[d@DCC] CAAST misinformation about University Students

[Russell McOrmond]

   On my flight returning to Ottawa from Vancouver this evening I was 
subjected to a CBC news report based on CAAST misinformation claiming that 
"CAAST Survey Finds Half of All University Students Acquire Software 
Without Paying For It".

   I must ask if the reporters checked the methodology of the study and the 
exact questions asked of the students?

   CAAST, and the BSA internationally, is notorious for including competing 
creation, distribution and funding models such as Free/Libre and Open 
Source Software (FLOSS) as if it were 'theft'. They do this as part of a 
lobbying campaign to try to scare the public and politicians into 
supporting radical changes to Canadian law that would favor their members 
against their major competitors.  Their 'piracy studies' don't adequately 
differentiate between competition and what it likes to call 'theft'.

   Every computer I've ever had was assessed by CAAST to have some member 
software on it, even though I don't use any "software manufacturing" 
software on any of my own computers, or the customer computers I support 
commercially.

   One of the many reasons I only use, and commercially support, FLOSS is 
because these methods reduce the incentive for copyright infringement.

   As the creation and distribution of software is funded in ways other 
than through the collection of royalty fees, there's no incentive for the 
average user of the software to infringe copyright. Activities such as 
sharing or installing on multiple computers are non-infringing activities 
with FLOSS. This is acknowledged outside of the "software manufacturing" 
subset of the software industry represented by CAAST as being the most 
effective way to reduce so-called "software theft".

   If I was asked "do I download commercial software without paying a 
royalty fee" my answer would be "yes".  This is because I 
download/upload/share/create/promote/support legally royalty-free and 
commercially supported software.  Do we know for certain that the answer 
of those students are not similar to my own?


Related article:

CAAST misinformation on Bill C-60
http://www.digital-copyright.ca/node/view/948

Contact information:

Russell McOrmond
305 Southcrest Private,
Ottawa, ON
K1V 2B7
Phone: (613) 733-5836
http://www.flora.ca/


-- 
  Russell McOrmond, Internet Consultant: <http://www.flora.ca/>
  2066+ Canadians oppose Bill C-60 which protects antiquated Recording,
  Motion Picture and "software manufacturing" industries from change...
  http://KillBillC60.ca    Sign--> http://digital-copyright.ca/petition/