Bill C-61 in laymans terms: Image, text and movies

First Topic of Bill C-61, Copying Image, text and movies.

According to this new Bill,

you are allowed:

• To copy photographs, book, journals, periodicals and videocassettes you own on a different medium or device for private uses (Clause 17, section 29.21, subsection 1)

you are not allowed:

• more than one copy per device (Clause 17, section 29.21, subsection 1, paragraph d)
• to make backups, because those backup would create extra copies (same reference as above)
• to print more than one copy of a digital work (same reference as above )
• to give the copy to anyone (Clause 17, section 29.21, subsection 1, paragraph e)

And, because of Digital lock provisions (Clause 17, section 29.21, subsection 1, paragraph c), you are not allowed:

• to copy part of the content of DVDs or Blu-ray Disk(They are encrypted)
• to copy a DVD to an iPod or other digital video player (you would have to break the encryption)

you must:

• Destroy any copy when you sell or give the original. (Clause 17, section 29.21, subsection 3)

My own toughts:
DVD or blu-ray aren't even mention in all of section 29.21, yet videocassettes (yes, VHS! Betamax!) are clearly mentioned. What is this? 1990?

Relevant link:
http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?DocId=3570473&Language=e&Mode=1&File=45#7

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Bill C-61 in laymans terms, the Intro

I am so outraged at Bill C-61, yet no one in the french Canadian media seems to care...

In an effort to help spread the message, I will make small, bite-size message about want is wrong about this law. (in both French and English)

But first let me make theses statements:

• I am not a lawyer. But I am a Computer Engineer-in-training
  
• Everything I care about is for personnal use or family use related. I will not address any problems related to commercial activities because I am unable to give good relevant advice.
• I want the world to know that this legislation might not give more rights to copyright owner, but might give more power to distributors and legal holder (via contract).

I will try as much as I can to give the relevant passage to each section.

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The Canadian DCMA

The Canadian government is proposing Bill C-61. The successor to Bill C-60 and a little brother of the DCMA.

If you write to Industry minister Jim Prentice, you receive this formated letter. I took a copy of this letter, forwarded from a friend, and added my own comments, in bold:

----------
The Government of Canada has introduced Bill C-61, An Act to Amend the Copyright Act. The proposed legislation is a made-in-Canada approach that balances the needs of Canadian consumers and copyright owners, promoting culture, innovation and competition in the digital age.

What does Bill C-61 mean to Canadians?

Specifically, it includes measures that would:

"       expressly allow you to record TV shows for later viewing; copy legally purchased music onto other devices, such as MP3 players or cell phones; make back-up copies of legally purchased books, newspapers, videocassettes and photographs onto devices you own; and limit the "statutory damages" a court could award for all private use copyright infringements;

Not really. Yes theirs provisions exist in the law, but since we are not allow to circumvent any digital lock, these provision are basically useless: All the distributors would have to do is put the equivalent of the broadcast flag on any content, and those provisions become illegal.

"       implement new rights and protections for copyright holders, tailored to the Internet, to encourage participation in the online economy, as well as stronger legal remedies to address Internet piracy;

Yes. But since digital lock circumvention is illegal with this law, this law give even more rights to distributor than to copyright holders. Any restriction put into place by the digital lock become law.

Also, these provisions are not "remedies" to internet "piracy" (copyright infringement, not piracy), these provisions are merely punishments: It does nothing to stop it because it's easy to do and hard to get caught. The DCMA didn't help in the USA and this legislation will probably have the same impact: nil.

"       clarify the roles and responsibilities of Internet Service Providers related to the copyright content flowing over their network facilities; and

Nothing to say here: I am not a service provider so my expertise is limited in this topic.

"       provide photographers with the same rights as other creators.

Again nothing to say here. Again it is not my area of expertise and I won't say anything that might turn out wrong.

What Bill C-61 does not do:

"       it would not empower border agents to seize your iPod or laptop at border crossings, contrary to recent public speculation

Irrelevant. This has nothing to do with this bill and everything to do with ACTA, If I remember correctly. But thanks for mentioning.

What this Bill is not:
"       it is not a mirror image of U.S. copyright laws. Our Bill is made-in-Canada with different exceptions for educators, consumers and others and brings us into line with more than 60 countries including Japan, France, Germany and Australia

It is not a mirror image of US legislation, it's worst. It does not take into account various form of technology which would make a large proportion of the population copyright infringer.

Bill C-61 was introduced in the Commons on June 12, 2008 by Industry Minister Jim Prentice and Heritage Minister Josée Verner.
For more information, please visit the Copyright Reform Process website at www.ic.gc.ca/epic/site/crp-prda.nsf/en/home

Thank you for sharing your views on this important matter.

The Honourable Jim Prentice, P.C., Q.C., M.P.
Minister of Industry
The Honourable Josée Verner, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Canadian Heritage, Status of Women
and Official Languages and Minister for
La Francophonie
--------

The big problem I have with this bill is that it's too broad and that is make illegal any kind of circumvention of digital locks.  This means that any type of digital lock will make stuff that was "not the intended use" illegal, instead of simply warranty breaking... The broadcast flag is the perfect exemple because it is simple to implement, yet it would very real legal consequences. It is simply a bit. a 1 or 0. It would be the equivalent of a simple letter in an entire book. A current device will simply disregard it thinking it is noise in the signal, but a broadcast flag enabled device will prevent you from recording it. IF you record such a show, you would be essentially breaking the law... Thus older devices are sort of illegal.

Of course, I am not a lawyer. But I do get the feeling that this Bill outlaws very current and useful technologies... Like backup software, or RAID 1, or even backup services like Amazon S3. Because you are allowed one copy of copyrighted material per device you own, backup software and RAID would make multiple copy of each files, for safe keeping... In the same way that Amazon S3 is a service, not a "device I own"...

Anyway, read the entire thing yourself at: http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?DocId=3570473&Language=e&Mode=1

If you are as concerned as I am with this, check Micheal Geist's website:
Michael Geist - 30 things you can do

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Searching for a job in Montreal

So my previous contract was terminated and I've been out of a job for a week. I've remove the dust from my resume (or as we call it here, the Curriculum Vitea ...) and started searching for a new job. It's not an easy task.

First of all, I won't list the headhunters in Montreal because there are just too many. A simple google search will list most if not all. They do most of the dirty work for your, but might not be able to find the more obscure jobs.

Second, The government maintains a job database for anyone who is a citizen and is unemployed: Job Bank - Home
(it included link for the separate database maintained by the government of Quebec)

Next we have to jobs-posting websites (aka Electronic billboards). Since Montreal is a dual-language city, most services were made in one language first and then ported to the other. Which usually means you have twice as many websites, twice as much effort to do, but not twice as many offers.  Most are usually either:

1. An (inter)national website offering tons of jobs posting but little offerings locally, examples includes:
   
1. monster.ca
2. dice.com
3. workopolis.com
2. A local website offering less jobs but dealing mostly with local offering, examples includes:
1. Local professional associations
2. Sites like LesPAC (PAC = Petites annonces classées = Small classifieds ads)
3. Specialty sites like AgentSolo.com
   

Make sure you check both the large and the smaller one as large companies will giving listing only to the very large websites will smaller business will try and get employee via the cheaper method (which usually means the smaller websites). Kinda make sense: If I looking for an employee for a local kindergarten, a national website seems a bit overkill...

But, with this, you only that, you won't see the vast majority of offering there is. The best way to see more, is to go directly on the company's website
Places like:

• CN - Careers
• CAE Careers - Welcome
• Mechtronix Career
• IBM Canada job opportunities.
• etc.

And that is what is taking a lot of my time. Of course, I'm also taking so time off since I hadn't had "real" vacation in over 2 years.

I'll update this post if I find anything interesting to add.

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Inside the attack that crippled Revision3

Over the weekend, Revision3 servers were down. We now know why. Jim Louderback, Revision3 CEO, take us Inside the attack that crippled Revision3. Turns out it's a company employed by the MPAA...

Interesting read... I feel an FBI investigation and a lawsuit comming...

My advice to Revsion3: get good lawyers... And remember that you have friends that can help you...

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TV habits

I don't watch Television anymore. I don't even have cable. The only reason I have a TV is to play with my Wii or to use my Mythbuntu box.

Looking into the 'video' share folder of that MythTV box , I see:

• A collection of videos from 24c3
• A large selection of stuff downloaded from TED
• A couple of documentary from archive.org (like the one on Apollo 13)
• Videos from the WtH conference
• Videos from Revision3 (namley Systm, Tekzilla and the DiggReel)
  

I don't feel I need to get TV: I get good enough news coverage from CBC.ca and BBC News. If I ever miss a good show on TV, I'll simply buy the series on DVD. And If it never comes out, I just won't see it. It's suppose to be a form of entertainment, not the center of our lives.

As far as my parents are concern, I am "offline". As far as my friends are concern, I spend far too much time online... My habits have shifted from TV to the Internet as my only source of information over the year, and I think I am not the only one doing this transition. I spend less time glued in from of the televions and more time doing what I love, which is playing with technology.

Although, maybe I should get out more...

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Apocalyptica

I'm not a huge fan of Metal, but I do like the occasional song now and then...

But I saw a concert on may 1 in Montreal that simply blew me away... I give you Apocalyptica:

Embedded Video

Life Burns

Eurovision 2007

I knew the group before, but the live performance litteraly blew me away. The Metropolis is not a big place, but it was filled with fans... People from completely different group types that all seemed to fit well with the group's style. And we were ecstatic! As one the band member remarked: "Man! You are a loud crowd!"

Since the band itself doesn't have a vocalist, they where touring with Toryn Green, the vocalist from the group Fuel. A great voice, he did a terrific job with "Life Burns" and "I don't Care". Enough for me to check out his own group that I haven't heard before...

Apocalyptica said they might be back in the fall.. I can't wait!

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I want one

Embedded Video

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EvE Online Trinty

I reactivated My EvE Online Account. I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing but I thought about it for a week and I finally did it...

Sad day for me

Minou. 2007-06-01 - 2008-03-19
In the 8 months we shared my apartment, she taught me a lot about being responsible for another being. Yet there is nothing I could have done to prevent her death.... And that is the hardest lesson...
R.I.P. You will be missed.