Canadian version of the DMCA being pushed through
Update: Good news, Minister Angus, NDP has updated the Facebook group to advise that Minister Prentice was not present at today’s sitting, he has one more change tomorrow to present the bill before Parliament closes shop for the rest of the year! Minister Angus also advises that they may not even sit tomorrow. So we may have more time to put a stop to this bill and force Minister Prentice to rethink his position. This does not mean we can slack off!
This is a huge issue to me that every Canadian should be concerned about. Minister Prentice is pushing a Bill through parliament that is rumoured to be like the US DMCA on crack. Most people don’t know what the ramifications are of this, I suspect not even our government. The short story is that anything copyrighted you want to use under current fair use is probably going to be illegal. Want to make a copy of that music on your ipod for your car? That’s illegal. Want to use a snippet from a television in your review of the show? That’s illegal. Want to criticise a peice of work? You bet your bottom that’s a illegal.
The new bill the Minister Prentice is introducing is rumoured to have no provisions for fair use. What it enables the various industries (CRIA, MPAA, etc) to do is put digital locks on their software, DRM, and no matter how weak those locks are it is illegal to try and circumvent them. This also means that if you have say an iPod and a year from now you buy a Microsoft Zune and you want to transfer those files over to your new device, you can’t! This is because iTunes uses a proprietary DRM that is incompatible with Microsoft’s DRM. Under the new law you will be required to purchase a new copy of the music you have already bought.
What this is going to enable is coalitions like the CRIA* to litigate as a business model. Like in the United States they will begin suing file sharers for thousands of dollars per song under the guise that it is necessary to punish people for infringing their copyright so excessively that they must essentially declare bankruptcy for illegally downloading a single alubm.
* Note: that the CRIA is mainly comprised of American recording labels, namely EMI, SONY, Warner Music and Universal. It is essentially the Canadian chapter of the RIAA
Find out what you can do after the jump…
What can you do as a Canadian citizen? Glad I asked for you. There are a number of things that you can do, Micheal Giest a brilliant profession in Ottawa and de facto champion of fair copyright reform has put together a list that you can use.
The Canadian DMCA: What You Can Do
Here’s a general overview the link will give you more detail:
- Write to your local Member of Parliament.
- Write to the Prime Minister of Canada.
- Write to Jim Prentice, the Minister of Industry.
- Write to Josee Verner, the Minister of Canadian Heritage.
- Write to James Rajotte, the Chair of the House of Commons Industry Committee.
- Write to Canadian Heritage’s Copyright Policy Branch.
- Write to your local Member of Provincial Parliament or Member of the Legislative Assembly.
- Write to your Provincial Minister of Education.
- Write to your local school board or University President.
- Write a letter to the Department of Foreign Affairs on Canada’s international copyright position.
- Write to Library and Archives Canada to ask that it support the preservation of Canadian heritage.
- Write to the Competition Bureau of Canada.
- Write the Office of Consumer Affairs or your provincial consumer protection ministry.
- Write to your federal or provincial privacy commissioner to ask for their support in protecting your personal privacy against DRM.
- Raise the issue with your local library or school.
- Join the Facebook Fair Copyright Group.
- Sign a petition.
- Add your name to the Online Rights Canada mailing list.
- Ask each political party where it stands on copyright.
- Support music labels that offer their music without DRM or copy-controls.
- Ensure that your local retailer will accept returns on DRM’d products.
- Ask your ISP what it is doing to stand up for your rights.
- Participate in a local meeting on copyright.
- Support more balanced copyright positions from artists and creator groups.
- Use Creative Commons licensing.
- Read license terms.
- Track media coverage of copyright.
- Educate yourself.
- Educate others.
Finally, here are a collection of links that are of interest:
- Canadian DMCA to be reintroduced — your action needed NOW!
- Michael Geist’s Blog
- Digital Copyright Canada
- Fair Copyright Canada
- Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic
- Online Rights Canada
- Excess Copyright
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