But I bought it!

More on the Canadian copyright bill.

Its pretty clear that this bill sets up the various industries (Recording, Film, etc) to be able to claim that we don’t own the things we buy.  Its the same argument they use in the states: its been said over and over by the RIAA that when you buy a CD, you’re not actually “Buying” it.  You’re buying a “license”.  This copyright bill plays directly into that, empowering corporations to say the same thing here.

This argument is insulting, and a grab for power the industries just don’t (and shouldn’t) have.

If I buy a CD, I should be able to rip it to my iPod even if there is “copy protection” on the CD.  After all, I bought the CD and that means I own it.  No matter what the RIAA says.

Lying like a…

Did you happen to see that Jim Prentice wrote a letter to the editor in response to Michael Geist’s Column “How the U.S. got its Canadian copyright bill”? 

You will not be surprised to see the Prentice continues the lies he’s been telling from the outset.  He’s pretty blatant about it, right from the first paragraph.

Despite what Michael Geist would like readers to believe, we introduced important amendments to the Copyright Act on June 12 using a made-in-Canada approach that will benefit all Canadians. It was necessary to bring the act up-to-date with advances in technology.

I encourage you to read the letter, and then take a look at the predicted talking points that Michael Geist published before the bill was tabled.  You’ll see that Prentice is doing exactly what was predicted.