Canada is about to prove itself good friends with movie studios and record companies, trying to pass the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) we’ve been hearing about for the past few months. The idea behind this proposed international agreement is to search iPods, mp3 players and electronic devices for pirated videos and music at Canada’s borders, and get other countries in on the crazy ransacking of people’s rights, too. The agreement also aims to stop peer-to-peer applications such as BitTorrent.
What gets us steamed is one of the main proponents of such Constitution-flaunting (and secretly negotiated) laws here in the U.S. is Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA), whose top four campaign contributions in 2006 were from Time Warner ($21,000), News Corp ($15,000), Sony ($14,000) and Disney ($13,550). Other Washington politicians are also listed as having their palms greased by the Hollywood greedmeisters.
So digital content will be the new contraband? Seems like just as the moronic "War on Drugs" winds down, here’s a brand new way to violate citizens’ rights, shaking them down for a few tunes. How will this be verified? What if we ripped the songs from CDs we legally own? What if we bought a Blu-ray disc and made a digital backup to watch on the iPhone while traveling? This is getting out of hand.
Wikileaks and UberReview, via Boing Boing
editor@dvice.com
By reactionforce at 3:59 PM ON 06/06/08
The "War on Drugs" is winding down?
By TheDreamer at 5:20 PM ON 06/06/08
Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty? Or due process?
By celestis at 11:49 PM ON 06/06/08
What the hell is this? According to the 4th Amendment, search and seizure cannot be done without a warrant or if evidence is in plain sight. This clearly constitutes unreasonable search and seizure. I don't condone intellectual property theft but I will not accept such violation of constitutional right.
By Thomas Roy Garner at 12:02 PM ON 06/07/08
Well, I guess I better encrypt everything before crossing the border. Just how are these morons at the border supposed to know if something is pirated or not? Also, if you encrypt your drive or pw protect and refuse to log in what happens? I can just make my laptop hide a directory and those ppl won't know...
Besides the border has other issues than to sit there and scan through my cell, mp3 players (plural), laptops(plural) and any other digital equipment... imagine doing this for every person crossing the border? Wow...how SLOW things would get?
What if I'm on a ship and come through that route? Am I supposed to put down on my customs form that I have x# of electronic devices? Are cruise ships and/or us military ships visiting canadian ports going to inspect ever single passenger and ever single electronic device?
By Anonymous at 2:19 PM ON 06/08/08
This is what happens when you just hand the country over to politicians to "represent" you... They clearly don't.
By EnOne at 8:57 AM ON 06/09/08
How do they know that your music is pirated? Most of my music has been ripped off CDs that I own. Partially for portability, partially that CDs scratch. Just because my music is DRM free is it assumed that I'm committing piracy?
By ChuckTSI at 10:16 AM ON 06/09/08
So will this nuke our current copyright rules which stated I can copy all the music I want onto a medium of my choice for personal use?
Copying for Private Use
80. (1) Subject to subsection (2), the act of reproducing all or any substantial part of
(a) a musical work embodied in a sound recording,
(b) a performer's performance of a musical work embodied in a sound recording, or
(c) a sound recording in which a musical work, or a performer's performance of a musical work, is embodied
onto an audio recording medium for the private use of the person who makes the copy does not constitute an infringement of the copyright in the musical work, the performer's performance or the sound recording.
And I already PAY extra money on my Media to assist in lost sales due to piracy.
#2.
Levy on Blank Audio Recording Media
82. (1) Every person who, for the purpose of trade, manufactures a blank audio recording medium in Canada or imports a blank audio recording medium into Canada
(a) is liable, subject to subsection (2) and section 86, to pay a levy to the collecting body on selling or otherwise disposing of those blank audio recording media in Canada; and
(b) shall, in accordance with subsection 83(8), keep statements of account of the activities referred to in paragraph (a), as well as of exports of those blank audio recording media, and shall furnish those statements to the collecting body.
Drugs, Street Racing, Now Music on the Ipods. The political direction is failing.
By Lars at 5:45 PM ON 09/17/08
And the real irony in this is that murderers and rapists don't pirate movies/music!