[Announce] Press release: Citizen input critical to understanding changes to Copyright Act!

[Russell McOrmond]

HTML version: http://www.digital-copyright.ca/petition/press20050508.shtml


Text version:

Ottawa, May 8, 2004 - The Canadian government has proposed radical 
changes to our copyright act, including concepts from the highly 
controversial Digital Millennium Copyright Act in the United States. 
These changes would regulate the creation and use of information 
technology such as those that form the Internet, having a large impact 
on not only the economy but the communications rights of citizens. These 
changes are being pursued without adequate consultation, and without the 
government demonstrating an understanding the negative implications of 
the proposals on the rights of creators, users and other citizens.

So far more than 1400 citizens have signed the Petition for Users' 
Rights to suggest alternatives to parliament, with more signatures being 
collected each day. On Friday May 6, David McGuinty, the Liberal member 
of parliament for Ottawa South, tabled 583 signatures of the Petition 
for Users' Rights. This was the second batch of petitions to be tabled 
in parliament.

"Mr. Speaker, I would like to table a petition signed by over 500 
Canadians. It deals with the Copyright Act.", Mr McGuinty indicated in 
parliament when tabling the petition.

He indicated in French that our petition recognizes the Copyright Act as 
a careful balance between the rights of creators and the rights of the 
public.

"The petitioners want the House to maintain this balance by not 
extending the term of copyright and preserving all existing user rights 
to ensure a vibrant public domain. They also request that users be 
recognized as interested parties and, as such, be consulted about any 
proposed changes to the aforementioned Copyright Act."

The signatures were brought to Mr. McGuinty by Russell McOrmond, a 
constituent of Ottawa South who has been helping coordinate the 
petition. This software creator, ISP and Internet consultant first 
became involved in copyright in the summer of 2001 with that round of 
digital copyright consultations.

Mr. McOrmond has been quite frustrated with Liberal Heritage Minister, 
Lisa Frulla. "She has been making false statements in the media about 
copyright, incorrectly claiming that our laws need to change to provide 
the tools for companies and authors to sue when their copyright is being 
infringed". In an open letter to the Minister he blames her for the fact 
that many Canadians believe that unauthorized music sharing is legal in 
Canada. "If the Minister responsible for this law is not adequately 
informed, it is entirely understandable why the average Canadian is not 
able to understand and obey the law. This is not to excuse Canadians for 
unlawful activities, but to suggest that it would be a scandal to allow 
a Minister to make radical changes to a law she does not adequately 
understand."

"The issue that remains the most important to me is the question of who 
controls communications technology. I believe it is critical for 
protecting citizens rights that any hardware assistance for 
communications, whether it be eye-glasses, VCR's, or personal computers, 
must be under the control of the citizen and not a third party. ", 
Russell McOrmond stated. "This is why we demand in the petition that the 
government recognize the right of citizens to personally control their 
own communication devices."

In the early 1990's, before most policy makers understood the empowering 
features of new media such as the Internet, governments consulted with 
the old-media companies. Governments were told that unless new-media was 
regulated to limit its capabilities to operate more like old-media and 
its concentrated control, these old-media companies would not make their 
material available on the Internet, and the Internet would have no content.

History has shown that this was an idle threat. New-media broke the 
traditional barrier between creators and audiences, enabling greater 
participate in culture by all citizens. Unfortunately this reality has 
not stopped governments from continuing to pursue antiquated thinking. 
At a time when creativity and innovation would be clearly served by 
reducing old-media centralized control, governments continue to create 
more complex laws that seek to protect old-media from present and future 
competitors.

All Canadians are rights holders, including copyright and other rights. 
We must all be meaningfully consulted about proposed changes to the 
Copyright Act that affect these rights.

"It is important for people to understand the anti-circumvention 
proposals in the 1996 WIPO treaties, itself laundered policy from the 
United States Patent and Trademark Office. What citizens are 
circumventing is not copyright, but inappropriate legal protection for 
an unaccountable and non-transparent form of remote-control over 
communications devices that we own. Governments are offering to protect 
technological measures which links content like movies and music to 
devices which the media companies control. This does not protect 
copyright, but serves as a way to circumvent Canadian competition, 
privacy, property and other laws."

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Contacts:

Russell McOrmond, FLORA Community Consulting http://www.flora.ca (613) 
733-5836 , Cell: (613) 262-1237

Chris Brand 604.521.0441 or chris_brand at ieee.org

The petition (as well as earlier press releases and other information) 
is online at http://digital-copyright.ca/petition

-- 
  Russell McOrmond, Internet Consultant: <http://www.flora.ca/>
  http://www.digital-copyright.ca/blog/2 (My BLOG)
  Sign the Petition Users' Rights! http://digital-copyright.ca/petition/
  To protect Internet age creativity we must reform WIPO, not copyright!