Archive for June 19th, 2008

Vancouver Sun, Ottawa Citizen Slam Canadian DMCA

Two of Canada's leading papers have issued masthead editorials critical of the Canadian DMCA. The Vancouver Sun doesn't pull any punches in its review of Bill C-61:

the amendments are draconian. While Prentice attempted to sell them as a balance between the rights of content creators and consumers, it's clear that consumers – and in many cases, creators – can only lose should the new regime become law.

The editorial concludes:

The fact that the bill relies on the American method is not just a coincidence, either, as it is almost entirely the result of the intense pressure U.S. authorities placed on Ottawa. In contrast, there was precious little public consultation during drafting of the proposed law. Prentice claims that the bill is a "win-win," though it's not entirely clear who will win. What is clear is that if the bill becomes law, all consumers, and many content creators, are destined to lose.

The Ottawa Citizen, meanwhile, laments that "enforcement will be difficult, if not impossible, and it will limit uses of digital material that have nothing to do with piracy."  It concludes that:

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June 19, 2008 6 comments News

U.S. Consul-General Claims Canadian Copyright Weakest in G-8

The U.S. may have gotten its Canadian copyright bill, but that hasn't stopped officials from continuing their campaign of unjustifiably slamming Canadian law.  This week U.S. Consul-General Lewis Lukens told a conference audience that "Canada's current [intellectual property rights] protection may well be the weakest of any G-8 country, partly […]

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June 19, 2008 7 comments News

VueWeekly on the Canadian DMCA

VueWeekly, an independent Edmonton-based weekly, has an article critical of the Canadian DMCA, with comments from Wide Mouth Mason drummer Safwan Javed.

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June 19, 2008 Comments are Disabled News

Digital Arts Covers the 51st State Comic

DigitalArts has a feature story on Gordon Duggan's 51st State comic.

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June 19, 2008 Comments are Disabled News