Canada's own DMCA

[psema4]

On 5/13/05, Rob Sutherland <rob-HoWcdTCbwWKHoZZAE0nKLw at public.gmane.org> wrote:
> On Fri, 13 May 2005 19:33:54 -0400
> James Knott <james.knott-bJEeYj9oJeDQT0dZR+AlfA at public.gmane.org> wrote:
> 
> > Christopher Browne wrote:
> > > On 5/13/05, daniel <danstemporaryaccount-FFYn/CNdgSA at public.gmane.org> wrote:
> > >
> > >>'cmon.  think about the demographic here.  everyone on this list knows the
> > >>dangers of things like drm and the dmca, but the mentality on this list makes
> > >>up no more than 2% of the voting public.  the ndp is doing what any smart
> > >>party would do in this position: looking for the groups that'll hand them the
> > >>most votes.  as far as anyone else is concerned, this whole "dmca thing" is
> > >>just some weird computer thing that doesn't concern them.
> 
> >
> > One thing you're apparently forgetting, is that every time you purchase
> > a blank CD or audio cassette, you're paying a levee for the legal right
> > to copy music.  It's impossible to be a "pirate" in Canada, if you're
> > copying for your own personal use.
> 
> Good point. And let's also not forget that in spite of all the moral hair splitting
> that goes on when this subject comes up, the real problem is that an industry lobby
> group is getting their own way in a decision that has profound consequences and *none*
> of our political leadership seems to be able to even address the issue, let alone discuss
> it meanifully.

That's the general case (painfully obvious as it is), but there are
"pockets of sentience" and some great resources available.

I'm not saying to vote Green or anything - but, they've had some
policy statements about this stuff for a while.  At least since the
election last year.

Where it took a while for the Liberals and Conservatives to respond to
the lobbying from Digital Copyright Canada and a neat little army of
volunteers (a segment of the open source populace in Canada), the
Greens already had a stance.

It should be at
http://lp.greenparty.ca/tiki-index.php?page=Industry+Technology+Communications+subcommittee
  however there server appears to be very slow at the moment.

Some other resources (tonnes of information, in no particular order):
  The center of Open Source and Government:  http://www.egovos.org/
  Digital Copyright Canada:  http://www.digital-copyright.ca/
  GoC contracted report on floss:  http://www.e-cology.ca/canfloss/
  Defense R & D Canada (floss faq):
http://www.cio-dpi.gc.ca/fap-paf/oss-ll/faq_e.asp

The question is how to force these issues into the minds of the
parties.  It needs to be hammered home and there's some pretty thick
skulls out there.

It's all about exposure, as defined (quite relevant) in the article
"Copyright law 2.0: Judges Rule" by Raymond Blijd.  That article is
here: http://p2pnet.net/story/4834

For me, the single biggest advantage of the GTALug Wiki is that we can
provide a *persistent* view of what GTALuggers think on these issues. 
The mailing list is constantly flowing with new information and always
fluid.

If, as a community, we would like to prepare a message then a dynamic
and persistant one can be had at http://tlug.ss.org/.

The only way to make them listen, is to "write in BIG letters with
crayon."  (A lesson I learned at work - K.I.S.S)  Put resources and a
public statement regarding the membership's beliefs somewhere the
politians can get to with the click of a mouse.

The more voices, the deeper the crayon's color.
-- 
- SGE
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