ARCHIVED — Benjamin David Cook
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COPYRIGHT REFORM PROCESS
SUBMISSIONS RECEIVED REGARDING THE CONSULTATION PAPERS
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.
Submission from Benjamin David Cook received on September 16, 2001 via e-mail
Subject: Canadian Copyright Reform
Dear sirs,
I am a resident of Prince George, British Columbia. I find many of the copyright "reforms" listed in your document to be questionable. The key issue I have difficulty with is that of prohibition of copy protection bypass. These reforms are being passed to promote intellectual property and its owners, but I believe that it would be stifling to these same owners and researchers if the sort of reverse engineering and security research on the copy protection was prohibited.
What is being dealt with is data. Data is just numbers. If the Canadian government wishes to prohibit transmission of numbers, then it should come out and say so, instead of having to insinuate it through legislation. Control, perhaps, the physical attributes of this data. That I have no difficulty with. This was the strategy that the government used to deal with CD Audio piracy; the government taxed the media. However, if the Canadian government wishes to interfere with the way I as a programmer handle these numbers, I will have no discourse but to blatantly ignore such legislation. I know several others who feel likewise. You are taking away our freedom to use mathematics in several situations. No one owns numbers.
Prohibition does not work when the prohibited is not found strongly morally objectionable. For further evidence, witness America's prohibition of alcohol, the prevalence of recreational drugs in Canada today, and the lack of remorse the Canadian public feels about downloading music from the Internet for their own gain.
If the owners of the copyright believe that strongly in stopping piracy and infringement of their copyright, perhaps they should do something about it. I see no benefit to the Canadian government to take the side of corporations instead of that of the people, except for tax dollars.
I believe that when I purchase a copy of digital information, that if nothing else, I implicitly purchase a license to do with that information what I wish, for the term in which the data is valid. Please do not take away that freedom, and my Fair Use rights.
Thank you. I hope you will consider my opinions.
Sincerely,
[And with the intent that the following text be interpreted as a digital signature]
Benjamin David Cook
(Address removed)
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