'provided the material is not protected by a digital lock.' So this is useful to me if I decide to copy my Wilf Carter 8-tracks to my ipod, but likely not if I want to enjoy something say.. from the current decade.
-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of David Brewerton Sent: Sunday, July 06, 2008 11:27 PM To: CLUG General Subject: Re: [clug-talk] OT: Bill C61 Info Here are my two letters to the PMO as well as their answer to the first letter. ORIGINAL LETTER TO PMO Prime Minister Harper > > As a Canadian and a resident of your riding, I'd like to comment on the > proposed downloading and copying law. > > The experience in the U.S. has shown that this type of law not only hasn't > worked, but has caused a huge amount of grief for ordinary citizens. > Microsoft has even found that all of the DMCA related things they added to > Microsoft Vista has been one of the biggest drags on that program, slowing > it down immeasurably. Because, for instance, it would still be illegal to > break the copy protection that exists on a DVD, just to make a copy for > yourself almost every person becomes liable. A prime example is to make a > copy of a DVD to take in the car on a trip. We've had instances where DVD's > were forgotten in the rental vehicles not to mention the abuse they receive > from small children watching movies at home or on a trip. The logical > answer > is to make a copy and take the copy in the car or to allow the children to > watch at home so that the original is safe and undamaged. This law, and the > DMCA in the U.S., would prevent that. The simple act of breaking it to make > the copy would make you liable. While it will be argued that no one would > be > prosecuted for something like that, if it even exists in the law, someone, > sometime is going to use that as an excuse to search someones computer, > their home and their posessions while looking for something else. > > Peer to Peer file sharing is used for both legal and illegal purposes. It's > being investigated by the TV networks to distribute TV programs in a more > efficient manner and by other companies for many other purposes. Unless the > ISP's are to be required or allowed to check the contents of what's being > transferred and thus violate the privacy of the person's internet > transfers, > how will they know if BitTorrent is being used to download a TV program or > a > music file? Continual snooping? > > The music industry, who have benefited from my music purchases for many > decades, have also abused the consumers by charging much higher prices that > they needed to and have fostered peer to peer sharing because they've made > it too expensive or impossible to purchase some music. It's impossible to > buy lots of DVD's and CD's or LP's any more because they're out of > production or have never been released in this country, and to spend $80 or > $100 for a single CD makes it unaffordable for all but the top 0.1% of the > populace and those people may not want it anyway. It's easy to argue that > P2P has been a major factor in the music industry finally lowering their CD > and DVD prices and finally looking at making music and movie downloads > affordable and available. Competition is a good thing, even if it isn't > direct business to business competition. They still haven't fully taken > advantage of the possibilities and they're still always looking at ways to > sell or rent music to consumers but to prevent its full enjoyment. One day > they'll learn. > > We're being charged (as was implemented by the Liberals under Jean > Chretien) > a tax on media, whether it's a hard drive, a blank CD or DVD or an iPod or > other mp3 player to pay for any copying being done. This has meant that the > blank media I use to back up my business data or the hard drive on my > computers has been taxed as are the ones I use to back up the photos I > take. > If this law is passed in any form, this tax MUST be removed since it's > reason for existence (raison d'entre) no longer exists. > > All in all, this law will cause a lot of problems and in the end won't > solve > any. We have a gun registry that was supposed to prevent gun crime and $2 > Billion later, what do we have? There were a lot of voices telling the > government of the day that it wouldn't work and who was proved right in the > end? It's all feel good legislation. > > If the music and movie industries want to prevent piracy, make the > information available at an affordable price and most people will buy it. > Witness the success of iTunes. I'd buy more DVD's than I currently buy (and > with 3 kids I do buy them in a steady stream), but it has to be affordable > to the average consumer. I'd rather buy a nice, clean copy of an album but > not if it has all sorts of restrictions on where I can play it or where I > have to continually pay a monthly fee just to continue to listen to the > music I've already paid for. > > In short, feel good legislation fails to do any good. How about working > with > the industry to make their products available to sell in one form or > another > at an affordable price and the rest will take care of itself. > REPLY FROM PMO On behalf of the Prime Minister, thank you for your correspondence > regarding Bill C-61, An Act to amend the Copyright Act, which was recently > introduced in the House of Commons. We appreciate your feedback as we work > to bring the Copyright Act in line with advances in technology and current > international standards. > > This bill is a balanced, made-in-Canada approach to copyright reform that > will help to ensure fair access by Canadian consumers to copyrighted > material. It will also protect the rights of Canadians who create material > that is copyrighted. Ten years have passed since the last major reform of > this legislation and during this timeframe an Internet revolution has > occurred along with major advances in technology. > > These reforms will allow Canadians to record their television and radio > shows to enjoy at different times without infringing copyright. It will > permit consumers to copy music onto devices such as MP3 players and to copy > books, newspapers, videos and photos into different formats. Additionally, > the bill limits at $500 the amount of statutory damages that individuals may > be liable to pay if they infringed copyright for private use, provided the > material is not protected by a digital lock. > > This bill also introduces important measures to support industries whose > success depends upon copyright such as software companies, musicians, > photographers and filmmakers. There will be stronger protection of digital > locks online, which will give companies that use them in their business > models the full support of the law. These reforms also introduce stronger > provisions to address Internet piracy. > > Our role as the Government is to create an environment for businesses to > succeed and for the economy to flourish. We believe this copyright reform > promotes competition in a digital, knowledge-based economy. > > Once again, thank you for taking the time to share your thoughtful > perspective on this important issue. > > Sincerely, > > Salpie Stepanian > Assistant to the Prime Minister SECOND LETTER BACK TO PMO In your letter the phrase 'provided the material is not protected by a digital lock' is used. All DVD's have one as do many CD's. It therefore would be a violation of copyright to make a copy for the kids to use or to make the copy to put on an iPod or mp3 player. Sony added their, now infamous, root kit on some CD's that made many peoples' computers vulnerable to attack on the web. Being liable to a $500 fine for copying music that I'd purchased just so I can listen to it on a different machine (since music isn't sold in iPod format on CD and therefore MUST be copied off to put it on an mp3 player) means that copyrights will be violated. It also states 'statutory damages that individuals may be liable to pay if they infringed copyright for private use' so even if I do make a copy for private, personal use, I'm still violating copyright law. It's a no win situation for the consumer. The music companies have certainly realized that their old tactics have failed. This is evidenced by the large price reductions they've made to music CD's recently. What used to cost close to $30 is now almost half that for a CD that costs them well under a dollar to make. Unfortunately, they waited a LONG time before taking action and have alienated their support base (the music buying public). What they could have done is to make their large music and movie libraries available for sale on line at a reasonable price. So much music is no longer available that it's impossible to find it without looking to a download site. The software industry as least has provisions for old software (games primarily but not restricted to them) that's no longer being supported being made available for free download. How much of the old music from artists who are still active today could be made available and used to encourage people to listen to the artist and see if they like the style of music and then purchase the more recent music? The music companies aren't going to re-publish the old albums because they aren't economically viable given the numbers they'd have to produce. Beautiful music will sit in files somewhere, never to be enjoyed again. Even now, while the music companies are retailing some music CD's in the $15-$18 bracket, the wholesale price is in the $10-$12 area but they're selling the album (maybe) online for $10-$12 so they're still making their wholesale prices or more. Even at 99 cents a track, many albums have 20-24 tracks so to purchase the entire album costs too much. Those tracks usually have restrictions attached as well that prohibit them or make it difficult to move to mp3 players without paying a monthly rental fee to continue their enjoyment. I'm not going to pay a fee every month to continue listening to the same music. I have CD's that I've had for 20 years and I wouldn't have them if I had to rent them to enjoy them. They still don't want to give anything up. I restate my comment that this is unenforceable legislation that should never be passed. ----- Original Message ---- From: "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: CLUG General <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, July 4, 2008 10:49:53 AM Subject: Re: [clug-talk] OT: Bill C61 Info There was some concern as to what stage the bill is at during our last meetning. I can confirm that it is up for SECOND reading. There is an official summary of all the issues before the house that describes the bill as follows: "C-61 Copyright Act: This bill updates the Copyright Act to provide fair and predictable rules for copyright in a digital environment, bringing the Act in line with advances in technology and current international standards. It will allow individuals to copy a range of legitimately acquired material to various devices they own. It implements new rights and protections for rights holders in a manner consistent with international standards. It clarifies exceptions to copyright rules for educational and research purposes. It clarifies the liability and role of internet service providers. It provides photographers with rights equal to those of other creators. (Parts of bill C-61 were included in bill C-60 during the 38th Parliament.)" What catches my eye is the 'allow individuals to copy a range of legitimately aquired material to various devices they own.' Has anyone READ this piece of the bill itself? > I've also been corresponding with the PM's office about C-61. > I 've had three e-mails to him plus returns. > > > > ----- Original Message ---- > From: Shawn <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: CLUG General <[email protected]> > Sent: Thursday, July 3, 2008 12:23:03 AM > Subject: [clug-talk] OT: Bill C61 Info > > There was some talk about the new copyright law being proposed at the > meeting tonight. I mentioned I would post some details of the > "awareness" get together being organized for Mr. Prentice's Stampede > breakfast on Saturday. See below for this. > > More information can be found in previous posts by Neil, and here: > http://www.faircopyrightforcanada.ca/ > http://www.copyrightforcanadians.ca/action/firstlook/ > > Shawn > > > Subject: Plans of action - Prentice breakfast this Saturday (July 5th) > > Dear Fair Copyright for Canada Calgary members, > > Happy Canada Day. There are four more days till the Prentice breakfast > this Saturday http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=17795093906 > > Here is an an update and our current plans. Please check the event page > again on Friday (July 4th) in case of last minute change. > > > 1) Donations > > Please bring Cash donations for the Children's Cottage Society (as > suggested by Prentice's breakfast flyer) > > > 2) New slogans and information sheets > > Thanks to Theo's help, we now have a new batch of slogans. > > Please download & print the one you are most passionate about and > knowledgeable about so you can speak with conviction. > > The slogans are in colour and black & white. The "flipped" images are > ready for use to make your own iron-on transfer t-shirts. > > The PDF files can be found under their respective directories in > http://members.shaw.ca/cfilm/pub-files/Bill-C61/ > > There is a Read-me file if you need extra help, > http://members.shaw.ca/cfilm/pub-files/Bill-C61/Read-me.txt > > > 3) Meeting place at 8:45 > > The Osteria de Medici parking lot is not that big (8 parking spots?). > But since many of us haven't met each other, I suggest we gather at the > corner of Kensington Road and 10th Street NW at 8:45am > > We will have a short briefing. And take some group photos and group > videos sharing our concerns re Bill C-61. > > > 4) 9:00 - 11:00 Stampede breakfasts and meet Minister Prentice > > Go get our Stampede breakfasts and have our chance to talk to Minister > Prentice about our C-61 concerns. > > We may each only get a few seconds of Prentice's time. So be concise. > Speak on areas that we are passionate about and knowledgeably. Remember > to speak politely, clearly and firmly. > > 5) 9:00 - 11:00 after breakfasts and meeting with Minister Prentice > > After we have our breakfasts and chats with minister Prentice, we can > mix with the public to give the gathered breakfast event attendees > chances to talk to us and ask us questions. > > > ****) Photos and Videos > > Please shoot plenty of photos and videos throughout our peaceful protest > to post on Facebook, YouTube, and our blogs, etc. > > Lets get our message out. > -------------------- > > _______________________________________________ > clug-talk mailing list > [email protected] > http://clug.ca/mailman/listinfo/clug-talk_clug.ca > Mailing List Guidelines (http://clug.ca/ml_guidelines.php) > **Please remove these lines when replying > > > > __________________________________________________________________ > Reclaim your name @ymail.com or @rocketmail.com. Get your new email > address now! 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