[gylany]

I think we should do something or several somethings to raise awareness about Bill C-32. With Parliament starting up and a complete lack of coverage on the issue in the media (at least that I've seen) I'm getting concerned. Maybe a press release or putting out some articles or advertising? Any ideas?

Rob

[gylany]

Hmmm...this forum isn't as lively as it used to be. Anyway, I really think that even a press release stating that in spite of the fact that this issue has disappeared off the public radar the PPCA still opposes C-32 would at least demonstrate that we're in the fight and maybe score us some points. Even if this bill dies on the order paper because of an election that would be a good move at a fairly low cost.

[Jay Frank]

*twitch*

[JasonCarr]

Even if this bill dies on the order paper because of an election that would be a good move at a fairly low cost.

The conservatives has come forward and said they are making it a priority and Michael Geist is practically full out supporting the bill. http://www.p2pnet.net/story/44102 . We are really in a unfortunate situation because the entire downloading community in Canada looked to Geist as the main opponent to C-32 after his efforts towards C-61. But in the end his is not one of us, he does not care about our cause, he only wants to protect academia.

To be honest, I feel betrayed because Geist has been a proponent of personal use file sharing and now he claims that the 5k cap on damages is a fair compromise. Then he also talks about the notice and notice system in the bill but completely neglects the very next paragraph of the bill which describes how ISPs are required to turn over our identities to companies looking to pursue liability.

It is almost as though Geist loves the fair use provisions so much that he doesn't want to jinx it by mentioning how our privacy rights are going into the trash can. 

Seriously, fuck you Geist!

[Mikkel Paulson]

Then I guess it's our job to pick up the torch.

[gylany]

Geist's analysis is sometimes useful, but he's certainly never really jumped on side so why worry? I'd like to see us do something like put up a 'Stop C-32' banner on the Pirate Bay - they've had an anti-patent one on there recently so they might be willing to do that. We could link it to a public statement on the site here.

[Mikkel Paulson]

It's worth a shot.

[gylany]

Ok - does anyone have a contact there? I tried posting an inquiry about ad cost etc. from their contact page and the script didn't seem to work, haven't heard back anyway. Is there someone in the Piratpartiet we could ask?

[Kellythedog]

Just my humble opinion.
I'm not sure its entirely fair to say Mr. Geist is " full out" supporting the bill.
What he does say is" if we can find a compromise on digital locks, I think this is a bill worth supporting."  Of course the compromise on digital locks is a large part of the bill and the part the general public should be interested in. It has implications across the whole spectrum of time shifting, libraries, file sharing, digital licenses, etc.
If I am allowed to break a lock, and it's not illegal to have lock breaking programs for non commercial use, a lot of the issues start to go away.
We need to get a bill out there to replace what we currently have, what we need to do is lobby to change it, before it's adopted.
Calling for a complete stop to it, is pretty far fetched at this point I should think.

I got a letter response from the Liberals the other day, since I forwarded them a copy of something I wrote to the Conservatives ( just to let my local MP know I'm not happy with the current bill). Here's a quote from a part of it.
"we believe that Canadian consumers who have legitimately purchased a CD or a DVD or other product should also have the ability to transfer their purchase onto their iPod or make a personal backup copy on their computer, so long as they are not doing so for the purposes of sale or transfer to others. "
C. McKone
Office of Michael Ignatieff
Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada
They have almost got it right, they loose me a bit with the" transfer to others".part.
But they show they are at least close to the correct track, and are willing to press for change.
It's better we work with whats presented, since its taken over 4 years just to get what we have now in front of us, than to throw the whole works out and start again.
again just my opinion.



 

[gylany]

The first step in influencing public policy is to make the issue you want to influence public. So, our best move on Bill C-32 is to do what we can to get our message out to the general public. I've suggested we try to get a banner up on the Pirate Bay with a link to an article on our site. Other ideas might be a regular (weekly?) mail-out to our media contacts with updates on what's happening with links to material  opposing C-32, encouraging party members to post statements on local websites, putting a youtube video together of a party rep reading a statement on C-32 and posting that / submitting it to mainstream news outlets, publicly challenging MP's and party leaders to oppose the bill publicly.

Any other suggestions for action?

[Jay Frank]

Would be better spent if we had some high profile artists speaking out...

http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/5311/125/

[The Mad Hatter]

There are a variety of issues with Bill C-32 which I have pointed out in detail at http://madhatter.ca. At present one of the most important ones everyone else is trying to ignore - did you know that TPM/DRM contribute to Climate Change? They do, and no one seems willing to address this. Now at least. Of course we could end up with Bill C-32 passing, and a future government making TPM/DRM illegal as part of the fight against Climate Change, which I would find very amusing.

No, Michael Geist is not on your side. I've called him on a couple of issues, and I suspect he's less than happy with me right now. Of course damned near everyone else is unhappy with me as well. I consider that a good sign. As an aside I suspect that Barry Sookman may actually be more sympathetic to some of your concerns than Geist, but I wouldn't trust Sookman as far as I could throw him, and considering how decrepit my body is, that isn't very far.

Oh, and I'm not on your side either. I'm in partial agreement with you, but let's be serious. I'm on my side, and my side alone.

As a final note, if Bill C-32 passes, I intend to take certain actions which hopefully may totally screw it up.

Politics is the best blood sport.

Wayne

[JasonCarr]

Then I guess it's our job to pick up the torch

I could not agree more.

I would like to see some debate in the media over section 41.26 which involves requiring ISPs to retain records of the identity of people who download copyrighted material. If we could get someone with expertise and credibility to answer some questions on this subject we could put together a press release that garners some attention.

Some questions we could ask..

Does this section violate our current rights against arbitrary search and seizure?
How would this section have changed the outcome of BMG vs. John Doe(2004)?
How will we compare to the USA in this regard if Bill C-32 passes?
What is the potential precedent that this section will provide? Does this mean the end of privacy when online?

What we so desperately need to do is to get the people talking about this. The biggest hurdle we have right now is that nobody in the media has the expertise to accurately weigh in on this subject and so they just defer to Geist. What Geist says gets reported and what he does not say gets ignored.

[Sean Hunt]

did you know that TPM/DRM contribute to Climate Change? They do, and no one seems willing to address this.

That's an interesting stance. What's the logic behind that?

[Mikkel Paulson]

I don't see a connection with climate change, but requiring the re-purchasing of movies/music/etc for every device does represent significant waste.