Canadians need to do whatever they can to avoid being railroaded by American interests into an even more draconian version of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act than even the Americans themselves are currently suffering.
Any government of the people, for the people, needs to concern itself primarily with the protection of the people, which means fair use, regulation of monopoly power, mandating net-neutrality, and other vital areas Canada desperately needs not only to compete this millennium, but to reverse the dangerous back slide of the last decade.
URGENT: Canadians need to take action on Canadian DMCA NOW - Boing Boing
The fight over the Canadian DMCA is heating up as the Industry Minister Jim Prentice prepares to introduce one-sided, dangerous copyright legislation despite thousands of letters and protests against the bill. Nearly 40,000 people have joined the Fair Copyright for Canada Facebook group to fight the bill, but lobby groups and the U.S. government are responding with misleading opinion pieces and behind the scenes lobbying.
You get no credit for not doing what you shouldn’t do? How about recognizing that we’re in 2008 and your place between content creators and content consumers is no longer welcome, thank you very much.
Here’s your new formula: Make irresistible product and sell it at no-brainer prices, bumping your bottom line with advertising (preferably product placement that doesn’t distract from the content itself). Then let consumers consume it how they like, where they like, on what device they like. B’okay?
Canadian labels: We get “absolutely zero credit” for not suing fansGraham Henderson, the boss of CRIA, comes across as a man not out to screw the world (as CRIA is sometimes portrayed), but as a man about ready to tear out his own hair in frustration over the fact that the music industry is so consistently demonized by consumers even as those consumers take its core product without paying. A skilled talker, Henderson is the most interesting person at the table, and it’s actually quite humanizing to listen as his polished façade cracks a bit. He points out that Canadian labels have not chosen to sue their fans, but then goes plaintive for a moment, saying, “We get absolutely zero credit for that.”
Can I now sue Microsoft for not allowing the Xbox to play Nintendo Wii games? Retroactively file action against JVC for not supporting Betamax in their VHS players? Coke for not bottling Pepsi’s recipe?
If I was in the US, I probably could!
Yes, Virginia, any idiot CAN file a lawsuit! | The Macalope: An Apple blog - CNET Blogs
Congratulations, Stacie Somers of San Diego County! You’re the first jackass of 2008!
Well, OK, technically, since the suit was filed on December 31, you’re the last jackass of 2007. But as it’s already prompted some very silly analysis that we’ll have to deal with this year, we’re going to put it on the 2008 books, nnkay?
The tip o’ the old antlers on this one goes to a friend of the Macalope’s who happens to be a lawyer (and a woodland gnome, incidentally), who forwards it on with the one-word summary “Crazy.”
Well put, woodland gnome!So, what’s your beef, Stace?
It alleges that Apple has constricted the market by not enabling iPods to play content in the Windows Media Audio (WMA) format, Microsoft’s copy-protection technology.
UPDATE: RIAA not suing over CD ripping, still kinda being jerks about it - Engadget
Abso-frakken-diculous needs to become a word simply to describe the utter self-defeating stupidity of the RIAA. Most modern OSs come with built-in CD ripping software (iTunes, Windows Media Player), and beyond that, there is a simple, elemental notion of ownership at stake here. Increasingly, mega-corps want to move everything to licensing (if not subscription) bases, so that we no longer own what we buy (they still want us to buy it with real money of course).
Too bad. I’m willing to pay a fair market price, and expect fair use in return. Once I personally buy it, how I personally choose to listen to it is my business. Mess with my (customers) business and risk losing your (corporate) business.
RIAA suing citizen for copying legally purchased CDs to PC - Engadget
Sure, we’ve heard RIAA-admiring lawyers affirm that ripping your own CDs is in fact “stealing,” but it seems the aforementioned entity is putting its money where its mouth is in a case against Jeffrey Howell. Reportedly, the Scottsdale, Arizona resident is being sued by the RIAA, and rather than Mr. Howell just writing a check and calling it a day, he’s fighting back in court. Interestingly, it seems that the industry is maintaining that “it is illegal for someone who has legally purchased a CD to transfer that music into their computer.” Ira Schwartz, the industry’s lawyer in the case, is arguing that MP3 files created on his computer from legally purchased CDs are indeed “unauthorized copies,” and while we’ve no idea what will become of all this, we suppose you should go on and wipe those personal copies before you too end up in handcuffs.
Cheers for the dark prince of DRM finally coming to his senses and selling proper music in MP3 format.
Jeers for playing Universal’s stupid, self-defeating game of selling only through Amazon and not giving users the option of other services, like iTunes, which could give one-stop-shop functionality for a myriad of content.
AppleInsider | Warner picks Amazon, not Apple for DRM-free debut; more
In a potentially significant move, Warner Music Group today said it has licensed its catalog to Amazon for use with its Amazon MP3 music store.
The deal is not fully explained by the music label but will include “album bundles” with tracks unavailable anywhere else, according to the two companies. Like all Amazon MP3 tracks, the songs go without digital rights management and can be copied an unlimited number of times and played back on nearly any device, including iPods.
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