WhiteEagle’s Aerie and Blog

Apparently alot of people don’t like Bill C-61.

Apparently, over seventeen thousand of them don’t like it, because they have joined this Facebook group. I said I think it will be okay, and I still stand by my opinion. In case you want to read the bill itself, here’s a link to it. Please think hard before deciding to oppose this one. Personally, I think it’s a good compromise. Why can’t you all be happy with that? It’s not US-style, at least!

I got an email today from the Minister of Industry, Mr. Prentice.

I got another email from the Government today, but this time from the Minister of Industry, Mr. Prentice. It’s quite a good read. Here’s what it had to say:

The Government of Canada has introduced Bill C-61, An Act to Amend the Copyright Act. The proposed legislation is a made-in-Canada approach that balances the needs of Canadian consumers and copyright owners, promoting culture, innovation and competition in the digital age.

What does Bill C-61 mean to Canadians?

Specifically, it includes measures that would:

• expressly allow you to record TV shows for later viewing; copy legally purchased music onto other devices, such as MP3 players or cell phones; make back-up copies of legally purchased books, newspapers, videocassettes and photographs onto devices you own; and limit the “statutory damages” a court could award for all private use copyright infringements;

• implement new rights and protections for copyright holders, tailored to the Internet, to encourage participation in the online economy, as well as stronger legal remedies to address Internet piracy;

• clarify the roles and responsibilities of Internet Service Providers related to the copyright content flowing over their network facilities; and

• provide photographers with the same rights as other creators.

What Bill C-61 does not do:

• it would not empower border agents to seize your iPod or laptop at border crossings, contrary to recent public speculation

What this Bill is not:

• it is not a mirror image of U.S. copyright laws. Our Bill is made-in-Canada with different exceptions for educators, consumers and others and brings us into line with more than 60 countries including Japan, France, Germany and Australia

Bill C-61 was introduced in the Commons on June 12, 2008 by Industry Minister Jim Prentice and Heritage Minister Josée Verner.For more information, please visit the Copyright Reform Process website at www.ic.gc.ca/epic/site/crp-prda.nsf/en/home

Thank you for sharing your views on this important matter.
The Honourable Jim Prentice, P.C., Q.C., M.P.
Minister of Industry

The Honourable Josée Verner, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Canadian Heritage, Status of Women
and Official Languages and Minister for
La Francophonie

It looks okay to me (what is said in the email), but I am not a lawyer, and I have not seen the mentioned bill, C-61, either. However, if what this says is true, it would be a fair balance between consumers and industry. It does not sound like what I’ve heard the US Digital Media Copyright Act is like. I can think we can breathe easy on this one.

I got a reply from the Prime Minster’s office today.

Remember that email I fired off to the Prime Minister a couple of days ago? I got a reply! Here’s what the reply said:

Dear Mr. Pinno:

On behalf of the Right Honourable Stephen Harper, I would like to thank you for your e-mail, in which you raised an issue which falls within the portfolio of the Honourable Jim Prentice, Minister of Industry. The Prime Minister always appreciates receiving correspondence on subjects of importance to Canadians.

Please be assured that the statements you made have been carefully reviewed. I have taken the liberty of forwarding your e-mail to Minister Prentice, so that he too may be made aware of your comments. I am certain that the Minister will give your views every consideration. For more information on the Government’s initiatives, you may wish to visit the Prime Minister’s Web site, at www.pm.gc.ca.

L.A. Lavell
Executive Correspondence Officer
for the Prime Minister’s Office
Agent de correspondance
de la haute direction
pour le Cabinet du Premier ministre

It’s nice to get a reply back, and that it got forwarded to Minister Prentice. Hopefully, they got lots of emails and will reconsider passing such legislation!

On the subject of Canadian politics, the Liberals if elected want to give us a new tax in the form of a carbon tax. It’s supposed to be revenue neutral. What does that mean? Does it mean we’ll each get a refund for the amount of tax we pay? I doubt it! It’s looks to me like the Liberals have found a way to pay for expensive programs they want to put into place while looking to be environmentally friendly. It does not fly past me though! They had ten years after they signed it to put it into effect, and now that they are not ruling the place, they want to appear green? I think they’re just trying to scam their way into us electing them into office!

I emailed the Prime Minister today.

I went and emailed the current Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, on how I feel about the government’s plans to pass a US-style digital media copyright act today. I clearly stated that I feel that it would be unfair to consumers, and limit our rights to do with our media as we see fit! I said that Prime Minister, he should be able to find a compromise between industry and consumers.

Canada’s Minister of Industry Plans to Make Parliament Pass US Style Digital Media Act!

According to Boing Boing, Prentice plans to make parliament pass US Style Digital Copyright laws. Here’s what the original article had to say:

Word on the street is that Canadian Industry Minister Jim Prentice is about to try to shove the Canadian version of the US’s failed Digital Millennium Copyright Act through Parliament very soon, and very fast. He made plans to do this before, and the overwhelming public outcry caused him to shelve them, but now he figures we’re all distracted and we’ll let him get away with it (especially since he’s made a couple of cosmetic changes to the bill that he’ll use to show how much he really, really cares about us poor Canadians, rather than the US government and entertainment companies who are giving him marching orders).

The Tories promised that they wouldn’t do any more treaty-law without public consultation, but Prentice stalwartly refuses to have any public consultation on his plans, despite outcry from industry (he’s the Minister of Industry, remember?), artists’ groups, library groups, educator groups, and public interest groups. He just keeps on ploughing ahead with his half-baked plan to follow the US off the same stupid copyright cliff it leapt off of in 1998 when it passed the DMCA, a law which has done nothing to reduce infringement, but which has screwed up libraries, competition, and education, and has led to lawsuits against tens of thousands of ordinary citizens.

So it looks like we’re going to have to do it again: we’re going to have to write to Prentice, rally at his office, phone him and let him know that we’re still watching and still paying attention, and that we still demand that he listen to the public — the way his party promised they would — before he brings down this law.

Please write to your MP, the PM, and Minister Prentice to tell them that you do not want US Style DRM laws to be put on the books here!