US Group Wants Canada Blacklisted Over Piracy 585
An anonymous reader writes "Following up on an earlier story, the IIAA wants to add Canada to a blacklist of the worst intellectual property offenders. A powerful coalition of U.S. software, movie and music producers is urging the Bush administration to put Canada on an infamous blacklist of intellectual property villains, alongside China, Russia and Belize. 'Canada's chronic failure to modernize its copyright regime has made it a global hub for bootleg movies, pirated software and tiny microchips that allow video-game users to bypass copyright protections', the International Intellectual Property Alliance complains in a submission to the U.S. government."
Tough choice (Score:5, Insightful)
The release is backwards (Score:5, Insightful)
in other words (Score:4, Insightful)
Translation: "We have a stranglehold on the music and movie industries, we want control over video game consoles, as well."
I speak for all Canadians... (Score:5, Insightful)
The Globe and Mail - a humour paper (Score:3, Insightful)
On the same page is another article, "For today's family, time's not on their side -- Hectic schedules, longer work weeks contribute to less togetherness than in 80s".
All right, say it again - both of these are on the front page of the Globe and Mail!
That's why I call it a "humour paper". (However, the National Post is actually funnier!)
Stephan
Re:Cue the music (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm offended and frankly would be extremely angry if Canada bowed to this pressure.
Where's David Wilkins Now??? (Score:5, Insightful)
If Canada doesn't dictate US policy, so too should the US not concern themselves with Canadian policies.
Rogers (Score:1, Insightful)
Maybe they don't have anything to worry about after all.
They should start exporting their smokes north (Score:5, Insightful)
What is a "crisis level" for camcorders in movie theatres? Is that where the people behind you start attacking you for using a camera that makes too much noise (or gives off too much light, or what)?
Nonetheless, if this sanction was imposed, Canada could retaliate by putting the Yanks on the list of countries to whom they won't export oil or uranium. Then the Americans would have to nicer to Chavez ... (This won't happen. By "this" I mean Canada blocking energy exports. The Canadians put up with a lot.)
Re:Tough choice (Score:5, Insightful)
Height of ignorance & arogance (Score:5, Insightful)
Canada's copyright system is MORE modern then the US. Common sense tells us that there is no difference "If I loan a CD to a friend to listen to", or "make a copy for him to listen to." I guess we should ban libraries too since the artist is not getting "his fair share."
Copyright & Intellectual Property Rights (which are neither property nor rights) are artificial rights from a world where only people care about greed, instead of sharing knowledge.
What price do you put on a patent that could cure cancer? Why is it OK to profit off the sick & dying? Have we really made that little progress in the past million years, that we still cry & whine like a 2 year saying "mine" -- simply because we were the first to come up with an idea, that we could care less about our fellow human beings??
Copyright: Because it's _such_ a crime against humanity, that people want to share what they find entertaining with others, for free!
--
Because its easier to get mod'd down for having the courage to look at the facts, then ignore Forgotten Christian History [peopleofhonoronly.com].
Re:in other words (Score:5, Insightful)
Translation: "We have a stranglehold on the music and movie industries, we want control over video game consoles, as well."
No, a better translation would be:
The Conservative government needs a stick to shake at the Canadian public in order to cow them into accepting a digital media market that is more conducive to the desires of their corporate master. Conveniently, the media associations and their government cronies are happy to provide one.
I think (Score:5, Insightful)
To the best of my knowledge, copyright infringement going on in other countries in no way affects our safety (besides the weak "it funds terrorists" argument that seems to be the defacto excuse for everything around here anymore).
The only people that would benefit from the massive expense and sacrifice of civil liberty that would be necessary to enact such a stupid idea would be the media fat cats..... And they can go and (insert witty thing here) themselves for all I care.
Re:The release is backwards (Score:4, Insightful)
Yeah, paying a tax on all recordable media is really fair.
LK
What about US SPAM ? (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Cue the music (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Let's go over this slowly (Score:4, Insightful)
Over video games?
Cool.
Just wait until they come to "liberate" you from your outdated copyright regime.
Biggest trading partner? Haliburton is ready to take over that.
NATO ally? Pay attention to how well they treat their EU allies lately.
Fighting terrorists? So did Saddam, didn't want any religious fundies opposing him.
Oil? And that's a.... con?
Friendly government? Wasn't that a WMD pointing at the US I saw, I'm sure I did.
And the five-year forecast: Civil war between eskimos, quebecois and english-speaking canadians.
Re:Piracy is a problem with video games? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Cue the music (Score:5, Insightful)
I was going to comment as a Canadian but... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Height of ignorance & arogance (Score:2, Insightful)
Emphasizing that difference is silly.
The whole idea that this "intellectual property" farce can interfere with my *real* property rights is absurd. If you want to control data, don't share it with anyone. Like any secret, once it's public that's it - it's public and you don't have any control. Contorting the law to try to simulate an imagined "ownership" of information is foolish - and when that contortion interferes with actual property rights it turns into a major problem.
I hope this hits the mainstream news in Canada (Score:5, Insightful)
I believe all this "Canadians are dirty rotten thieves" stuff the "IP proponents" are pulling is due to the fact that the current government is working on revising our copyright law. I suspect that they are trying to pressure the Canadian government into getting their way.
It might even be at the behest of the government who seems to be intent on listening to only one side (guess who?). The Conservatives campaigned partially on "repairing the damage that the liberals did to US - Canada relations" (not that most Americans pay much attention to Canada anyway...) The copyright reforms are likely to be very unpopular no matter what's in them. If they say, "Oh we need to crack down to keep our relations happy with the Americans", maybe they think that will smooth things over.
If that's the case, I think they are terribly misguided. Canadians have always had a low tolerance to being stepped on by the elephant that is the US. We have a chip on our shoulders. In fact, one of the defining principles of being a Canadian is that "We aren't American". For some people, that's their only definition of being Canadian.
Pressure from the US to do *anything* to our laws will likely doom that idea, whether it be good or bad. Hence it would be nice to see what happens if the above characterization would be on the front page of the local newspapers...
Re:Cue the music (Score:3, Insightful)
Thank goodness for Bit Torrent, and freedom in Canada.
Re:As a Canadian to Bush (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Let's go over this slowly (Score:5, Insightful)
Sure, we shouldn't stop sending you guys oil, but we should definitely be looking to sell more of it (along with other things) to places other than the US. They've proven over and over that they can't be trusted not to abuse their position as primary trade partner.
Re:Cue the music (Score:5, Insightful)
Not to mention the US government (which is even less of a random group) has already pressured several other countries into changing their copyright laws and has been hard at work on Canada for some time already.
Re:I speak for all Canadians... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Cue the music (Score:0, Insightful)
Re:Let's go over this slowly (Score:3, Insightful)
I think Canada has a friendly enough reputation that the (Conservatives to follow Hillary) won't be able to lie that we have WMDs..
There are an awful lot of people of Chinese descent in Canada too... Too bad their a bunch of commies...
Oh wait Canada's gonna piss off the U.S. by being too left wing.... good good.
Re:The Globe and Mail - a humour paper (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Cue the music (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Cue the music (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Cue the music (Score:4, Insightful)
- RG>
Re:I speak for all Canadians... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:I speak for all Canadians... (Score:5, Insightful)
Sure, for a sufficiently revised definition of free.
Re:I think (Score:3, Insightful)
Any country that doesn't play by the economic policy of the US is a threat to the USA. The US is basically the arm of corporations now, your fellow countrymen's blind adherence to extreme propertarianism and extreme capitalism are partly to blame.
I've been really inspired by a lot of people in the US but it's unfortunate that too many US citizens are slack when it comes to changing their government. Where were the riots when the US invaded IRAQ? How many people have now died and who's lives have been ruined? I know if I was a US Citizens I would be damn pissed at the people in power.
Re:Cue the music (Score:5, Insightful)
In any event, saying "we hate America" means you're doing one awful lot of hating. I've known some Australians that were complete jackasses as well
Re:Cue the music (Score:5, Insightful)
1. Because they can.
2. Because they can buy the best lobbyists.
3. Because voters who don't pay attention let them.
Re:Cue the music (Score:5, Insightful)
Now we have meat packing plants of our own, and we can sell frozen steak internationally with all the associated markup.
Why the hell are we selling our oil?
Re:Cue the music (Score:3, Insightful)
The best thing Canada could do is offer some token (and meaningless) change... Just enough to look like they are trying to work with the RIAA. Then, if the RIAA (or whatever the pan-media equivalent is) doesn't accept, Canada can throw it back in their face and say "Look, we tried to work with you guys...". Defuse the situation and make the RIAA look like the unreasonable ones.
Re:Cue the music (Score:5, Insightful)
From the environment's point-of-view, this might not be such a good idea.
Re:Cue the music (Score:3, Insightful)
Nobody can really hate America (Score:3, Insightful)
So nobody hates you guys, but if you keep on your current track, the real danger is that you become indifferent to the rest of the world. Indifferent meaning that the rest of the world doesn't anymore look up to you and say "oh my god, we must do exactly like the Americans" and instead say "America? What ever, I don't care". But hey, it's not too late to repair the damage, just execute your lawyers and think-of-the-children people and I say your again ahead of the world.
Re:All I have to say to Canada is... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Cue the music (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:My Favorite quote (Score:3, Insightful)
Camcorder copies of Hollywood movies is not something the government has any business discussing. There are tons of real problems that they should be spending their time trying to solve. It's like complaining the contractors painted your house the wrong color while hundreds of nuclear warheads are on their way to obliterate your country.
To the people in government that are discussing copyright crap: shut the hell up about non-issues like camcorder copies of movies and get your asses back to work trying to fix real problems! WTF!
I speak for the free world (Score:2, Insightful)
Because of George Bush, the US isn't even IN the free world anymore.