Metroblog

But I digress ...

20 June 2008

Probably the Most Succinct Statement on the Copyright Bill

From the Globe and Mail column by Ivor Tossell.
Older users might be cautious, and people working in risk-averse institutions like universities or corporations will feel a chill from above, especially as the software tools that can be used to rip DVDs will become harder to come by.

But the younger generation will continue to follow its own mores regarding copyright, and in so doing it will embroil the country in a never-ending game of whack-a-mole.

This, incidentally, is where one of the government's other consumer-friendly ideas starts looking like a wooden horse full of lawyers.
I feel Tossell is missing the point about the "$500 fine" on personal use "violations".

If you have to circumvent a digital lock to copy your media (such as on iTunes, whose lock is pathetically easy to get around precisely because all it's used for is to show you intended to violate copyright), then you automatically qualify for the $20,000 penalty.

2 Comments:

At 5:04 am, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I choose to eat my meat as stirfry - So I must not buy a steak and thin slice it!

What do you think? $10,000 penalty for such a criminal act?

The really ironic part is the antecedents of most large record company owners - - -

 
At 8:20 am, Blogger Metro said...

No, no, having decided you want a stir-fry, you must not use the meat in your fridge: You must instead return to the butchery and have them sell you some sliced meat.

$10,000 is just the beginning.

 

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