Canada's DMCA Minister weasels and fumbles when asked about his copyright plans
Canadian Industry Minister Jim Prentice keeps on hammering away at his plan to bring US-style copyright legislation based on the disastrous Digital Millennium Copyright Act to Canada, without any consultation with the public or industry. Thankfully, we have Members of Parliament like the NDP's Charlie Angus, who stood up in Question Period and put it to Prentice: when are you going to give us public consultations on your plants to rewrite Canada's copyright laws?
Prentice's response? A stupid, unfunny joke. Link (Thanks, Charlie!)
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How do we as Canadians stop well-intentioned, honest and honourable men like Prentice from passing what will surely be restrictive and ridiculous copyright legislation?
I often find myself despairing at the horrible, unfair and misinformed legislation passed by the government, especially when it seems that it is wildly divergent from the Canadian public's wishes, and most likely designed for the benefit of massive corporations with a stake in the deal.
Corrupt and selfish politicians march forward, seemingly unstoppable, with legislation that will restrict the Canadian public's freedoms and make criminals of them. They have little to no justification or support, other than from the corporations that definitely do not ever provide incentives for politicians' allegiance. And their best justification for their plans? Glib remarks, to remind us that our stupid wishes as the voting public will be ignored in favour of the whims of those who actually wield influence.
What can we do? This is not a rhetorical questions.
Man thats awesome, i had no idea congress could be that cool!
The last Canadian election was presented to the average Canadian voter as a choice between fool, thief or nazi. Angry at thieves and embarrassed to be associated with fools (stupid), they went for nazi like people everywhere else.
All you can do is remind people that at least if you are lead by fools, you have a chance against them.
Better luck next time.
crs... smn syng t shld b lgl fr yr chld t dwnld Hnnh Mntn sngs wtht Hnnh's cnsnt nd wtht pyng fr t... wndr why h ddn't sy 'fr -y- t dwnld' nstd f 'fr yr kd t dwnld'... gss kds prtng stff s ct nd shldn't b llgl... prhps thy shldn't b rrstd fr t, bt shld t nt b rprtd t th prnts nd f th prnts dn't ct shldn't smthng frthr hppn?
Th whl dwnldng ss stll bls dwn t wht ffct n nstnt nd fr mrktplc wld hv n msc, mvs & bks. Prsmbly whn y'r dn wth yr md y hv n rsn t kp t snc t wll frvr b mntnd n th mrktplc thr f th ntrwb... hll vn f y'r nt dn wth t, pt t n th ntrnt mrkt fr th crrnt gng prc nd f ts sld by th tm y g bck t wntng t lstn/lk t t thn y jst by t bck fr th prc y sld t fr (myb vn lss, bt srly n mr thn th rtst s crrntly sllng t fr)... Gvn prpr mrkt plc fr ndstrctbl gds tht chng hnds fr fr nd nstntly n rtst wll nly sll s mny cps s thr r ppl wh wll cnsm th gd t th sm tm. ll xcss wld nly b d t n mprfct mrktplc.
wndr hw mny cps f lttl brthr hv bn sld vrss th mxmm nmbr f ppl wh wll vr rd th bk t th sm tm ('m bttng t ws mch mch mch mch grtr thn 1:1 rt) ... wndr f Cry s nhppy wth th mprfct mrktplc thts rppng ff rdrs f hs bk by nt llwng thm t sll cps frly nd wtht cst (r cn w sll dgtl cps f th bk w hv physclly prchsd Cry?)
Little Brother is on the NYT best seller list. Cory put his money where his mouth is and won the lottery. He has provided the proof for which naysayers have clamored. I, for one, welcome our new author overlords who keep the courage of their convictions and make it work.
Spoon, are you making a funny or something?
Little Brother is already available as free download, just like all my books, and as has been noted, is a NYT bestseller.
Cory is definitely unhappy with the way things are going with his book.
You can tell by his exuberance and joy.
Thank you, #3 and #4, for making me laugh today. Platitudes about fair purchasing models leading to reduced profits are being proven false on a daily basis. #3 is so convinced that Cory's decisions regarding the distribution of Little Brother has led to losses that he/she didn't consider actual research a necessity.
The extent of copyright law in our modern society may be written in legislation, but it is NOT morally justifiable. These corporations aren't even acting in their best interests. It's an artificial system that's been created by well-meaning tools, reinforced through self-righteousness and oafish ignorance hinged upon a false premise.
"... hell even if you're not done with it, put it on the ineternet market for the current going price and if its sold by the time you go back to wanting to listen/look at it then you just buy it back for the price you sold it for (maybe even less, but surely no more then the artist is currently selling it for)..."
Yup. It's called capitalism. Artificial government restrictions create an imperfect marketplace. The scenario you described is decades away at least - I can't imagine people going to the trouble of making dozens of microtransactions every time they plan to listen to an album or watch a movie. The negative consequences of capitalism don't change the fact that it's the best system. Copyright was never meant to be what it is today and freedom trumps profits every time.
Did he just said Corporate consumers? Im sure he meant "my corporate masters".
I like the Angus guy, he is honest and tells it like it is. After the DMCA you will go to jail for doing _socially accepted_ things.
Here's an acronym for Jim Prentice to chew on: STFU.
@Cry
Yh, knd fnny t wld sm :/
gss my pnt s tht sm ppl wnt t sll thr wrs nd nt gv thm t fr fr wth th hp f mkng mny n sd prjcts... Some people aren't comfortable, and would be unhappy/unable, making money the way you do, but are just as good/better then you at writing.
mr prfct mrktplc thn nw/sd bkstrs, nw/sd mv strs, nw/sd d strs wrrs m... Chng cn b gd, bt chng s ls scry/bd whn, fr xmpl, ppl cn n lngr rsnbly sll thr wrs fr lvng... gss t's tht wldn't wnt t trd sngl Slngr fr 100 Dctrws (n ffns)
Spoon,
What are you on about? You've ignored the facts and keep making the same ill-reasoned comment.
Spoon, there can't be a perfect marketplace with an unlimited number of micro-transactions because of taxes. They're just like friction in physical systems, which makes perpetual motion impossible, and they'll be around in some form in any society. Anyway, I'd still want to own a book or CD I liked just for sentimentality, even if I could access it for free. If I didn't have enough disposable income to do that, then I probably wouldn't buy it even if wasn't available for free. I'd definitely borrow my friends' copies though:)
DRM tech is pure snake oil. It's made by people who know exactly how useless it is, sold by marketers who have a good idea of how useless it is, and bought by gullible douchebags who are too arrogant to listen to people who actually know how things work.
The only thing we can do about politicians is turn over the bad ones (most all of them) every single election, no matter what party you usually line up with, and hope a few get the point. And make term limits apply to every elected position.
Dude, he's gonna have entire /plants/ devoted to rewriting Canada's copyright laws? Who will build the plants? Will he restructure existing plants? Or has he somehow enslaved a race of sentient flora? Canadian politics. Wow.
Seriously. With the tpyos.
This just in: Canadian Cabinet minister "weasels and fumbles" when asked what time it is.
Hopefully if we raise a big enough fuss this pile of poo masquerading as an Act of Parliament will die on the order paper like Prentice's last lame attempt.
How about instead of calling him a Nazi you send him (and/or your own MP) an email or letter? You'll get a response as long as you write a civil letter in the first place.
Just explain why copyright is important to you and what he can do to not mess it up.
Make it clear to the parties in your riding that your vote depends at least in part on this issue.
Maybe send over a copy of a receipt from a political donation to their opponents, making it clear this is the reason...
yesterday's Sun Media headline: Government Delays Copyright Reform.
Lead in (a Can. Press story): Canadians will have to wait to find out if they will be allowed to make back-up copies...
Misleading and uninformative, but that's Sun Media for you.
And (O.T.)I think US fingerprints are all over the strange coming to power of Stephen Harper, with the help of some members of the Liberal Party (who want us at war ). "Give Harper a year in power,( let people get used to these right-wing extremists), before we begin to select a new Liberal leader", said the Liberal leader (since retired into silence) who brought down the previous Liberal leader ( now considered a Great Canadian for keeping us out of the charnel-house which is US-occupied Iraq).
And during the election which brought Harper to power, the US Ambassador pops up and holds a Press Conference to say that the election was "Not about the US", injecting himself into the fray. Yeah, they got rid of Chretien because Bush's guys didn't like him. They don't like Dion either.
.
All politicians should face stiff prison time if they intorduce a bill and then subsequently go to work for the company that their bill has benefitted, as should the CEO of saifd company.
Asset seizure of all of a politicians assets if found to have doen this.
Ignominy and ruin are the only deterents we could use.
Ugly Canuck: there was nothing strange about Stephen Harper winning that election. He just ran a much better campaign. For example: he didn't run ads implying that his opponent would institute martial law.
Face it, the Conservates in Canada are a mainstream party. You may not agree with them but they aren't extreme right wing (not even close) and certainly not Nazis...
Charlie Angus FTW.
Despite your position on this, I do know one thing. Seeing how lively and interesting the debate style in non-US legislative bodies is (vs. the funeral dirge that is US Congressional "debate"), I'm ready to stop watching CSPAN and hitch a ride north.
@18: IAWTC - I voted for the NDP in that election, but the best possible outcome was basically what we got. A Conservative minority government that couldn't do anything extreme, a Liberal party with a substantially reduced presence, and NDP and Bloc keeping and eye on things. Power goes back and forth between Tories and Grits and that's fine. While the Conservatives are in power, the Liberals will get their ducks in a row, make a case for why they should run things, and find a charismatic leader (Dion and Martin? Seriously, guys. That the best you can do?), and meanwhile the Conservatives will run out of steam. Reverse, repeat.
Prentice pretending (hopefully!) not to know what WIPO stands for while talking about this is pretty darn sad...
@17 - What kind of idiot politician would make a law like that in a million years?
@#20, Shinchan-
If you're looking for something more lively on C-SPAN, check out the Prime Minister's Questions, a period of debate in the British House of Commons. It's got the same style as in this video, with a mix of traditional niceties and sometimes withering insults. It was loads of fun to watch when Blair was PM. Definitely quite a contrast with the plodding House of Representatives. More information on the C-SPAN website here.
@ #20 posted by shinchan
It's called question period. It's only 45 minutes a day, but...it can get quite lively. Although...if we REALLY wanted to know something, it SHOULD be called answer period. It seems that the Conservatives forget that, they get a question asked of them, then they blame the liberals, then the NDP, mention something about the question, and then get a standing ovation from their own party.
If you really want to see something fun...wait till one of their own members asks a easy question. Both the question and answer usually get a standing ovation!
It really is like watching children argue...
Did anyone catch the near freudian slip at the very end of the video when Jimbo says when the right balance is struck between consumers and industr..ial consumers.
What the hell is an industrial consumer?
The Minister almost got caught saying industry which would mean that he would have to come clean on just how much say the "industrial consumer" has had in advance of any public debate.
These smucks are nothing more than poor imitations of Bush and his merry band of corporate raider.
We need to get out in front of this issue now and start getting Canadians, especially young Canadians active and more forcibly vocal beyond signing a Facebook petition.
Shinchan (#20):
No need to move north, I can't speak for the TSA or Canada Border Services Agency but if they are down with it, yanks like you are always welcome. Unless your a jerk who wants to go to the beach in February or can't get why nobody will let you take a taxi from Toronto to Vancouver of course ;).
Question Period is available live (2:15 ET) or as a podcast from: The Cable Public Affairs Channel
Warning: Self starting, un-mutable only stoppable via right mouse click video clips on every %$@# page ahead....
Cory, Antinous, I can explain exactly what's up with Spoon. Emphases mine:
Lo! It's an envious and thus far unsuccessful wanna-be writer!Haven't you noticed how many aspiring writers are pathetically worried that someone will steal their writing? Sometimes this manifests itself as fear that an unscrupulous publisher will steal their ideas and have someone else rewrite them. (Hoo boy.) Other times, they worry that wicked text-pirates are going to steal their writing and give it away to anyone who wants to read it.
If you don't believe me, go back and look at the thrashes where Cory got into arguments with the thicker and more reactionary faction of SFWA. Notice how some of the most persistent and irrational arguers are baby neopros with barely enough sales to eke out eligibility for a SFWA memebership.
They haven't figured out yet that "someone wants to read your book badly enough to seek out and download the text" is a good thing.
Shinchan, check your cable listings and see whether you also get question time in the British Parliament. Sometimes they weasel and waffle and get away with doing it, but sometimes you get the edifying spectacle of a politician being fried in his own grease.
British elections are great fun. For one thing, their journalists ask cheerfully uncomfortable questions, and the politicians lose face if they refuse to answer. For another, the way they announce who's won a particular seat in Parliament is to get all the candidates up on stage together and read off exactly how many votes each of them got. It's even better than Question Time.
"SFWA memebership" Keeper!
Teresa Nielsen Hayden, Shinchan (#27)
Question Time from the British Parliament is also available on CPAC
They also offer similar Q/A sessions from legislatures around the world (UN too) from time to time.
I have watched a few of them, and have concluded that my Canada's QP is the most dysfunctional.
Teresa: If you ever want a change of pace (and like winter activities), feel free come up here and straighten these bozos out ;).
For many years now if an MP really wanted a question asked he would submit it to cabinet in writing and usually get a useful answer. Now even these are ultra-partisan BS.