Fwd: Please Stand Against the New Copyright Bill

[D. Hugh Redelmeier]

| From: Ian Petersen <ispeters-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w at public.gmane.org>

| I never really appreciated Shakespeare's work in high school but it's
| always held up as a shining example of English literature.  If DRM had
| existed in the 15th century, Shakespeare's estate would probably still
| be controlling access to his works.  Strictly speaking, his works
| would probably be "in the public domain" as they are today, but the
| people controlling access via DRM could still excise payment from
| every high school in the land.

More likely: the work would be lost.  At some point the "owner" might
disappear and the DRM could no longer be unlocked.

Copyright has traditionally be term-limited.  With DRM, this is no
longer the case.

In fact DRM gives way more control to whover controls the DRM.
Example: no book forces me to read ads but DVDs use DRM to force me
to watch ads.  Horrible.

The proposed law makes it illegal to bypass DRM even when the use is
otherwise illegal.  Talk about overreaching.

I made a few of these points in a letter to the editor of the Globe
and Mail, but when they published it yesterday, most of that was
edited out.
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