The folks at OpenMedia.ca are concerned about the recent CRTC ruling to allw Bell to apply usage-based-billing to independent ISPs. But I don’t se the problem. So long as everyone gets the same speed of sevice regardless of data type it does not seem unreasonable to charge people in proportion to how much bandwidth they actually consume. What am I missing?
The idea of a tax on ipods is no more “toxic” or “dumb” than the one that presently exists on other blank media – which in many cases are *less* likely to be used for “illegal” copies of copyrighted material. (And regardless of what has been asked for, any actual amount would be subject to future ajudication so the requested rate of $75 is certainly not necessarily what would be applied in the law or assigned by an arbitrator.)
If a media levy is to be used to support the creative industries while freeing Canadians to format shift without other fee or penalty, then so be it, but if so then the levy should apply to *all* media types, and for it to be fair there should really be an option for purchase of levy-free media on which copies are not permitted without ownership of a license (analogous to the tax-free fuel provided in some areas for agriculture).
From Michael Geist – Cdn Music Industry Assoc Chair: Format Shifting, User Generated Content Keep Piracy Sites Going. According to J.P. Ellson, the Chair of the Canadian Council of Music Industry Association and board member of the industry’s Balanced Copyright for Canada site,”the provisions of the Bill that permit user-generated content and transferring digital files to other formats would in fact, keep the pirate flag flying“.
So I’m to be considered a pirate for writing my own content and/or actually listening to music I buy on a device of my own choosing!
When will we ever be free of these lying theiving cheating pious bastards?
In Canada, there is a law requiring the registration of all firearms, with a period of amnesty having been provided for failure to register hunting rifles and other “long guns”. The amnesty period is due to expire in May, and parliament is now considering a private member’s bill to permanently scrap the long gun registry.
This registry is opposed as an unnecessary imposition by many, especially in rural areas, and the minority Conservative government is supporting the bill for its abolition.
But guns of all kinds are at least as dangerous as cars, which most of us happily accept the need to register already so why should we not register guns as well? All guns do have the potential to be used in crimes, especially ones of domestic violence, and also to cause injury and death in accidents. When such things happen it is important for it to be as easy as possible to trace the weapon involved and, just as for motor vehicles, a registry of responsible ownership is a natural tool for this.
…more »
Maher Arar, in ‘Muslims have nothing to apologize for‘ (Vancouver Sun Sept9) exemplifies the pattern identified in recent studies which show that members of identifiable groups are more inclined to notice criticism of their own group than that of others. On reading a document which included criticisms of various identifiable groups at various levels of harshness, members of each group reportedly identified more criticisms of their own group than others did, and Arar’s conviction that the sins of Muslims are over reported might be matched by that of Catholics about the amount of attention given to priestly sex abuse. But…see[1]
…more »
Tyee gets it. What Harper is doing to StatsCan and the census is classic military strategy. First blind the enemy. Cut off his communication lines, fill the air with smoke, or in modern times, knock out his systems with a computer virus or a high altitude nuclear ‘Electro-Magnetic Pulse’ weapon. Then go in on land and wipe out the confused and scattered remnants. Brilliant!
For what it’s worth, here is the main point I made in my submission today:
with regard to the question about ensuring access for all Canadians, I said:
CRTC should set national rate caps for broadband access via both telephone and cable operators AND should ensure ‘net neutrality’ with regard to content type and source. This does NOT preclude charging users on a per data quantity basis. In fact that is the best way to counter arguments for throttling, and is the only fair way to deal with the fact that some users ‘hog’ bandwidth. The most important fundamental principle to apply is that all transmitters via a given carrier should pay the same rate per unit of consumed bandwidth and similarly for recievers (with a difference between unit costs for transmitters and receivers being acceptable).
Arrest over leaked video of US gunship attack – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). The video really is shocking – especially since nothing I could see (except the camera) looked remotely like a weapon to me. But the former soldier who has spoken out against attacking the rescue truck actually defends the original shooting. He appears to accept the identification of weapons in the group and also claims that his team did find some on the ground when they arrived (but doesn’t say how many).
It would be useful to the US military if they could support these claims (and/or show that the victims were in a well announced no-entry combat zone). Since they haven’t done that my guess is they can’t – and so the charge of murder still stands.
Vaisakhi parade risky for MP Ujjal Dosanjh and MLA Dave Hayer: organizer.
I have often enjoyed the Vaisakhi parade, but the criteria for a parade permit are based largely on the possibility of ensuring public safety. I wouldn’t want to see this used as an excuse for withholding permission for expression of controversial views, but when the organizers of an event explicitly deny their capacity for or interest in protecting all members of the public then . . .
LRB · Joseph Stiglitz · The Non-Existent Hand.
One comment in particular rang a bell for me.
Often the use of a mathematical model is considered as giving predictions greater credibility when all it really does is ensure that they are consistent with the assumptions of the model.
In areas of technology based on well established assumptions this may actually justify some faith in the predictions, but in scientific practice the role of the mathematics is more often not to establish the prediction but rather to pin down the blame for its failure, and so to discredit the faulty assumptions of an inadequate theory.
Perhaps more emphasis on this aspect in our instruction would help to diminish the mystified acceptance of arguments to the effect that “mathematics predicts that…”
Michael Geist – Angus Defends iPod Levy Proposal.
IF the “Canadian solution” of a media levy is valid (and I think it is), then there is no logical reason to distinguish in any way between different types of digital memory. In particular, the memory in an ipod is much more likely to be used for music storage than a randomly chosen CD (which is just as likely to be being used for backup of business records or private photo albums as it is for mp3 storage). I favour the ipod levy as it is totally unacceptable that the CDs used to store my personal photographs be subject to a levy when an ipod used almost entitely to store commercial music tracks is not.
In fact, EVERY bit of digital memory should be taxed at the same rate regardless of whether it is a CD, DVD, ipod or computer hard drive, UNLESS its owner has specifically undertaken not to record copyright content on it. But the proviso is essential and must be equally available on all memory types.
This could be achieved by selling specially marked media and devices (much like the coloured tax-free gas that is often sold for agricultural purposes) - and if this was available, I for one wouldn’t mind if the penalty for abusing it was quite substantial.
Well I have finally got around to putting in my views at 8:50pm in Vancouver – which is still 10 minutes before midnight in Ottawa so should be within the 48 hour extension that was announced on the Copyright Consultations website on Sunday. …more »
. . . would have died long ago if he had lived in the UK – or so said an anti medicare US “thinktank” until
Jay Bookman and others pointed out that . . . he does! …more »
If this is how those who give pious lectures about respecting the rights and “property” of their clients act with regard to the rights and property of the rest of us, is it any wonder that many people refuse to respect any of these rights at all?
Charlie Angus has an article in the Straight.com on copyright reform.
Michael Geist notes that the CIPO is Launching another campaign “Promoting Respect for IP Rights”. But, as I commented on his post, although respect for the Law is an essential foundation for a safe society, the best way to achieve that respect is by making sure that the Law is both fair and seen to be fair.
There is some value in working on the latter, but only after achieving the former. If the “education” initiative is based on promoting the results of a consensus arising out of an open consultation process then it might not be such a bad idea. If it is perceived to be otherwise then it will actually undermine the respect that is seeks to achieve.
Mr Ahmadinejad has a reputation for having a good eye and ear for the popular mood. So doesn’t the fact that he appears to be distancing himself from the RG and SL (to whom he may have been considered to be indebted for his victory at this point) perhaps suggest that a good eye sees things on the ground moving at last in a mor liberal direction?
![[-]](wp-content/images/menu_tree_closeit.gif)
![[+]](wp-content/images/menu_tree_openit.gif)
