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Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Canadian Copyright Scandal

When Bill-C59, which toughened up laws regarding the illegal use of cam-corders in movie theaters, breezed through parliament after only a few hours of debate, Entertainment Industry observers were puzzled, and Senator Lorne Milne wondered if, given the nature of the Bill's provisions, it wasn't written by lobbyists for the Canadian movie industry.

Today it turns out that one of the strongest proponents of the C-59, Heritage Canada's Director General of Copyright Patricia Neri, was engaged at the time in a "personal relationship" with Canada's leading copyright lobbyist, Douglas Frith, who is President of the Canadian Motion Picture Distributors Association. She has since been "removed from her position" at Heritage Canada, but we are still stuck with a bill that mandates night-vision-goggle wearing theatre Nazis in our cineplexes and yet does nothing to cut down on the illegal distribution of films.

19 comments:

  1. Anonymous2:31 PM

    What's the problem here? Is it the fact that you don't believe the intellectual property of artists belongs to them? That somehow they should work and produce something for everyone's benefit but their own? Video recording of a movie in a theatre, and the subsequent pirating of that movie is wrong. The fact that it breezed through Parliament reflects well that the concept of individual property rights may yet survive in Canada. Despite your neo-communist desires.

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  2. Anonymous2:33 PM

    You didn't waste any time at all in putting Nazis into your argument. Why wait for a commenter to do that when you can do it yourself.

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  3. Anonymous2:39 PM

    trust a Liberal to 'reveal' a scandal of such proportions. Say buddy - how about returning the other $98 million the Liberal Party stole from the treasury during adscam?

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  4. Anonymous2:43 PM

    You're desperately looking for a scandal and trying to manufacture one out of nothing. Keep crying 'wolf'.

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  5. "$98 million the Liberal Party stole from the treasury during adscam?"

    Without a link or any document to prove your assertion?

    Making things up I see.

    How about the ConAdScam, nice numbers are available for that over at the liberal parties official website. Sadly nothing you say is provable and therefore is a lie.

    Whereas BCL has shown that a lady was in a conflict of interest in her position at Heritage Canada and we now have a tainted law purposely biased towards the movie industry.

    All your huff and puff is nothing more than a realization that your tories are thieves, liers and largely, other than MP's, are appointees. Not much about the liberals there. Seems the Cons have conned you as well.

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  6. Anonymous4:16 PM

    That is former Liberal MP Doug Frith I assume - can't turn over a rock in Ottawa without hitting one...

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  7. Anonymous5:01 PM

    Assistant Deputy Minister for Cultural Affairs Jean-Pierre Blais named Patricia Neri Director General of Copyright.

    This was while the Liberals were in power.

    This is a Liberal conflict of interest with a former Liberal MP lobbyist.

    Way to point out your party's lack of ethics!

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  8. Anonymous5:16 PM

    What's the problem here? Is it the fact that you don't believe the intellectual property of artists belongs to them?

    There's no such thing as intellectual property.

    There is such thing as copyright, but it is highly limited for free speech purposes, aka the Charter of RIghts and Freedoms.

    If a lobbyist influences laws, I want to know. Especially when our theaters only show American films. I want to know what influence America Hollywood had on this law. You know, we just had a government pass a Federal Accountablity Act, it would be nice to apply it equally under the law.

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  9. Anonymous5:18 PM

    The fact that it breezed through Parliament reflects well that the concept of individual property rights may yet survive in Canada.

    Oopsie. Wrong again.

    Canada has no 'individual property rights', that's an American ideal and not a Canadian ideal. Read about the Kitchen Accord.

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  10. Nice going, wingnuts. You rush in and politicise this, making the Conservatives take ownership of this sordid little scandal.

    Lame.

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  11. Anon 6:01 wrote:

    "This is a Liberal conflict of interest with a former Liberal MP lobbyist."

    Tories passed the law, bean-head (albeit with alot of Oppo party slobbering and grovelling in support)

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  12. Anonymous6:34 PM

    Tories passed the law, bean-head (albeit with alot of Oppo party slobbering and grovelling in support)

    Soooo, a Liberal appointee was schleping a Liberal lobbyist on a bill that passed with all-party support? Where's the scandal?

    And speaking of lame, how's your blog going ti-guy? haha, loser.

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  13. Darren, Are you saying the Tories have no responsibility for the bills that pass on their watch?

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  14. And speaking of lame, how's your blog going ti-guy? haha, loser.

    What?

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  15. "Sadly nothing you say is provable and therefore is a lie."
    Although I can prove that there is a Creator, I doubt that the author of this comment can. That however doesn't make God a lie.
    As for the "Scandal", it's time to ask yourself: Does it benefit honest people, or only crooks?
    I think we can see your choice, is that what being a Liberal is all about? Please explain why you would find this offensive to Canadians.

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  16. Anonymous9:30 AM

    Seems to me it said it breezed through the Liberal-dominated SENATE.

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  17. As for the "Scandal", it's time to ask yourself: Does it benefit honest people, or only crooks?

    It benefits a specific group of politicians - 'nuff said.

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  18. Anonymous11:18 AM

    I haven't seen any night vision google wearing Nazis in the theatre. What're you smoking?

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  19. These rightwingers...whatever the government does is AOK with them. Except when it wants to take away their kill-sticks....

    I'm actually not opposed to criminalising filming in theatres (it's obviously done for pirating) but it's the corporate forces behind this legislation, in the ongoing push to make sure everyone pays a lot for crappier and crappier and entirely derivative cultural products that is objectionable.

    But then, given how rightwinhgers will pay to suck shit through a straw, any support for standards of excellence in culture these days is probably quaint.

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