Stung Eye
Stung Eye

« [Jun 13] Copyfight in Canada Redux
Jim Prentice, Minister of 8-Tracks

Cornucopia [Jun 27] »

“A ferocious debate between NDP Member of Parliament Charlie Angus and Tory Minister of Industry Jim Prentice. At issue was Canada’s new copyright law, Bill C61, the Canadian DMCA.”

In my last post on Canadian copyright I discussed the digital lock (DRM) provisions of this proposed copyright bill. The bill appears to give Canadians certain personal copying rights, but all of these rights are revoked if the media you wish to copy includes a digital lock. (For example, all DVDs include digital locks.)

In the video clip, “Angus asks the Minister why he is granting legal protection to DRM (Digital Locks), even when that DRM overrules the copyright freedoms being guaranteed under the bill. The Minister refused to answer the question — he just kept shouting that his law allows for backups and format-shifting, refusing to say anything about how the DRM rules make all those rights moot.”

The “Minister of 8-tracks” barb stems from the fact that the personal copying provisions in the bill would have been very welcome in the 70s and 80s, before digital locks were invented.

(Quotes via BoingBoing)

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Canadian law professor Michael Geist has been blogging a series of possible scenarios where Bill 61 would make criminals of average Canadian citizens:

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