Canada Gov't Censors Parliament Hearings On YouTube 192
An anonymous reader writes "The Canadian government has admitted
sending cease and desist letters to YouTube demanding that it remove
videos of Parliamentary hearings. Lawyers for the House of
Commons argue that using videos of elected representatives without
permission constitutes copyright infringement and a contempt of
Parliament."
Lawyers Against Government Transparency? No Way! (Score:5, Interesting)
Lawyers for the House of Commons argue that using videos of elected representatives without permission constitutes copyright infringement and a contempt of Parliament.
You know, you have to hand it to lawyers ... just when I think they are enforcing copyright on everything possible, they go and surprise the hell out of me.
Finally, news where I can actually stand up proudly and say take a page from the United States on this one, Canada [whitehouse.gov]:
Government should be transparent. Transparency promotes accountability and provides information for citizens about what their Government is doing. Information maintained by the Federal Government is a national asset. My Administration will take appropriate action, consistent with law and policy, to disclose information rapidly in forms that the public can readily find and use. Executive departments and agencies should harness new technologies to put information about their operations and decisions online and readily available to the public. Executive departments and agencies should also solicit public feedback to identify information of greatest use to the public.
Whether or not that mentality actually will be implemented here in the US remains to be seen--I certainly hope Obama follows through.
Copyright (Score:5, Interesting)
If a Government holds a copyright, and claims infringement of that copyright against the People, could it then be said that the Government's assets do not belong to the People? Can it then be said that the Government is not of the People?
I know this case is different, seeing as YouTube may be outside of the Country. But it does highlight the absurdity of Government being able to hold copyright. Absurd absurd absurd.
It's the Law... apparently (Score:5, Interesting)
Well there you go. It seems that by default the Canadian people don't own any videos of their elected officials performing their official duties.
Wow. Your kidding. No Shit.
Most of what governments are passing these days would piss people off.
Re:It's the Law... apparently (Score:2, Interesting)
I think the problem is not with the videos themselves but who is gaining traffic from the viewing of such videos. Considering C Span is one of the few channels available to all Canadians I would suspect that this should fall under such commons. However it would be the same as say CBC programs that are freely available at CBC.ca being redistributed on Youtube.
However until the Canadian government decides to offer such videos through a service or their own I would disagree with these motions.
We must also consider somehow crazy Harper and his crew of monkey's are technically at the wheel. Hopefully we will have a vote called soontimes before the Conservatives screw us more then they have. God I hate the Conservatives, not disagree with, but truly hate. Got any..... chaaange?
Some Quotes to Reflect Upon (Score:1, Interesting)
There are four boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order.
- Ed Howdershelt
Laws that forbid the carrying of arms...disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes...Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.
- Thomas Jefferson
The spread of evil is the symptom of a vacuum. Whenever evil wins, it is only by default: by the moral failure of those who evade the fact that there can be no compromise on basic principles.
- Ayn Rand
A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to saintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government.
- George Washington
If you think of yourselves as helpless and ineffectual, it is certain that you will create a despotic government to be your master. The wise despot, therefore, maintains among his subjects a popular sense that they are helpless and ineffectual.
- Frank Herbert
In Germany, they came first for the Communists,
And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist;
And then they came for the trade unionists,
And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist;
And then they came for the Jews,
And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew;
And then . . . they came for me . . .
And by that time there was no one left to speak up.
- Pastor Martin Niemöller
Re:isn't this owned by the people? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Disturbing.... (Score:3, Interesting)
Those exceptions are specifically legal in Canada.
These lawyers don't have a legal leg to stand on and will end up being heavily drubbed by a judge.
Re:oh, Canada (Score:4, Interesting)
repeat after us, "We the people"
Just a random anecdote, Canada's constitution starts with (paraphrasing) "We, the provinces ...".
Re:Disturbing.... (Score:1, Interesting)
What is with "developed" countries and the corruption of copyright? The US, Canada, EU, and most other nations have bought into the corporations, and that just is sad.
It's globalization: A "developed" country means a shrinking lower class, better access to education, a more educated workforce. That means there's a shrinking cheap, non-skilled labour pool. More and more of the manufacturing base slips away to countries that are willing to do menial jobs for next to nothing (China). So "developed" countries are scared that the only export they'll have left is intellectual property.
It's not a bad thing. We're headed this way, and the politicians are scared. They were emotionally bullied into handing out laws that are way out of line.
Taxes are abused too (Score:1, Interesting)
In other news. Canadians should decide to withhold their taxes on the grounds that portions of the money might be used out of context or on less than successful spending. Canadians require that any record of their tax payments or non payments be controlled by American copyright regulations. The taxpayers themselves will decide if such information is to be recorded by anyone.
Re:Government Copyright (Score:1, Interesting)
At least in that copyright-crazy USA, no official government work product can be copyrighted, as it's been produced with public funds.
Oh yeah? Try laying your hands on a copy of the California Building Codes for free buddy. If govt. wants to spend public funds but keep it locked up they need only contract the job out to a private company.
Re:oh, Canada (Score:4, Interesting)
Actually, skipping the preliminary, the BNA [wikisource.org] act begins " It shall be lawful for the Queen, by and with the Advice of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, to declare by Proclamation that, on and after a Day therein appointed, not being more than Six Months after the passing of this Act, the Provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick shall form and be One Dominion under the Name of Canada; and on and after that Day those Three Provinces shall form and be One Dominion under that Name accordingly."
It's not the most the most inspired reading. The Yanks do have us beat when it comes to founding documents. Actually, they've got pretty much everyone beat, just for including the concept of the 'pursuit of happiness' being important. Since when did a government ever care about its people's happiness? At most they would prefer that most of the people be more or less content so that they don't revolt, but that's about it. Of course, the US as envisioned by its founding fathers, and the US today are arguably quite different.
Re:oh, Canada (Score:5, Interesting)
Just a random anecdote, Canada's constitution starts with (paraphrasing) "We, the provinces ...".
Then, also, there is Canada's "Peace, order, and good government" [wikipedia.org] (as opposed to "Life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness).
In truth, though, they are all just words on paper. Keep in mind that North Korea is also styled "Democratic People's Republic of Korea" in its Constitution.
What matters is how it works in practice. And I find it hard to say whether Canada or U.S. are more "free" (either one is more free in some areas, less free in others, so it depends on your definition and priorities).
Re:Parliamentary supremacy (Score:3, Interesting)
I would add it has worked longer than the United States of America has been a nation. I would also point out that the French are onto their fifth republic in 217 years, so clearly that is working out well for them.
These young whipper snappers :-)
Re:Lawyers Against Government Transparency? No Way (Score:3, Interesting)
The biggest single problem with Berne isn't the fact that copyright is automatic... it's the fact that it's automatic AND for near-eternity. The rationale for "automatic" is to protect it between the time that would otherwise elapse between creation and filing. The problem is that copyright is now effectively eternal in duration, which means everything not explicitly made public domain at some point is a likely future orphan work.
IMHO, everything should be automatically copyrighted for something like 18-30 months at creation. Beyond that, you should have to explicitly register it for an initial 25-year term, then re-register it during every 10th year for prices that double with each renewal. At some point, even "Steamboat Willie" would cost more to renew than it's worth to Disney. For everything else, if you found something worth publishing somewhere, you'd merely have to get a copy notarized and date-stamped, sit on it for the statutory initial automatic period, then do a documented diligent copyright search. If the search came up clean, it would give you an automatic defense against infringement and two options:
* cease publication & distribution immediately, and walk away owning nothing to anybody
* pay retroactive royalties at a statutory rate that would mostly be based on a percentage of revenue, and receive an automatic 1, 3, or 5 year compulsory license for the same terms (the 1-year license would have a low statutory rate, the 3 and 5 would be higher. The 1-year would enable you to clear inventory you already paid to produce; the 5-year would let you do business as usual without paying most of the money to the lawyers who'd otherwise be representing both sides.
Coupled with this would be a copyright office that maintained an online searchable archive somewhat like that of the patent office, to make it as easy as possible to do a good-faith diligent search for copyright status. In the case of things like books, it would work the way services used by college professors to detect plagiarism... you'd enter text excerpts, run a search, and see a list of likely matches with additional excerpts so you could determine whether further research was needed, or whether you just had to get the search results timestamped & digitally notarized to file away in case you needed them later.
Patents have been abused, but at least THEY eventually expire during the lifetimes of people who'll use or improve it. Enable people to pre-emptively challenge patents in court to get a public declaration that their use is non-infringing (so bullshit patents would quickly be blasted away), and the worst problems will fix themselves. Copyright law, on the other hand, is a complete clusterfuck disaster in its current state... and every "reform" since the 1970s has only made it worse (copyrighting BUILDINGS?!? Blueprints, ok... but even things like spatial layouts and conceptual floorplans? I could halfway rationalize patenting a staggeringly innovative new home layout, but granting a nearly-eternal monopoly on it is outrageous. If the same logic had been consistently applied since the 1900s, it would be infringing to build a single-family home with attached garage, 2-story foyer, and great room.