[kwlug-disc] Meeting with (not so new) MPs in KW region.

[Russell McOrmond]

On Thu, May 5, 2011 at 4:06 PM, unsolicited <unsolicited at swiz.ca> wrote:
> I think this idea, unfortunately, will be very true in many areas and bills.
> The Conservatives no longer having to pander in any way to any other party.

  A majority government is a majority government, not matter what
party is in power.  While I am not a fan of single-party majority
governments, it is unfortunately the norm in Canada both federally and
provincially.

> Things like gun registry and crime legislation, despite being
> demonstratively shown to not make sense, to not achieve the desired goal, or
> to not be what the majority of Canadians want, will go ahead without regard
> to other voices - be they parliamentarians, or citizenry.

  While this is the nature of majority governments, it is always a
matter of framing issues in a way that is consistent with the values
of the person you are speaking to.

  We may differ on the importance of registering a long-gun, and
whether that is more an emotional reaction to École Polytechnique
Massacre than good gun control policy.

  Ignoring that for the moment, the concept can still be used to our
benefit even if you don't agree with what the majority of
Conservatives and people in rural areas (Including the NDP from rural
areas) believe on the issue.

Examples:

The long computer registry and IT control
http://creform.ca/5209


  At the end of my intervention in front of the C-32 committee,
talking about non-owner locks on information technology protected by
C-32, I said:

"For no other type of property would this be considered. We would
never legally protect non-owner locks to all guns in a country where
many are uncomfortable with the mere registration of long guns. We
would never legally protect non-owner locks on our homes, alleging it
was necessary to protect the insurance industry from fraud. We would
never legally protect non-owner locks on our cars, allegedly to ensure
that automobiles could never be used as a getaway vehicle."



  Given what you are feeling about the Conservative crime legislation
proposals, I suspect you will agree it is critically important than
the Conservatives don't confuse copyright with a "law and order"
issue.

  Some of the same groups that Conservatives typically distrust
(violent video game creators, sex-infested movies and music, artist
unions and people who generally hang around at expensive galas asking
for government handouts, etc :-) allege copyright reform is all about
stopping bad people from "stealing".

  We just need to clarify that it is about unfair taxes
(inappropriately applied compulsory licenses), attacks on property
rights (TPMs), double-dipping (overlapping royalty schemes), and
excessive regulation (Copyright applying to private activities in ones
home, purely technical processes like ephemeral recordings/etc).

  All the political rhetoric we would like to see MPs express were
expressed by Conservatives at C-32 committee hearings -- just not
consistantly as they don't yet understand the connection between
various issues.

  The greatest problem is the lack of technical understanding to
realise that TPMs don't reduce copyright infringement, just allow a
subset of technology hardware manufacturers and software authors to
circumvent the traditional contours of many different federal and
provincial laws.

  In other words, who are the worst "bad actors" abusing the law is
quite different than what they have been told so far -- especially
from those protectionist Democrats south of the border :-)

> I'll be glad to be shown wrong.

  The only sure way to lose this game is to decide not to play.   I'd
rather be considered naive than apathetic.

  There are 3 people who have offices in the area that  KWLUG serves
that could be influential to this issue, and I hope we do everything
we can to harness this.

  And it would be great for people to "pass it on" to people outside
of the region you know so we can ensure we have a successful summer.

-- 
Russell McOrmond, Internet Consultant: <http://www.flora.ca/>
Please help us tell the Canadian Parliament to protect our property
rights as owners of Information Technology. Sign the petition!
http://creform.ca/petition/ict/

"The government, lobbied by legacy copyright holders and hardware
 manufacturers, can pry my camcorder, computer, home theatre, or
 portable media player from my cold dead hands!"