[d at DCC] CPCC Levies

[Russell McOrmond]

Darryl Moore wrote:
> They did not settle for a lesser solution simply because it is 
> achievable. Nor should we.

   As I often suggest, there are many components to "we", and while we 
should know why each of us is saying what we are, we don't all have to 
be saying the identical thing (just not contradicting each other).  I've 
even said about the Free Software movement that if Richard Stallman 
wasn't already part of the movement that we would need to invent him.

   We need there to be people like you pushing the envelope to where we 
might want to go, but we also need people standing in the middle saying 
"Well, if that is too radical for you, we have something we can use in 
the shorter term".  I have to admit with my past I feel a bit funny 
being that less-radical person offering the reasonable middle-position, 
but someone has to offer it.


   Whenever possible I try to say things like, "While I believe we 
should be striving for ..., there are stepping stones we can use to get 
there...".




   I guess I also always remember that things like the Income Tax were 
temporary measures intended to be removed when the war was over.  While 
we seem to have created the conditions for a perpetual war to be part 
of, I still question why we haven't been able to get rid of these 
temporary taxes, and why instead we have governments continuing to 
reduce the wrong taxes.

   Then I remember the lobbiest, and know that there are special 
interest groups far better funded than we are who want tax law to be 
unjust and inefficient, and seem to want Copyright law to be even worse.



Ask yourself this:

   Who is it that decided to put "clarifying and simplifying the Act" as 
the lowest priority for long-term changes to the act, rather than 
putting it first and having it be a criteria which every other reform 
had to conform to?

http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/site/crp-prda.nsf/en/rp00877e.html

    Once you think of who benefits from Copyright law being vague and 
complex, you then know the pressure we are really up against when trying 
to fix major problems in copyright law.

-- 
  Russell McOrmond, Internet Consultant: <http://www.flora.ca/>
  Please help us tell the Canadian Parliament to protect our property
  rights as owners of Information Technology. Sign the petition!
  http://www.digital-copyright.ca/petition/ict/

  "The government, lobbied by legacy copyright holders and hardware
   manufacturers, can pry my camcorder, computer, home theatre, or
   portable media player from my cold dead hands!"