[discuss] Discussing Copyright related policy for 2010

[Russell McOrmond]

Earlier this afternoon I posted a blog article
http://www.cluecan.ca/node/1194 discussing some of the things that have
happened this year in Copyright that CLUE folks would want to know about.

There is one section that may be controversial or deserve some
discussion, so I thought I would copy it here to start that discussion.

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Extension of existing private copying regime to devices

I believe this is a hard one for our community as it forces us to
recognize priorities.

As a community most of us are opposed opposed to a system which makes
technology more expensive, and that subsidizes unrelated business
interests. When the Conservative party held a press conference in
Ottawa's Rideau Center and then later launched a radio ad, many in our
community were cheering.

While it seems that the Conservatives are on our side, the policies that
are in C-32 say something quite different. Each of the reasons party a
representative gave for opposing a levy on devices applies far more to
non-owner locks on devices than it does to the levy. The damage caused
by non-owner locks to the Canadian technology sector and the interests
of Canadian technology owners is orders of magnitude worse than the harm
of the levy.

We need to recognize that even if we agree with the Conservatives about
the levy, we must ensure that Conservatives recognize that the existing
policy in C-32 is far worse.