ARCHIVED — Brian Wheeler
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COPYRIGHT REFORM PROCESS
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Submission from Brian Wheeler received on September 13, 2001 via e-mail
Subject: Comments - Government of Canada Copyright Reform
To everyone it may concern,
It has recently come to my attention that someone is trying to ammend a Canadian copyright act with material similar to the American "Digital Millenium Copyright Act" (DMCA). It is my opinion that this is not a very nice thing to do. Laws such as these severely limit how people can use information, and they put far too much control into the hands of large corporations.
People should be able to use information that they have legally obtained in different locations, and they should be able to back up their information in case the original was lost. If laws similar to the DMCA are passed in Canada, no person would legally be able to do either of these things with digital media such as digitized music, electronic books, and movies. In fact, a Russian man was already arrested in the United States for distributing a program which would allow you to back up or copy a certain brand of electronic book.
Also, I know of many educated people in the United States who are seriously thinking of leaving their country. One of the main reasons that they are looking to move elsewhere is the DMCA. If you would like to stop a similar "brain drain" in Canada (as well as take in a lot of people fleeing the US's DMCA), than I suggest that similar laws not be passed in this country.
Sincerely,
Brian Wheeler
(Address removed)
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