Tech Blog

[#1]

This is the third time that the Canadian government has tried to appease American content industry lobbyists with made-to-order legislation. It's the closest they've gotten to actually producing a bill that actually helps everyone... except for the digital locks provision. All of the rights given to Canadians have gone out the window thanks to the inability to break digital locks.

Borrow a digital book from the library? It blows up in five days. Take distance ed? Your digital materials evaporate 30 days after the course is over. Does this make sense to you?

The Bill makes allowances for place and time shifting - but all of that is completely moot if the content is locked up tight. Do you make copies of DVDs because your kids have a tendency to scratch them? Under Bill C-32 you've just broken the law and you could be on the hook for up to $5000 a disc. I have a 600 movie library full of CSS digitally locked DVDs, every single one of them ripped to my media server (I still own the discs, naturally). If you think that's work THREE MILLION DOLLARS you need your head checked. This provision MUST GO.

If you like to stream cool media and have more fun with the stuff you own YOU MUST contact your MP now. Join the Fair Copyright for Canada group on Facebook , read Michael Geist's blog , and make your opinion known. We can stop this, now, before American interests claim ownership of things within our home.

[#2]

Make sure you write to your MPs to voice your displeasure about this new bill.

[#3]

What grinds my gears is that when you purchase music or a DVD, or a video game etc., you are not "buying" the content at all.  Instead you are just buying the opportunity to consume said media under the terms and conditions and whatever restrictions the copyright holders choose to impose.

Watch out people.  Among other things, your DVR recordings could start deleting themselves after a pre-coded period of time.  Yes, the government wants to be in your living room too.

[#4]

And don't go copying any movies to put on your cellphone or iPod for that long trip.

Sure, they may need to re-write the copyright laws and yes, they are outdated, but come on... there's writing the laws to protect the artists, and then there are laws which over step our rights as legitimate consumers as well.