[kwlug-disc] Your country needs you (or "Our MP is on the C-32 committee")

Sun Nov 21 22:20:53 EST 2010

The main issue with this "town halls" is that most people know even less than the guests and just go around repeating what they heard from someone they trust.

The lack of real knowledge on an issue makes it very easy for a smart opponent to make the arguments look as just straw man arguments. As in "you don't even understand the issue you are opposing", giving the opponent automatic credibility.

I've been following the emails and it seems that the amount of reading one has to do to barely understand the issue and consequences requires more than "some free time" and trying to interpret it makes my head spin.

Maybe the opposition to Bill C-32 presents overly complex arguments the same way Dion did with the carbon tax: and we know how far it went.

Is there something very simple that may have resonance with voters and representatives?

The pro-lock block has it: Digital Locks stop piracy. They help defend the rights of authors. hence opponents may be pirates. 

Very simple arguments. Very complex counter arguments.

So, help me here, what is it that the opposition to C-32 wants to achieve? In a sound bite that the average person can understand.

Raul Suarez

Technology consultant
Software, Hardware and Practices
_________________
Twitter: rarsamx
http://rarsa.blogspot.com/ 
An eclectic collection of random thoughts

--- On Sun, 11/21/10, Denver Gingerich <denver at ossguy.com> wrote:

> From: Denver Gingerich <denver at ossguy.com>
> Subject: Re: [kwlug-disc] Your country needs you (or "Our MP is on the C-32 committee")
> To: "KWLUG discussion" <kwlug-disc at kwlug.org>
> Cc: wsic at csclub.uwaterloo.ca
> Received: Sunday, November 21, 2010, 7:30 PM
> I think this would be an excellent
> event to setup.  A lot of different
> groups would be interested so it would make sense to have
> it in a
> neutral and probably larger venue.  I think people at
> UW could get a
> decent-sized room.  Perhaps the CSC would be
> interested and could
> help?  I've CCed the WSIC list so they can get in on
> the discussion.
> 
> Denver
> http://ossguy.com/
> 
> 
> On Sat, Nov 20, 2010 at 6:45 PM, unsolicited <unsolicited at swiz.ca>
> wrote:
> > Excellent thought.
> >
> > Perhaps at a LUG meeting, although I expect many of us
> would attend an
> > evening event, wherever, and whenever. Date likely
> dictated by when he's in
> > the area, and the time of the next vote - sorry,
> that's wrong, the time by
> > which his committee must send their report to
> parliament for the next vote.
> >
> > I'd think you'd get much more than 50 though - we'd
> need a UofW lecture hall
> > or something, capacity wise. [Where did we get
> together for Marcel's new
> > book meeting night?]
> >
> > There is some likely crossover here, with UofW,
> Communitech(? Where the
> > android/iphone/symbian? night happened, just off
> University), perhaps
> > others.
> >
> > If a non-University venue is needed, I could probably
> arrange the First
> > United gym - podium, sound, screens, projector,
> although we'd probably run
> > out of chairs around the 150 mark. Other chairs could
> probably be arranged.
> > Wouldn't look 'businesslike', but would look 'grass
> roots' or 'town hall',
> > which may be appropriate.
> >
> > If someone else wants to run with this, I can corral
> the facilities and
> > manpower to set it up. If you remember, First is right
> next to Waterloo
> > Square, so parking wouldn't likely be an issue.
> >
> >        I would need dates sooner rather than later
> to check for availability
> > - it is usually pretty solidly booked. (No, I can't
> easily do the reverse,
> > tell you what dates are available.)
> >
> > - I'd post pictures, but zooomr appears down at the
> moment.
> >
> > A lecture hall or auditorium with seats would be less
> work though. Will
> > someone at UofW run with that?
> >
> >
> > Chris Bruner wrote, On 11/20/2010 5:24 PM:
> >>
> >> I wonder if it would be possible to have a chat at
> a lug meeting, letting
> >> him know that open source and free software
> advocates are very concerned
> >> about this matter. If it's just 1 or 2 people
> calling and chatting it may
> >> not have much of an impact, however with a lug
> meeting of 50 or so members
> >> ....
> >>
> >>
> >> On 11/20/2010 10:16 AM, Denver Gingerich wrote:
> >>>
> >>> Hi everyone,
> >>>
> >>> Apparently (and quite surprisingly to me)
> Peter Braid is one of the 12
> >>> people on the committee that will be revising
> Bill C-32:
> >>>
> >>> http://www.digital-copyright.ca/node/5249
> >>>
> >>> http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?DocId=4774129&Language=e&Mode=1&Parl=40&Ses=3
> >>>
> >>> For those who are in Waterloo, this is an
> excellent opportunity to get
> >>> your voice heard.  The best way to do this,
> in my opinion, is to
> >>> arrange an in-person meeting with him by
> calling his office at (519)
> >>> 746-1573 and saying you're a constituent that
> would like to chat with
> >>> him.  Call as many times as needed until you
> get a firm date; I've
> >>> found that MPs' offices often say "we'll
> schedule it and call you
> >>> back" but it could be a week or two before
> they get back to you.  The
> >>> squeaky wheel gets the grease (the persistent
> constituent gets the
> >>> firm meeting date).  Oh yeah, and the sooner
> the better because I've
> >>> heard that the government wants Bill C-32
> passed before the end of the
> >>> year!
> >>>
> >>> I think the most important thing to point out
> is that the WIPO
> >>> Internet Treaties (WCT and WPPT), which the
> Conservatives want to
> >>> ratify, do not require the prohibition of
> "anti-circumvention"
> >>> (restriction removal) tools like doubleTwist
> and libdvdcss, which Bill
> >>> C-32 prohibits in its current form.  Geist
> makes this very clear in
> >>> his article, "The Case for Flexibility in
> Implementing the WIPO
> >>> Internet Treaties: An Examination of the
> Anti-Circumvention
> >>> Requirements" (don't worry, the "EULA" is just
> BY-NC-ND):
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> http://www.irwinlaw.com/pages/content-commons/the-case-for-flexibility-in-implementing-the-wipo-internet-treaties--an-examination-of-the-anti-circumvention-requirements---michael-geist
> >>>
> >>> To demonstrate how often TPMs (use "TPMs"
> instead of "DRM" with MPs as
> >>> it more accurately maps onto the Bill C-32
> terminology) are used and
> >>> whether C-32 restricts their removal, check
> out these posts of mine:
> >>>
> >>> http://ossguy.com/?p=612 - "DVDs and
> TPMs: how often is CSS used?": a
> >>> list of DVDs and whether they use CSS;
> conclusion is that about 98% of
> >>> DVDs use CSS (useful in demonstrating that
> TPMs are extremely
> >>> prevalent so one should not take the question
> of how to regulate them
> >>> lightly)
> >>> http://ossguy.com/?p=662 - "What C-32
> means for DVDs": confirmation
> >>> that CSS is a TPM (sort of)
> >>> http://ossguy.com/?p=696 - "What C-32
> means for jailbreaking":
> >>> confirmation that jailbreaking is prohibited
> by C-32 (also sort of)
> >>> http://ossguy.com/?p=717 - "Will
> exemption rulemaking work for C-32?":
> >>> analysis of how the US' exemption process
> works (it's not really
> >>> useful, so we shouldn't depend on it); related
> to "What C-32 means for
> >>> jailbreaking"
> >>>
> >>> Along with pointing out that the WIPO Internet
> Treaties don't require
> >>> prohibition of anti-circumvention tools, it's
> important to note that
> >>> prohibiting them is in fact a very bad idea,
> as hopefully the above
> >>> articles will help to show.  It's likely best
> to approach this from
> >>> the competition point of view, ie. if I buy a
> movie on iTunes, it's
> >>> anti-competitive for Apple to restrict that
> movie to be played only on
> >>> Apple devices and as a result, it is necessary
> to have circumvention
> >>> tools to bypass anti-competitive restrictions
> (so I can play it on the
> >>> device of my choice instead of the device of
> Apple's choice).
> >>>
> >>> I hope this is helpful.  If you're planning
> to visit Braid and want
> >>> some tips, let the list know (or me directly)
> and we'll help you out.
> >>>
> >>> Denver
> >>> http://ossguy.com/
> >>>
> >>>
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> >>
> >>
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