I don’t have another source to compare it to (and I know nothing about this one but it seems legitimate), but this anti-piracy legislation that Canada is apparently pushing “secretly” seems a bit over the top.
Fucking conservatives. They need to die.
Everyone is against this bullshit, and they are pushing it through to be Bush lapdogs. Fuck them. With a knife.
I can’t wait to vote those motherfuckers out.
Many of us feel the same way down here. Problem is… conservatives outnumber decent humans here.
Pardon me for interrupting, but you guys are putting forth a wonderful portrait of the tolerance and empathy of the liberal constituency here.
I just wrote my MP a letter. Not an email. Not a printout. A freaking letter.
Wow, using public security personnel to search through iPods for pirated music. No shit. Wasting their time with this stuff seems like a security risk in itself.
Stupid legislation in Canada = fault of idiot politicians.
Stupid legislation in America = fault of dumb-ass redneck citizens.
Actually, I have to admit I don’t get on as much as I used to. Is the above still true?
In the US, the conservatives have pulled a massive snowjob on normal people, inducing them to vote against their own best interests time and again.
Keep in mind that the liberal government was proposing DMCA-like changes to Canadian copyright law before they were voted out. My MP was actually the one who drafted it, which was the primary reason I voted against her.
This will certainly be an issue I’ll be looking for in party platforms.
They don’t even need to lie. All they need are people like you on the opposing side.
It really makes me wonder what inspired politicians to take such a stance. Sure, it’s money, but there’s cash to be found in any business and it would seem that the “difficulty factor”/infrastructure cost would likely be much lower in some other field.
Entertainment is certainly important, and therefore any political consideration regarding an industry supporting it should be given some weight. However, is it just me or is the amount of weight overwhelmingly lopsided when compared to other equally (if not much more so) important industries?
No, I don’t mean “conservatives”. I mean the Conservative party – this is something they are doing without any process or dialogue.
Canadian Bill Made In The U.S.A.
An ironic chronicle of the fight to maintain Freedom of Expression in Canada. 51st State is a clickable comic book. It links to over 100 websites, blogs, films and papers and articles. For best viewing download to your hard drive and then click links.
Really how can I prove all the music on my iPod is legal, and how can they prove it’s not legal? Under this law, if I get stopped at the customs booth and the officer sees my iPod wired into my car stereo, could he say “Hey you pirate give me that!” and take it?
Sounds like the government just wants to gift border patrol cops with iPods.
I was wondering the same thing. Am I expected to carry my entire CD collection and printed out iTunes receipts with me at all times to prove the music on my portable music player is legal? That’s the only way I can see me being able to prove innocence.
The papers are reporting that the bill will be introduced in the Commons today. Rumours are that it will levy a $500 fine per infringing item downloaded / found pirated.
I wonder if this will make it through the Parliamentary minority the Conservatives currently have. I’d be surprised. I will write my MP a letter, but I doubt it’ll do much good. It’d be like preaching to the choir. I’ve got the only NDP MP in Quebec :)
That’s a different thing. The topic in this thread is about a trade agreement that is ambiguous and essentially lets a grumpy border guard accuse you of theft, and take your gear.
As EpicBoy said, there’s no way to prove music is legit. Movies are a little more grey, but it’s still stupid.
Oh, don’t worry, your average Canada Customs employee is highly trained and highly intelligent. Why, just this year their average education rose to just over a grade nine level. Many can even tell the time by looking at a digital watch. Further, they are highly ethical, and would never, ever abuse their unaccountable authority by, say, targetting gay book stores and taking it upon themselves to ban literature which gay people read. I’m sure they would never, ever abuse this brilliantly devised legislation to search through people’s laptops for similar immoral works rather than pirated movies and music.
Once while crossing the Detroit River into Ontario we had a Canadian Customs agent go off on an extended rant about how bad Americans are and how Canada wasn’t part of America and yadda yadda yadda. We’d done nothing at all to cause such a reaction, and he ultimately let us pass through; he just felt he needed to be a total prick and waste 20 minutes of our time first. Every other time I’ve crossed the border they’ve been very polite, though. Another time we got stopped and had our car searched (randomly as far as I could tell,) but the agents in no way mistreated us.
While you were out of the loop, we rednecks acquired hundreds of thousands of more guns.
But if you have to take another week off from things, that’s okay.