[kwlug-disc] Don Marti on copyright and pro-trust laws

[Chris Frey]

On Fri, Jun 24, 2011 at 02:36:45PM -0400, unsolicited wrote:
> Interesting.
> 
> But:
> - with a Harper majority, can we guarantee that there won't be an 
> enforcement subsidy?
> - IANAL, and I don't have any topical experience, but could any 
> Canadian jury have an impact of nullifying a law? [It would have to go 
> to supreme court as a constitutional challenge? A lower judge couldn't 
> throw out a law because it isn't consistent with (copyright) 
> precedence, I wouldn't think.]
> 
> Interesting bit, none the less. However I'm wary - it seems we all too 
> often extrapolate what we hear in the media about the U.S. as urban 
> myth applying to Canada in the same way. [Would be glad to be told 
> that is does apply in this case.]


I shared the post more in the hopes of adding ideas when debating
against TPM-like systems.  I'm not sure if anti-trust / pro-trust
comparisons would hold any weight for the Conservatives, but as
Russell has mentioned before, it is possible to frame copyright issues
in ways friendly to either side, whether Conservative, Liberal, or NDP.

As for jury nullification, it's an interesting idea that all jurors
should know about, I think.  A juror should be able to decide a verdict
based on his conscience, even in opposition to the law.  In this sense,
a jury is higher than the judge and parliament, as I understand it,
regardless of the instructions that a judge gives a jury before they
begin deliberations.

	The Supreme Court more recently issued a decision, R. v. Krieger
	2006 SCC 47,[21] which confirmed that juries in Canada have the
	power to refuse to apply the law when their consciences require
	that they do so. Within this decision, it is stated that "juries
	are not entitled as a matter of right to refuse to apply the law -
	but they do have the power to do so when their consciences permit
	of no other course."
		http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jury_nullification#Canada

Delicately phrased.  We supposedly have no right to do it, but apparently
we have the power to do it. :-)

- Chris