Canadian SOPA: Bill C-11

[owlman112]

Hi guys and girls,

So as you may have noticed, the Year of the Dragon has gotten off to a bang with not 1, not 2, not even 3, but 4 different copyright bills coming down the pipes: America's SOPA and PIPA, the international ACTA, and now Canada's very own version, Bill C-11.

For those of you who follow Canadian politics, this is a (minor) rewrite of Bill C-31. Remember that one? Well, it's back - same idea, different name.

If you want, the actual bill C-11 is here.

If you live in Canada, please sign the petition at the Canadian Coalition for Electronic Rights.

It's not about politics regarding piracy - this affects your ability to PVR a show, get an ebook for school, even unlocking your cell phone to take to another carrier (a national pastime in Canada).

The bill goes to the floor February 7th, 2012.

The American's fought SOPA because it was a badly executed idea.

Now that it's our turn, can we do any less?

[Dylrob]

As I am not Canadian, all I can do is wish you best of luck.

[speakingtohe]

Well we Canadians seem to say whereas a lot. Have a bit of trouble taking this seriously especially with her majesty being the force behind it.

Also at first glance it seems a bit too lucid to be a valid piece of legislature.

Will read in more depth tomorrow. Tonight I am too busy watching hockey, drinking beer and spreading maple syrup on my ham.

Thanks for the heads up

Helen

[SensualPoet]

Essentially this same bill has failed in three former incarnations spread over about a decade. It's a crummy bill i certain respects but less draconian than some of the critics make out. With a majority government, it will pass this time.

The biggest sigh of relief is there is no change to the author's death 50+ rule.

It remains to be seen if there are actually any teeth to the law and anything more than moral suasion in terms of impact in the marketplace.

[RainingLemur]

Good luck, neighbors to the north. Hopefully you can fight it back a bit.

Sorry to be the cynic here, but it's a majority government and Canadian politicians virtually always vote along party lines. So unless 13 Conservative MPs catch a nasty bug or the Conservatives decide to permit a free vote, the bill will pass. Since this is not a private members bill and relates to economic policy, a free vote is unlikely.

[DHR]

Thanks for the head's up. The canned letter does not mention books or periodicals so it is worth editing that in. I also fear what C-11 will do for computer software and especially software embedded in practically any device.

DRM can actually protect pirates. I found a device manufacturer violating the GPL. When I asked them to comply with it, they threatened me for violating their EULA (which, as it turns out, I didn't do). If they had used DRM, I could not even have discovered their violation.

[speakingtohe]

well I have read the bill and not understanding it totally, but I have thought it over for a week and I just don't care. Not apathetic but I can live without my 50 Gig bandwidth service from Shaw. I have other options. Most of them free.

If I can do nothing but read email, and that may be subjected to scrutiny, I can do it at an internet cafe. Kind of defeats the purpose, but I could walk a block past the Pizza place next door and order the pizza online.

I have dialup accounts for emergencies (don't use them at present but they are free and adequate with the advantage of a verified I'D user account).

Canadians are overall pretty pragmatic and willing to respond to overt actions that curtail our freedom by saying bring it on. If you cut us off we just won't pay you. And we will vote you out of office at the next opportunity just because you have upset our routine even if it saves us money in the long run.

Don't get mad get even.

Helen

[DHR]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

well I have read the bill and not understanding it totally, but I have thought it over for a week and I just don't care. Not apathetic but I can live without my 50 Gig bandwidth service from Shaw. I have other options. Most of them free.

I'm not sure what you are saying. C-11 is not about bandwidth, it's about copyright.

In particular, C-11 makes it a crime to circumvent "Digital Rights Management" ("digital locks"). Even if what you are doing is otherwise authorized by copyright!

In other words it is a very drastic change to the architecture, giving unbounded control to the copyright holders. In practice, that means unbounded power to the platform, not to authors.

It is really really bad. And it seems unlikely to accomplish its stated goal (to cure piracy). It sure will have a lot of unintended consequences (or at least undeclared consequences).

Consequence one: it creates a world in which platform owners can create monopolies.

During the consultation period of the white paper that started out this round of copyright "modernization" (perhaps a decade ago), I proposed that if DRM prevented the owner of a copy from doing things authorized by copyright law, the work should lose copyright protection. After all, copyright is a deal; if one side changes the deal, the other should not be bound by it.

[speakingtohe]

@DHR
I do understand that.

My understanding, which may be totally wrong, is that they are going to attempt to enforce this by denying those who they even think may be guilty by removing their internet privileges.

My response was meant to state that if they wished to do that to me, bring it on.

I do not agree with the premise of guilty without a trial even with fairly substantial proof. I especially do not agree with the premise of guilty on suspicion alone.

I do agree with copyright and ownership of intellectual rights.

I do not think the bill is well thought out or that it should be enforced.

I have written an email and sent it to various government people.
I do not believe that C-11 is politically or financially feasible due to impacts on big Canadian businesses such as Telus, Rogers, Shaw etc. And if carried to an extreme the logic behind it should make photocopiers, DVD recorders etc. Illegal too.

We have taxes on tapes, CDs, and photocopying materials designed to protect authors although they are not that great. To make the bill honest and effective all of these items would have to be removed from use. Good luck with that.

My statement simply meant that while I may be severely impacted by the bill on the off chance that they cut me off, it will not destroy my life or make me more careful in my actions. I will not live in fear because of this.

Helen

[spindlegirl]

All those "whereas" legalese makes it impossible to detect at which whereas I would be breaking the law at if I decided to download the bill and read it off line :P.

Anyway, off I go to read a book, while it's still legal :P

[FizzyWater]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

If I can do nothing but read email, and that may be subjected to scrutiny, I can do it at an internet cafe.

Wouldn't these bills (any of them, not just this one) pretty much make Internet Cafes and free WiFi a thing of the past? They'd force companies to close down to avoid being sued...?

[speakingtohe]

In China they shut down 130,000 unlicensed internet cafes. There are many many licensed ones however.

If Canada ever went that far the internet would be the least of our worries.

Helen

[SensualPoet]

Most Internet cafés have closed in Toronto (like DVD stores (rental, purchase) for that matter) because of lack of interest. Mobile Internet (via LTE) now runs in the real world at 40 mbps; broadband is available from the telephone and cable companies that is rock solid; resellers offer unlimited bandwidth at competitive prices ... I don't think Internet cafés are going to be part of the answer.

[speakingtohe]

@SensualPoet
Perhaps we are talking apples and oranges here. I wasn't originally speaking about dedicated internet cafes, but the free services offered by coffee shops, drugstores, department stores and even banks. I am pretty sure most dedicated internet cafes have closed here as well, not by the government, just too many free options.

I am probably being very inept in stating my opinion.

If the Canadian party in power seriously interfered with a taken for granted service in a way that impacted a serious number of residents than they would no longer be the party in power. If they arbitrarily chose to impact me, I can deal with it, but I doubt that will happen. I don't do anything illegal or immoral internet-wise AFAIK, and if I did choose to start I am pretty sure they would be hard pressed to catch me.

Still I will be watching the bill with interest to see if it passes and what they (politicians, law enforcement) will do when and if it does.

Kind of like that old joke of a dog chasing a car and not knowing what to do when it catches it.

Helen