Documentary Released On Canadian Fight Against DMCA 69
An anonymous reader writes "The ongoing fight against the Canadian DMCA is the focus of a new documentary film called Why Copyright? Produced by Michael Geist and available as a streamed version, OGG download version, or a torrent, the film features Red Hat founder Bob Young, sci-fi writer Karl Schroeder, the owner of Skylink Technologies (which fought the DMCA garage door opener case) and many other voices from across Canada."
Smaller torrent version anywhere? (Score:3, Interesting)
I wasn't able to find a smaller version than the 2,92 gigs one (the .torrent on Mininova).
Since I indirectly use Bell Canada's network, I'm throttled to a max of 30k/s even if this is a legal download. 2,92 gigs feels too much to me when that documentary could probably be nice enough to watch at about 700 megs... If anyone finds or publishes a smaller version, please let me/us know! :-)
Re:Will it matter? (Score:5, Interesting)
Or we could just do like Taiwan and pull-out of the treaty.
What treaty is that? It doesn't sound plausible to me. Taiwan is a bit like Japan - it is very rare to see pirated software here. Also because Taiwan always looks for international recognition of its statehood, it spends lots of time trying to sign treaties since being able to sign treaties is evidence of it is a state as part of the declarative theory of statehood [wikipedia.org].
Re:Preaching to the choir (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Smaller torrent version anywhere? (Score:2, Interesting)
Taking the fight fictional (Score:2, Interesting)
Apropos of this documentary (which I just finished watching) and Lawrence Lessig's free eBook, "Free Culture", (mentioned here recently,) which I finished reading a few days ago, I wrote a short story about how more law schools could get into the fight against the content behemoths' flood of legal action against so-called IP pirates. Because we're talking about IP, a lot of people just don't get a visceral connection to what is at stake. Hollywood certainly won't dramatize this issue, but what if some indy filmmakers took a shot at it? In any case, the story, which is called "Intended Consequence", starts like this...
Mitchell Robieri, one of the more senior faculty members at the financially strapped Riverside High, stared at the unfinished sentence on his screen. He'd blasted through the bulk of his presentation speech for tomorrow's meeting on the force of the adrenalin raised from the prospect of confronting State Senator Dubinsky with the results of his tie-breaking vote, and now he was stalled.
"And in conclusion, Senator," he read the paragraph back for the umpteenth time, "I urge you to reconsider the curriculum directives you have mandated for the State Board of Education. Focusing exclusively on the material covered in the federal government's faulty tests serves neither the students, nor the future of this country. Instead, what we need is..."
He leaned back, crossed his arms, and sighed. Something was wrong, but what? Could there be flaw in his logic... a mistake in his research?
Robieri's train of thought was broken abruptly by a dull knocking at the door. He glanced at the laptop's clock: a quarter to one. He wasn't expecting any late visitors, and since he was the only night owl on the floor, it wasn't likely to be a neighbor, either. Frowning at the interruption, he hit save, and set the open laptop on the coffee table.
As he approached the door, he slowed and glanced back over his shoulder. He'd gotten into serious trouble from instigating his students into mounting a protest, and there was ample evidence for conspiracy charges on his laptop. Police sometimes made late-night busts. So did the Feds. It wouldn't be the first time that he'd stuck his neck out to make a political point, but it was the first time his actions could cost him his teaching job. Eight years of the lesser Bush had gotten under his skin, and spawned a healthy crop of paranoia. ... To read the whole thing, set your browser to this:
http://klurgsheld.wordpress.com/2008/12/14/short-story-intended-consequence/ [wordpress.com]
P. Orin Zack
P.S.: There's over 70 short stories out there, so poke around, and spread the word if you like what you see.
Re:The will of a few overpowers the will of the ma (Score:4, Interesting)
In all our living years, how much of these respected copyrighted works have actually become part of the public domain?
Far fewer than the number that disappeared into some out of print catalog until no remaining copy could be found.
Vearing a bit off topic, the purpose of copyright is *supposed* to be making more works available. So why is it that Disney is allowed to create pent-up demand by putting a work back 'in the Disney vault' as their commercials say, using copyright as a bludgeon to remove works from availability?
Mind Changer? (Score:2, Interesting)
I watched this documentary from the torrent d/l several days ago. While technically proficient (and for a 47 min doc curiously large as far as files go) I couldn't help thinking it wasn't going to change many of the minds of the very people it seems to be aimed at: those who hold the future of Canada's copyright laws in their pens. Yes, it reaffirms to some small extent what we in the (legally marginalized) P2P community have been writing for a decade and it certainly amplifies many of the warnings raised by opponents of D igitally R estricted M edia schemes, and I suppose if one was fascinated enough about this topic to actually take the time to download, burn and watch it - and yet had somehow never heard nor seen anything beyond the bankrupt corporate-media party line - it could be thought provoking...but ultimately it simply doesn't make for effective advocacy, not the kind measured in how many politicians move from one column to another, nor for that matter how many voters.
A major problem with many of the lawyer/professor/advocates in this copyright revolution is their own apparent self censorship, stemming perhaps from years of legal training and background. They're really more lawyer than revolutionary, more staid officer of the court than fiery leader of guerillas. It's hard to advocate effectively for activities that are at present assumed by many to be illegal if one spends so much time dryly repeating bromides against violating the laws...i.e. "While I can't condone illegal file-sharing..." Their very arguments tend to become unfocused and diluted, and horror, not-so-subtly affirm the status quo. Thankfully this production spares us that particular embarrassment but if there are measured rehashes of long-term grievances here there are ultimately no shots against parliament's bow, no cries de cour, no up against the wall...no passion in this documentary. And if anything is going to get parliament, or congress, or voters for that matter off their comfy chairs and onto an edgy new paradigm it's going to take something truly galvanizing. Delivering agit-prop electronically is a good start, but the amperage needs to be ramped up. Way up.
- js.
Re:Will it matter? (Score:2, Interesting)
I don't know what political sites and news you've been following but we have no centrist parties able to form a coalition.
We have Liberals: Heavy Left-Center
We have NDP: Heavy Left
We have Bloc: Destroy Canada for the 'idealism' of Quebec
Very centrist.