The National Post reports that the Canadian DMCA, which may be introduced tomorrow, will include a "personal use download" fine of $500. The front page story indicates that the fine (presumably a new form of statutory damage award) could be awarded on a per infringement basis, leading the possibility of hundreds of thousands of dollars in liability for file sharing. This provision has been rumoured for some time and may be designed to reduce the maximum possible awards, since the current statutory damages provision provides for damage awards of up to $20,000 per infringement.
Some sources say that it comes as a result of Prentice's concern that the Conservatives could be tied to huge damage awards against teenagers for peer-to-peer file sharing. If that is indeed the case, it is not clear how this provision will solve that concern. While there are still many questions about this provision (does it target downloading or uploading? does it exempt sound recordings covered by the private copying levy? is the $500 a set amount or a maximum? is it per infringement or cover all activity? does it require actual evidence that files made available are downloaded?), consider a case involving 1000 song files, not an unusually high number. The "retail" value of those files is roughly $1000, yet on a per infringement basis the Prentice proposal could lead to a damage award of $500,000. Even small scale cases would lead to huge awards – 50 songs could lead to a $25,000 fine. Ironically, the prospect of huge damage awards comes as Canadian musicians and songwriters have both rejected lawsuits against individuals. If Prentice hopes that the provision reduces the concern associated with file sharing lawsuits, this move may actually have the opposite effect.
If the target truly is infringing activity, though, then it’s reasonable for the penalty to be more than the retail cost
Punitive damages are used to penalize. 500X is not reasonable, particularly since damage awards are typically used to compensate for actual loss.
Prentice really never wants to get elected again, does he? I mean, what a bunch of nonsense we hear from him.
The situation is simple – the public have said that they don’t want to buy DRM encumbered products. The DMCA has not stopped a single movie or piece of music being uploaded or downloaded, or any DRM removing equipment or software being created.
For the sale of all copyright material, the answer is simple – choose the right price, treat your customers well. Don’t give them the gift of unskipable adverts or stop them putting the movie they bought to watch on to their iPod so that they can watch it where it’s convenient for them. People don’t mind buying things if they get good value for money!
The only reason people want to break DRM is because DRM stops you using a product you have bought with your money, to it’s full. DRM stops you getting the most value out of your CD or DVD. It stops you getting the full value from your iPod. DRM is anti-value. Couple that with high prices, no wonder there’s an outrage.
Good doctor: Do you really think Stephen Page’s small group of like-minded individuals speak for all “Canadian musicians?” If you add up the numbers, I believe the group is less than 200 acts, most of which are linked by Terry McBride (at least those of any note).
Even you must admit there are more than 200 musicians in this country…
I prefer the levy
There should be more done to protect personal use and protect against these crazy lawsuits. I would sooner see a push to resurrect the “iPod levy” than to have these measures imposed on people.
what are they doing to our country…. *sigh*….
Business Model
I certainly appreciate the work being done to bring this to our attention. And by our, I mean Canadians. It is becoming infuriating that there are members of our parliament being bought to push through legislation from private interests. It is abundantly clear that these people are being manipulated by the media industry to push through favorable legislation that protects their archaic and outdated business models.
Why should Canadians support this nonsense? We have already spoken and yet some clown keeps insisting on pushing it through. Covertly or otherwise. A complete hackjob and an insult to Canadians. Our copyright system is fine and good, and the industries that operate in Canada are okay with it. As am I. I produce media, and I don’t think the DMCA is going to do anything but seriously kowtow to American business interests. What’s in it for Canadians? The American DMCA has been nothing but a blunder. We don’t need that here. Period.
Infringement machine
With the right interpretation, downloading a single file on a P2P network can involve THOUSANDS of infringements.
No Penalty Without Representation
Bearing in mind “The poor, starving musicians”, how about the following amendments?
1) All such damages are paid directly to the original performing artists who were recorded (irrespective of work-for-hire or automatically assigned copyright).
2) Each such party in each infringement is able to waive the penalty.
3) The damages may not otherwise be reduced below $500 per infringement per infringed party.
In other words, if the musician suffers damage, they should get the penalty. They employ the services of their agent/publisher (funded by normal publishing revenue) to prosecute infringers, not to reap the rewards from punishing their audience. Moreover, it is up to the artist to determine whether they wish to prosecute their fans – not that of their agents.
Of course, even if these amendments were introduced, it’s still likely that everyone would settle out of court anyway – until musicians started making public declarations that they would waive damages…
Is there anything at all we can do about this? Is it already too late and we have to just go with the flow?
Stand up for Canada. Demand better.
So basically “Steve” just took the draft legislation that the MAFIAA gave him, handed it to Prentice and told him to run with it.
Stand up for Canada. Demand better.
Since these big copyright monster houses insist on damaging my experience as an end user. I would demand to see the following on every product the release in the future. Just like PARENTAL ADVISORY stickers I want to see detailed list of reduced product features.
Alien vs Predator 2. Movie goes black and white quite a few times during viewing. That was not listed on the box and you cannot return the box once opened. And that is just one example. And only fresh in my mind because of someone else mentioned it here so I borrowed the movie from a friend. It was downright annoying to watch night scenes in b&w.
They want DRM, I want upfront knowledge of how they plan on reducing my experience with their product. Be that sounds dropped or movie going b&w, or in some cases screen shaking. Or certain PC games not being able to run from specific DVD burners. Then we’ll see how sales go when end consumer is educated about crap they’re trying to pull.
Incredible. One must really have to develop a deep hatred of people in general to advance such things. On days like this, I take a moment to thank Jack Layton’s power posturing that led us to the minority government that makes changes like it has a sweeping majority. Thank you, Jack. I’ll never forgive the NDP for ushering in the Harper government.
If this act was really about protecting the artists, why were the artist not extensively consulted? Why did our honourable member of parliament heavily consult the foreign own media companies? Why was the general public not consulted? For an issue that disproportionately affect our youth this would have been a great opportunity to get our future leaders involved in the political system. Yet our young citizens were completely ignored.
The reason for this bill is simple and it has nothing to do with protecting the artists. While the record labels will say it is all about the artist; in truth, it is only about protecting the industry of copy right holders, such as record labels, from losing the control and influence over their artists. The labels are in deep trouble because as technology advances the artist\’s dependency on the services of labels to create, produce, manufacture, or distribute their product decreases. So rather than innovate and understand the consumer the labels are trying to change the law to protect their diminishing influence and power by promoting punitive laws against the Canadian consumers and Canadian artists.
Tit for tat
“does it exempt sound recordings covered by the private copying levy?”
My money will not be used to provide corporate welfare.
If it does not exempt sound recordings covered by the private copying levy, Canadians shall have no choice but to force the levy to be repealed and all monies paid to date refunded. Oh, and the neo-con sleaze-bags running this country on behalf of the US would have to go. Screw us once and we’ll make sure they’re political history.
Tit for tat
“does it exempt sound recordings covered by the private copying levy?”
My money will not be used to provide corporate welfare.
If it does not exempt sound recordings covered by the private copying levy, Canadians shall have no choice but to force the levy to be repealed and all monies paid to date refunded. Oh, and the neo-con sleaze-bags running this country on behalf of the US would have to go. Screw us once and we’ll make sure they’re political history.
You make me laugh
Wow, you copyright haters are really somethin’. You REALLY think a piece of legislation along the lines being reported – even if every word comes true – would really cost the conservatives even a SINGLE seat that they otherwise might be in a position to win? Do you believe in pixies, too? Yeah … sure, this matters to you. Blog away, haters. Something for nothing is SUCH a compelling policy. In big picture terms, NOBODY cares about this issue enough to make a difference in the outcome of an election. Do you really think this issue swings more weight than health care, or gas prices, or infrastructure, or our troops in Afghanisan or … er … the environment? Heard of the latter? In the big picture context, kids, copyright is fun but it’s not going to make one squat’s worth of difference politically. Rant away here if it makes you feel better. And … uh … don’t you think that Prentice et al know that there isn’t even ONE of you that would consider voting Conservative at the best of times? You aren’t going to frighten them by threateining to withhold WHAT YOU WERE NEVER GOING TO GIVE THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE!
Oooh, your money will not go to provide corporate welfarre. I’m sure they’re termbling in their boots in the Langevin Block. What a bunch of pipsqueaks. Go back to your videogames and leave politics to the grownups, OK?
Billy, did your rant make YOU feel better?
Free Market
You know, its funny how every single one of the media corporations that have had a hand in drafting this disastrous piece of legislation are EXACTLY the same ones that claim they don’t need EXACTLY the same type of over-reaching legislation that they now claim must be imposed on consumers.
What happened to their precious fair market principles?
EXACTLY. When the FREE market isn’t working EXCLUSIVELY for THEIR BENEFIT it ceases to be fair and according to big media and corporations in general now requires immediate legislative intervention to restore those EXCLUSIVE BENEFITS.
Its seems even more ludicrous when you consider that corporation DO NOT have any powers to elect representatives in our democracy yet they seem to have all the power to control the very same legislative process they are strictly prohibited from participating in.
Just thought I’d throw that out there on the eve of the end to fair-use and intellectual equality in Canada.
It’s True
It is pretty much safe for Jimmy to do whatever he wants as long as he is a Conservative in a Calgary riding……He is my MP though, and I am going to make sure he knows how much this pisses me off.
Pirating from Google Maps?
[ link ]
Jim Prentice, stealing copyrighted images from Google Maps since 2008…
What’s the Alternative!
Interesting when you think of it for a brief time the “copyright haters” Billy was talking about were able to control his emotions for a while to make him say what he said 🙂
Now for my turn:
I don’t mind paying for content when it’s fair and the protections in place doesn’t disrupt my life. But my biggest pet peeve with paid content especially with TV show is that when you miss the latest episode or start half way into a season you can’t see it again or the previous episodes until broadcasting companies decided to rerun the content or “if” you can find it at the video store for rent. I don’t want to purchase show if I’m only going to watch it once, so this is one of the reasons why other than its free P2P systems work, if media distribution companies can offer this level of service in Canada it would be one less reason of using P2P sharing services. But it seems they are bent on degrading consumer’s rights and not giving effective alternatives to P2P.
I wonder how many millions our government is going to spend on training people to search computers and electronic devices.
In response to You make me laugh
Billy:
I think what most people here are angry about is the fact that OUR current government that CLAIMS to work for the people of this country, tried to late last year push through a bill that would take away more control over people and their media, not to mention they tried doing it in such a stealthy way without consulting the general public on the issue. To me this reeks of corporate influence, after all who else would profit from such legislation. Also the fact that this bill is basically telling people what they can and can’t do with the items/media that they purchased is just completely unfair. I mp3 all the music I purchase from the local HMV so I can listen to it on my mp3 player, yet according to this bill I’m not allowed to do that now….I don’t think so, I paid for it, I can do what I want with it. Even set it on fire if I so choose.
Don’t hate copyright, hate DRM!
This is not about hating copyright. Copyright, when done fairly and reasonably is good. DRM, however, is bad. When I buy something, I want to buy it to use it however I like. If I copy it for someone else, that could hurt the copyright owners income, which could be bad. However, if I buy a movie and want to watch it on my iPod, or put it on a computer server so I don’t have to hunt out the discs, or make a backup incase it gets scratched by the kids (happens all the time), why should I not be able to do that? That’s what it comes down to. It’s something I paid for and I want to use it how I want to use it. I know where the line is (copying it for a friend) and that’s fair and reasonable. What is not fair and reasonable is to force me to read bloody copyright messages in 13 foreign languages, watch annoying animations, trailers etc. when all I want to do is watch the damn movie!
Copyright creators rely on all of humanity’s creativity that has gone on before even they were born. Creativity is all about added value, adding onto what has been done before. That’s why copyright is for a limited time, because although you own your own little addition to the prior art, there’s much more prior art you’ve drawn on than that little bit you’ve added, no matter how important you think your little bit is.
Billy,
Conservatives and environment. That was sarcasm. Correct?
On the other hand there is nothing wrong with copyright when done properly. I am in agreement that everyone should get paid for what they do. However what is not right thing to do is implement overreaching anti-consumer measurements and being completely stupid ignoring what people you are supposed to serve want. And instead of trying to secure high paying job at some of the media companies you are trying to please. Bleh.
Rail as much as you want against supposed copyright haters, but when that dvd you just bought stops playing because your 24 hour window to watch it has expired, before you watched it. Don’t come crying to us.
Manufacturing Criminals
What I find odd is that this government seems perfectly content to take behaviours most Canadians would deem completely ordinary and acceptable, that is, as Natt outlines, using stuff you’ve paid for in any personal way you choose, and turning them into crimes.
Beyond rewarding deserving corporations with the carrot of — potentially — oodles of extra cash from damage awards (and I wonder if projections of same might soon show up on RIAA and CRIA and MPAA member company balance sheets?), is there another objective? Will there be jail sentences? Criminal records? If so, will that lead to trouble for folks entrapped in this farce when it comes to crossing borders, getting certain jobs, applying for loans or mortgages?
This is starting to smell a bit like the failed War on Drugs and all the stupidities it has spawned, with extra odors resembling the “moral” piety and sanctimonious rectitude we see in the War on F*cking. (Saw that term on Birth Pangs just the other day. Fits.)
To Billy upthread: true, this legislation probably won’t by itself cost a single Con seat, but as part of a long, long continuum of exactly the opposite of what the Charter guarantees us, i.e. “Good Government”, it will have an impact. It’s been clear for a while, to those of us paying attention, that Harper and his government hate Canada and hate Canadians. This legislation will make that abundantly clear to millions of Canadians who up until now have not really noticed what was being done to their country behind their backs, and I expect it will spur them to look more closely at everything else this government has done. Remember the Income Trust reversal? Resentment over that is still alive and smouldering. This will be another.
Copyright haters? WT-?
Apparently some people think that citizens who expect that their elected government consider citizens’ interests first and foremost is a ‘copyright hater’. Clearly that is the conclusion of one whose mental elevator cannot reach the observation deck.
Real Conservatives
I’d have voted Conservative if they were real conservatives, for small government and fiscal responsibility. But they’re not real conservatives. They have a fundamentalist religious agenda and an attitude of “we know what’s best for you” that’s straight out of fascism.
This is going to hit just the average Joe. Tech savvy pirates will be still able to download undetected whatever they won’t. The only effect will be lots of money spent to enforce this low and many respectful Canadian families hit by heavy fines.
A $500 dollar fine per infringement will cause these industries to go backwards. As the case in the US, the RIAA and entertainment has YET to win an actual case in the courts for damages against file sharers. The single mom that was sued $220,000 is set for a new trial, and there was another single mom recently that “won” her case against the RIAA and was awarded over $100,000 in legal fees. The score right now is consumers 1 lobby groups 0.
This type of fine is set to deter the use in file sharing, BUT this type of action in the US and globally has done nothing to curb the use of file sharing and has only inflamed this war with consumers, putting pitch forks and horns into the hands of creator groups, and will be doomed for failure costing industries, the Canadian Government, and consumers far more and drag out this debate for another 10 years, maybe even less if and when someone stands up to these cartels in court.
Consumers should not be paying the penalties. The evidence presented by these lobby cartels points to a demise in these industries and is highly over rated, but the overall demise is not because of file sharing, it’s because of a failure to move forward into Web 2.0 and sell to that market. ALL evidence presented to our Government clearly states this. Kill file sharing and you will still end up with the same issues.
The way to end this, is to come up with a solution that will deflate the situation, not ramp it up with consumers. Placing a fine for downloads will insight consumer rage to the boiling point here in Canada, and I’m sure that all Canadian artists, musicians, creator groups, software developers who have been watching this debate know very well if this goes through, their pink slips are not very far behind, and they know this from the lessons learned in the US by placing such penalties and would expect them to come forward in mass numbers to oppose this.
It’s a deterrent, one that has yet after several years of application in the US to prove itself successful, and has been very costly for these industries to uphold.
Copyright holders must join the new business models in the web 2.0 environment in order to become profitable. A lesson that should have been learned and proven to our Government, but unfortunately because it has not been, after the dust settles in the battle for web 2.0 those that will be left standing are those that have already adapted. Consumers and industry MUST be protected by over use or abuse of copyright laws. Our laws in order to be successful must mimic the needs in the web 2.0 environment, however because of the generation gap between those running these industries, those making laws and those who are actually involved in commerce in web 2.0 this may not happen for a long time.
[ link ]
If I was in any of these industries, I would be very worried right now about job security and start looking for another job, since our Government quite clearly is not acting on the best interests of industry from the evidence presented to them in this debate.
FRAK THE PC PARTY
ok so go buy 2 500gb drives now
and dl all you can
do so via scheduling in your clients
and when new law comes well all cancel internet and thus unfortunately all the isps get bankrupted as 50%-75% of users go frak you and leave ,
most will do this i am preparing for this and this will have bell now as a teachers union funder of its pension ….lose money
nice to legislate retired folk into bankruptcy.
As to JPhillip i will say this once. I pay a levy on the storage medium and that has netted them over 200million so far.
If you think that the levy will make more cash when we can’t download anyhting you are a complete idiot.
Also a made in canada solution was proposed by SAC ( songwriters of canada and endorsed by the canadian musicians ) that they wanted 5$ per internet account.
( that btw goes form the levy system of 60 mill a year to about 1.2 billion , my counter proposal is 1$ a year which doubles the 60 mill to 120 million )
Add movies for another 2$ and you have 3measly extra dollars as to software : non profit use should be allowed and for profit is already illegal – ask maven about that
Instead we get a nazi facist style hitler law made in secret by the same people that would not want any of us to use the net and i have said it the second this law becomes law see yah im off the net. so are at least 10 friends.
thats a few grand a year to start and my bet is millions will tune off and the so called end of the information age will begin and a new plutocracy of disinformation and nazi propoganda can begin.
My grandfatehr would be ashamed that gov’t would do this.
As a former solder with honors , that in the later mulroney years i signed up and after getting in was told one of my trainers hadn’t been paid in two months also tells you that teh PC party is just using the military at this point and when its of no use to the business people they won’t pay them either.
With fewer and fewer potential jobs in canada and more outsourcing were going to end up worse off then the americans and all the oil money will go right to the rich bastards and we won’t see a damn dime.
ANYTHING BUT CONSERVATIVE OR LIBERAL IN THE NEXT ELECTION
ABC-L
Fined?!?
What I don’t understand, if they start fining people for personal downloads, do they plan to get rid of the taxation that they are charging on blank media?!?
DMCA must NOT go through!
My Inde band never charged for our music and was played on radio stations in 25 countries. But when the music industry stole from us and sold our music without so much as asking us or offering us a dime, that was the last straw. I hope they are completely broken by any means. THEY are the thieves!
Anyone following the Canadian DMCA proceedings knows the music industry is focused on this copying as theft as if it was an act of terrorism. They have governments obsessed with it as well.
Who cares that spam costs the economy ten times more? Who cares that identity theft is rampant and fake ID’s openly traded in coffee shops? Who cares that criminals who phish bank passwords have their name and address completely open on the WHOIS, knowing that the Crown will never touch them? But OH MY GOD! Lock away those downloaders man, they will be the death of us!
hi there
let me tell you whats the differance of me taping off a vcr and downloading via the net.
INTELLIGENCE.
I get it when i want it
i pay less ( paying the ISP and wiht that levy i propose the noobs making it get a cut)
Instead we get laws designed to make me live in a facist hitler like regime where every damn thing i do incuding modifying my toilet paper dispenser need a lawyer to pay a fee for doing it.
NO NO
i say frak the pc party
go buy some eggs and start tossing them.
we need to tell them we have had enough of there crap.
If they want a revolution then fine. SHOW THEM NO FRAKING WAY
also the SAC / CMCC both hate this law.
ONLY the CRIA , thats headed by an american wants it.
OH yah actra them lovely mouth offs for mpaa.
DEATH TO MPAA
I find it odd that the fine for a speeding ticket would be a lot less than the fine proposed here. In the former, I’m endangering others on the roadways, but in the latter, I would be barely making a dent in the grand financial scheme of things.
What about some of the more expensive software packages, like Autocad, Photoshop and the like? Is it cheaper to pay the $500 fine than to pay the full cost of the software?
As far as I am concerned, any fine levied against me is money that society owes me. So I don’t intend to obey this law. I say hang politicians, judges, and any other cretins including the CRTC that keep making stupid laws that do not help the average Canadian. Politicians wonder why people don’t bother to vote, it is because they are just a bunch of crooks making crooked corporations richer. The fiberals are just as bad for wanting to bring in bad copyright laws and their love for the CRTC.
Are you kidding me?
Thanks to P2P, I have discovered much more great music than I would have otherwise.(quite frankly, the radio is horrible when it comes to music) I have spent much more $ than I would have otherwise on music. If I like it, I buy it. Simple. Take a quick look at what Radiohead & Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) have done as of late – released DRM free music, without a label, online, leaving the amount paid up to the downloader. Hopefully we see more of this in the future. However, I imagine this has the C/Riaa shaking in their boots, to see these outside-the-box ideas working out so well. Heck, I downloaded NIN’s Ghosts album for free… then purchased the $300 edition of it later. So tell me – am I a criminal now?
Downloading DOES NOT equal loss of a sale or money. It can, but it’s not a foregone conclusion. Not nearly.
So what can I do?
I definitely don’t condone illegal duplication, but I want the right to transfer my CD to my computer without committing a crime. What can I do to take a stand against this forthcoming legislation? I’ve already written letters to my local MP and Mr. Prentice and received the standard boilerplate response on official letterhead about “protecting rightsholders and striking a balance.” I’ve asked my friends to write – several actually did. But it all feels so insignificant.
Never mind download fines…
For me, the truly outrageous issue is the introduction of anticompetitive “anticircumvention” legislation to Canada. I run the Linux operating system exclusively on my PC, and the software I need to watch the DVD movies I legally own on the hardware I legally own is considered a “circumvention device” by the Hollywood copyright cartel. Harper and Prentice want to give me the choice of either paying several hundred dollars to the American company Microsoft for a copy of Windows, and then learning to put up with all the bugs, annoyances and security vulnerabilities of an operating system that I have so far avoided by choice… or becoming a criminal simply for continuing to use my own property in the way I see fit, with the software of my choice.
Good bye, Conservatives. Next election, you are OUT. I feel like a chump that I voted for you and I’ve been nothing but disappointed and alienated since your election win. Thank you Stephen and Co for helping to kill Canada. Bastards.
Those involved in secret negotiations
Those involved in secret ACTA negotiations starting with US’ Susan Schwab should be barred from taking any official positions in the future. Sending them to prison in Great North of Canada might be a good deterrent for future politicians too.
No thank you, Mr. Harper
I don’t want this. I’ve been writing respectfully to my MP, Mr. Galipeau, to remind him of the problems I could face as both a creator and user if this sort of thing passes into law…and it looks as if my concerns are immaterial to him and his boss. And will remain so.
You’re gone
Next election, I’ll vote any party, ANY, so that the Conservatives do not win again. I used to support them, but doing this – making everyone with an mp3 player a criminal, is absolutely unacceptable.
I’ve also written Prentice, flaharty, harper and my local mp. Im not sure what else i can do. The fact that everything is also being done in complete secrecy is also very alarming. I voted for the cons last election and every new day i regret it even more.
Where is our opposition party? Where is anyone who can stop this BS!
No Good
This is bogus. I feel a little sold out at this point in time. I mean really, If the p2p networks fall thats fine. Downloading content is never going away. If he mass downloading was to stop. The pirates will recede back into the deep dark corners of the internet. It will be like I’m 14 again selling mixed cd’s at lunch time. No really, I was always under the impression that the internet was the world wide web. Owned and operated by a collaboration of nerds from all walks of life. Keep in mind I myself am one of those nerds.
It just kind of makes me sick to think that the greatest achievement of all time (in my opinion) will be sold out to lobbyists in another country for a larger dividend to share holders who will barely notice the influx in moneys anyway.
Jack Layton
Todd,
Jack Layton? You mean the guy who\’s leading the only party to stand up against the Haper government on the issue of copyright and, well just about every issue since Dion started standing up for Canada by abstaining on confidence votes.
I\’m sure glad we\’ve got Jack Layton and the NDP in parliament. Hopefully, we\’ll have more next election.
Jack Layton
Todd,
Jack Layton? You mean the guy who\’s leading the only party to stand up against the Haper government on the issue of copyright and, well just about every issue since Dion started standing up for Canada by abstaining on confidence votes.
I\’m sure glad we\’ve got Jack Layton and the NDP in parliament. Hopefully, we\’ll have more next election.
Canadian DMCA
So here we are.
Being told what we can download,when we can download it and how fast we can download it.
That cd/dvd you bought you don\’t actually own and can\’t watch or use the way you wish to.
One can also be sure damn near ever tv broadcast is going to suddenly be flagged to prevent recording.
Its not a question of if the bill well pass but when.
And of course we have the crtc and bell which is as much a given as the bill since the crtc is proven itself totally useless and has no way of confirming what ever numbers bell spins them.
I don\’t recall moving to the states do you?
The sad thing is we don\’t stand a chance in hell of winning either one unless something very ugly get dug up.
Downloading
Why, after having purchased the song “Satisfaction” on 45rpm record, LP album, 8track, cassette tape, and CD do I now have to pay to download another copy just because it is in another format? My older formats have worn out and or the equipment is no longer available to play the recording so the stones get more royalties?
Haven’t the Rolling Stones, in this case, already gotten 5 times the royalties they should have for one song?
And yet if I go to download the song in MP3 format I may now be fined.
Oh right, the tories have campaign contributions from major labels.
Nice job tories – we’ll remember this.
Are we still in Canada? What happened to our constitution? Do we not have a right to reasonable privacy? How can this not apply to our home computers?
I wish MG would write about how our civil rights mean nothing these days, gone out the window by the conservatives. IP’s should not be able to give up customer information without court orders. The court should only give it up if there is some real crime, like terrorism or hate laws.
It is mind boggling that in our country someone can just call up an IP and say “hey who is this person? Mind giving me all their personal information.” Uh okay… The public needs to be informed of how worthless their constitution has become.
We need to keep victim-less crime in check and not create a fascist state in the name big business. If someone sells MP3’s that is a different story, but using a community program to share information between individuals is none of the government’s business!
Screw the Tories
They’ve lied from the beginning about everything those tories have. Do not believe or trust the Harper government.
They’ve even lied to us in the military about new boats and bases.
Don’t let them lie to YOU!!
I’m done
I have decided that I will no longer support any artist that releases under any label because of this bill. I will no longer go to movie theatres, rent or purchase video’s, or support in any way anyone who supports this bill. My question is this…Can I listen to the radio without going to hell?
conservative
see …. that is what happen when you elect a conservative dude …. they dont want change they want stuff to stay as they are and actually in canada stuff NEED to change … i still dont get why this moron harper and his crew got elected …. man its time all the old people die so we can vote for REAL CHANGE
screw them all with their legislation that wont change a thing people will only find more way to do it …
I don’t see anything on the Project Order of Business. Maybe it’s not being introduced today…
[ link ]
People didn’t “elect a conservative dude”, they did “not elect a liberal” after the scandal thing.
It’s been pushed back to next week.
(Globe & Mail B2)
Also it seems there’s rumors it doesn’t have much chance of going through with a minor government.
Hopefully the entire bill gets shelved until they get it right. No need to kowtow to the lobbyists on this issue when there are far more sensible solutions out there.
Otherwise, we can pray that the opposition parties actually have some balls and do the right thing and vote against this garbage.
Otherwise we will have to some more letter writing, this time to some Senators and our Governor-General.
Daniel; black and white AvP
Daniel, if your copy of a movie keeps switching to black and white, you are almost certainly watching a pirated copy. Studios frequently produce such degraded copies of their movies to send to critics and award organizers. They degrade them in hopes that they will not be used by pirates to create pre-release DVDs, and sometimes to identify who leaked if that should happen. (The degradation can be unique to each copy they send out, or an “invisible” watermark can be used.)
The real retail DVD release does not go black and white.
Good to hear that Royal Gallipeau got more than one letter on this. Too bad it doesn’t seem to have much effect.
victor
TO BILY
hey moron, i counted no less then 5 people on this thread that ADDMITED for voting conservatives and not willing to do so again))) thats about 8 percent enough as not to be able to form ANY \”minority\” crap since those very 8 percent will go somwhere else
and dont forget the more and more unpopular afghan war, less jobs, etc..
the problem is that i AM SURE THAT CONSERVATIVES won\’t win again .AND THEY KNOW IT TOO! so they hurry to pass those bills and get paid to be able to move to florida when they thrown out!
but we will hunt them no worries)) and not be able to enjoy those coorporate paybacks!!
plain and simple this bill would be TREASON .
on another note there were the times were artists were getting paid from WORKING (tours, gigs etc) and not stay in some studio were technicians make the track!
THEY SHOULD ONLY GET MONEY FROM THIS VENUES.PERIOD! THE INTERNET SHARING GIVES THEM –ALLL–PUBLICITY AND THAT IS AN ADVANTAGE IF THEY HAVE GOOD MUSIC!(REGARDLESS OF STYLE,GENRE, ETC)
TREASON:
^^^”plain and simple this bill would be TREASON”
TREASON:
-a violation of allegiance to one’s sovereign or to one’s state.
-the betrayal of a trust or confidence; breach of faith; treachery.
-disloyalty or treachery to one’s country.
TREASON
TREASON:
Time to dust that word off, because Canadians are not ruled from Washington. You want to rule us Yankees? Fine. Bleed for it. I’ll bleed to stop you.
Mr Harper. You are a traitor.
$500 fine is a joke have to catch people first. All I can say is Encrypt all your traffic, travel through proxies or the TOR network.
Wow
Well, I’m going broke! 😀
billys a fag