ARCHIVED — McOrmond

COPYRIGHT REFORM PROCESS

SUBMISSIONS RECEIVED REGARDING THE CONSULTATION PAPERS

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Documents received have been posted in the official language in which they were submitted. All are posted as received by the departments, however all address information has been removed.

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Submission from Russell McOrmond received on August 5, 2001 3:29 PM via e-mail

Subject: Government of Canada Copyright Reform

Copy to Intellectual Property Policy Directorate, and my MP: Mauril Bélanger.

    While I intend to submit a report to this reform process, I at this time simply wish to make you aware of an open online forum where some of the constituents of copyright will be discussing their submissions.

    I would like to note that I find it frustrating to feel it necessary to take time away from my already overly-busy business in order to make this submission. I am a small self-employed consultant working primarily in the "Servicing Software - Free Software" industry. Some of the potential reforms being being proposed will create huge barriers for my business, potentially putting me out of business and away from my chosen profession, or potentially force me to leave Canada. Taking this time away from my business seems to have become a survival requirement.

    This should not be the mandate of Industry Canada to play favoritism to specific business models, or specific sizes of business.

Introduction to the Canada DMCA Opponents forum.

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    This is an introduction to the materials to be posted at http://www.flora.org/dmca/ , as well as the canada-dmca-opponents@flora.org mailing list.

    The Government of Canada is launching the process for reforming Canadian copyright legislation over the years to come. This process has sparked the creation of this online forum, as well as a number of other forums.

The government process can be read about at: http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/SSG/rp01100e.html

    Most controversial may be the provisions similar to the USA's Digital Millennium Copyright Act which not only makes legal the circumvention by copyright holders of copyright's Fair Use provisions, but also makes the circumvention of this circumvention a crime.

    To many, this circumvention of fair use is in complete opposition to the ideals of copyright to create a balance between the privileges that governments grant to copyright holders on their temporary monopoly on the intellectual work, and the rights of the users of the materials as well as the good of society as a whole.

    The purpose of this list is to discuss this process, and to facilitate discussion between similar-minded people who wish to make submissions, as well as promote a more balanced reform process. Subscribe/unsubscribe instructions are posted at http://www.flora.org/dmca/

Note: This list is a publicly archived list, and messages submitted are not filtered (beyond basic technical issues such as a rejection of messages containing file attachments, or messages from unknown authors). Do not send a message to canada-dmca-opponents@flora.org that are not intended for public view. This very specifically means that you should never submit information from others that is not already public, or for which you have not received permission to submit.

Other lists:
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    There are also alternative lists being created. The first one to be created was abolish-ip@contre.com

To subscribe, send a message to: abolish-ip-subscribe@contre.com

    This group not only will be discussing responses to the consultation process, but will also be discussing some of the more general aspects of those laws commonly lumped together under the phrase "Intellectual Property". The name of the list should make obvious the intent of it's creators.

Note: Some of us do not agree with the use of this phrase: and thus will concentrate in discussing the specific legal term such as patents and trademarks, with this specific forum being about potential changes to copyright law.

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Russell McOrmond, Internet Consultant: RMS clarifies Freedom http://www.gnu.org/press/2001-05-04-GPL.html Free Sklyarov http://www.dibona.com/dmca/ http://www.freesklyarov.org/ http://www.flora.org/dmca/ Oppose DMCA in Canada!