If you’ve been reading this site for any length of time, you’ve probably come across a rant or two of mine about all the garbage surrounding things like DRM and the MPAA saying stupid things.
Recently, Canada passed additional legislation to strengthen existing laws to curtail the supposed rampant piracy north of the border. This was after countless articles that claimed Canada was virtually the centre of all piracy.
All I asked was: Where’s the beef?
Michael Geist, a law professor in Ottawa, thought the same thing. But he had the good sense to throw out his points of view on this, all of which are supported by (gasp!) facts. Not the stories the MPAA and RIAA made up to make Canada look bad.
I’d love to know where these Hollywood types get off blaming us for all that’s wrong with the world, but offer up no proof. How the hell could we be supposedly accountable for 60% of camcorded movies? We’re a proportionately tiny country compared to the United States. It seems like an awfully high number for something that’s not organised by law.
My biggest concern isn’t that piracy is going on up here. I’m sure it’s proportionately less than in the US. My concern is that the lobbyists in the US will bring the DCMA to Canada. It’s a flawed, doomed idea, and we definitely do not need that diseased monkey on our backs!
At any rate, I leave you with two videos made by Michael Geist. They’re not long, and they’re good fodder for defending Canada’s correct stance on piracy, and our compliance not to US law, but to International law.
