Bill C-61 related things
As many of you know, our freedom to copy things without asking is in dire jeopardy. (Especially when we need to get around some stupid lock to do it.) I myself simply do not believe in copyright — at all. Well... I guess I sort of believe in attribution, but that's about it. The right to control who copies what in a digital age? Are you kidding me?
Anyhow, while I may stand true to my word and release all of my creations into the public domain as soon as they're created, some rather influential gangs of moneygrubbing middlemen don't feel likewise. And so, they came up here and badgered our government into creating this monstrosity, now before the House:
For reference, here's what the original Copyright Act looks like.
New Copyright Act would look like...?
As I learned from reading C-61, the legal system still uses paper document symantics. What I mean is, you can't just go "show original" and then "show me what's changing" and then "show me how it would look if this passed." ~sigh~ — I guess it'll take until the current generation gets into government before those stuffy old suits embrace technology.
In the mean time, there's me. If you came here from
Facebook, you probably came looking for this:
The Copyright
Act, as it looks with C-61 applied (OpenOffice format)
The Copyright
Act, as it looks with C-61 applied (PDF format)
(Ads, to pay for the bandwidth I'm hoping these files will use...)
A comparison of Bill C-61 with Richard Stallman's The Right to Read
"The Right to Read" was written to illustrate a worst case scenario future, which might happen if the current trend in copyright legislation is continued. The scariest aspect of the story is that it has, in the USA at least, mostly already happened. ... If Bill C-61 passes, nearly all of the dire predictions in this story will come true in Canada as well.
The Right to Read - story comparison with C-61 (OpenOffice format)
The Right to Read - story comparison with C-61 (PDF format)
What everyone can do
- Write to, meet with, or otherwise bother your MP.
- Join the Facebook group (if you haven't already) — if there's a call to arms, it'll likely start there.
- Do everything that Michael Geist says. His list of 30 things, his main blog, his faircopyrightforcanada.ca blog.