21 +0100 http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6692/125/#comment-49586 don't forget people! Vinyl records aren't digitally locked, so if you want to make copies of your music, buy vinyl records and record them! Wooo! Backtracking societyy! - geoffrey boom Thu, 08 Nov 2012 17:59:58 +0100 http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6692/125/#comment-49585 Given 99.9% of content shared on the net is U.S. content the $5000.00 cap is useless for Canadians. Infringe on U.S copyright(s) its their laws that come in to play not Canada's. Private Uses, up load to the net private goes out the window! Non-commercial Uses, anyone ever see a blog or site with Ads??? Why all the joy and celebration folks? - PeterP Thu, 08 Nov 2012 17:48:14 +0100 http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6692/125/#comment-49576 Technically, even *REMEMBERING* what you saw on screen could be considered a circumvention of the digital locks that were in place when you watched a movie with such locks, since the information in your own brain is, in some sense, a form of a copy. The "copy" in your head might not be a digital copy, but the law does not govern that... it makes circumventing digital locks without permission illegal, period (with only a very small number of exceptions that pertain very specifically to computer and network security or to law enforcement). As the locks are not still in place in your head, they have been effectively circumvented... just as much as if you had used recording equipment to record the digitally protected work while it was playing on screen (which is *definitely* considered circumvention). Of course, the reason why it is ludicrous to regulate what people are merely allowed to remember is that memories are an obvious example of "private use". But private use does not qualify for any sort of exemption for breaking digital locks on a copyrighted work. As technology advances, however... and people in the future may even start to augment their own brain functions with computer equipment (enabling things such as telepathic access to the "internet", or whatever global networking structure replaces it, to give just one example, or to help improve memory, especially for medical reasons), what people are allowed to merely think about could even start being regulated by laws like this. Private use *MUST* be an exemption to infringement.... if it is not, then absolutely everybody becomes a lawbreaker. And as of yesterday morning, everybody is. - Mark Thu, 08 Nov 2012 11:03:11 +0100 http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6692/125/#comment-49575 I ask because of an odd situation, following a public library download of time-limited media. The media was disabled on official software on my PC after 21 days as expected but I forgot I'd copied it to an MP3 player. Several months later I noticed it there and it still worked fine! On closer inspection the library service seems to rely on an "honour system" for users to delete player transfers manually. It's not clear to me if the new law would consider this illegal DRM breaking. - Albin Thu, 08 Nov 2012 09:29:35 +0100 http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6692/125/#comment-49574 ...just ignore whatever the Canadian (or any other) Government says or tells you to, or must, can or should do. Our best interest is never their interest (we are fairly low on the list, after themselves, their friends, foreign governments, foreign corporate interests, local corporate interests, etc) so why even pay attention to any of this non-sense. - Visitor Thu, 08 Nov 2012 08:50:34 +0100 http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6692/125/#comment-49573 I voted for the Conservatives last time because I am, for the most part, fundamentally opposed to the freewheeling spending habits of those on the left. That said, this bill, amongst others, is making me less and less impressed. This isn't the Conservative government I want. It's not that they're pro-big business (that's largely the arena of the Liberals), but they're caving to foreign pressures, both American (which, itself, doesn't worry me too much as our two countries have, for the most part, common interests) and Chinese (which does scare the bejeebers out of me). What I don't like, is our national policy being directed by foreign ENTERTAINMENT companies - this is utterly stupid! Stupid and not in the interests of ANY Canadian - rich or poor, black, white or native. The copyright act does need to be modified, but all countries around the world are being pressured to adopt a USA DMCA-style reform (it's not just us that got this particular shaft). I gather it's so we can buy a copy of Transformers at our local Walmart rather than having to try to import it from the USA. I think our politicos are simply running scared and saying Yessir, rather than realizing that, if the world held up a big middle finger to the USA copyright act, American studios would have no choice but to relent (they'd lose the majority of their market). So, I don't think I'm voting Conservative next time around. I certainly won't vote for the Liberals (not unless they can do a complete 180 turnaround, dump their current stock of old boys and load the party with fresh faces and fresh, new ideas - that make sense and aren't nutjob ripoffs) or the NDP or God-forbid, the Greens, so I'll probably have to look toward whichever protest party is running in my area. Politics anywhere these days is very disappointing: the current crop of puppets (from ALL parties) offer nothing to inspire hope or the desire to follow. Stephen Harper is a good leader (whether you think his ideas are right or wrong, he's got people motivated to follow him) but, in the wings of the Conservative party, I see noone to step up and take over, nor do I see any such talent in the other two major parties. And the Americans are even worse off with Obama and Romney being the best they can prop up?!? Very very sad. I'm going back to work now. - Jon Thu, 08 Nov 2012 08:40:34 +0100 http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6692/125/#comment-49569 @Mr. A BlueShoe is talking about private copying, e.g. I borrow a CD from the library and make a copy for myself, then return the CD. Or I borrow a CD from a friend, etc. That is not a back-up copy. In general, the copyright industry has a great victory in the digital lock clauses. Soon, in a few years, we'll sew the introduction of the 'broadcast flag' which is DRM to prevent you from timeshifting/recording. It's the well-known Sliding Scale strategy the copyright industry used for over a 100 years. Our salvation lies with the European Parliament, urge any Europeans you know to vote for a EFA/Greens group member party in 2014 - Byte Thu, 08 Nov 2012 02:50:36 +0100 http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6692/125/#comment-49568 Here's the thing - anything can be encrypted. So, what are we allowed to do? If I have a DRMed movie, can I record it off the screen? Is that circumventing the digital lock? Can I take screenshots of ebooks that are DRMed? Also, what's been missed here - you have the right to timeshift - but not to *keep* the recording for archiving. You're expected to buy that even though it was broadcast over the air. I find myself reminded of the A for Andromeda fiasco where the BBC erased their copy of the show in 1960 and had vigourously persued people who copied the show off air (as amazingly diffcult as that was in 1960). Then they realised that the show was a classic piece of British TV and they had destroyed the only copy. They had to enact a copyright amensty and begged the 'criminals' to return any copies so they could reconstruct the original. To date: barely half of the six episodes have been reconstructed. I fear for society when copyrights trump culture. - Jeff Lewis Thu, 08 Nov 2012 00:38:46 +0100 http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6692/125/#comment-49567 @Adam: Not a problem at all... for people who don't have any actual desire to retain their integrity and uphold the law. It will still be illegal, but the conservatives have gone on record as telling Canadians that they won't have to worry about it for cases that are strictly private. This is categorically the most asinine thing I've ever heard, because the government is in practically as many words *actively* endorsing its citizens to be closet lawbreakers. If it issues surround private circumvention wasn't ever going to be a problem for Canadians, then circumventing for strictly private reasons should have been an exception to the digital lock protections in the first place. - Mark Wed, 07 Nov 2012 23:18:45 +0100 http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6692/125/#comment-49565 Is there any indication of when the two WIPO treaties mentioned in the Canada Gazette will come into force? - Richard Ellis Wed, 07 Nov 2012 20:50:33 +0100 http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6692/125/#comment-49564 I wear glasses which were prescribed to me by a doctor for reading. I am wondering if this makes me a person with 'perceptual disability' and therefore gives me an exemption so I can break the drm on my kindle books to read them on my Kobo. - Joanna Wed, 07 Nov 2012 20:15:00 +0100 http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6692/125/#comment-49563 Was any progress on Abandonware? when can it be legal to ditribuite software that the is not produced anymore by its author ? - Martin Wed, 07 Nov 2012 19:28:28 +0100 http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6692/125/#comment-49562 Does the U.S. have digital locks on their contents as well? Just curious. - Athena Wed, 07 Nov 2012 19:10:53 +0100