ARCHIVED — Robert Mohid

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 Robert Mohid received on September 10, 2001 via e-mail

Subject: Canadian copyright reform

To Industry Canada, the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Intellectual Property Policy Directorate and other concerned agencies:

I wish to express my concern over the proposed intellectual property provisions of the Consultation Paper on Digital Copyright Issues (CPCDI) in the strongest possible terms.

Although protection of intellectual property is a valid concern, I cannot accept that such protection be granted at the expense of an individual right. It is distressing in the extreme to see corporate interests restrict freedom of expression for the crass purpose of sustaining an obsolete business model. It is clear from the fallout in the US that granting such sweeping powers to media outlets has a deeply chilling effect on the scientific, academic and engineering community of which I am a part.

In a world of information technology ideas become commodities, packaged and sold as software. To make certain types of software criminal either in their intent or design is tantamount to criminalizing certain thoughts since implementation and idea are inseparable. To allow corporate interest to have a say into what is "good think" and "bad think" is unequivocally Orwellian. I object to the criminalisation of forbidden ideas and plead that people should be held accountable for their deeds only.

I urge you to amend the CPCDI to remove any such speech choking sections from the language of this text.

I have watched in horror at the fallout the DMCA and now proposed SSSCA has caused in the united states. Please don't follow this route.

A concerned citizen,

Robert Mohid