Major labels demand that SOPA be folded into Canada's new copyright law, C-11

Michael Geist sez,

The reports that the music industry lobby (along with the Entertainment Software Association of Canada and the movie lobby) is seeking the inclusion of SOPA-style provisions into Canadian copyright has generated considerable discussion online and in the mainstream media. Yesterday, Balanced Copyright for Canada, the group backed by the music industry, fired back with several tweets claiming that opposing their reforms would benefit "illegal BitTorrent sites"and "illegal hosting sites." Leaving aside the fact that if these sites are illegal, they are by-definition already in violation of current law, the claims point to what seems likely to become a SOPA-like scare campaign that seeks to paint skeptics of CRIA demands as supporters of piracy. The music industry claims to be a big supporter of Bill C-11, yet few groups have demanded more changes. In fact, when it appeared before the House of Commons committee reviewing the bill, one MP noted that their demands were "substantial" and "anything but minor." Their demands include:

- expansion of the enabler provision to include SOPA-style expanded liability
- create new injunction powers to block websites
- create new injunction powers to remove content from websites
- require ISPs to implement a policy on repeat infringers that could include Internet termination
- remove the non-commercial liability cap for statutory damages
- restrict the user-generated content provision
- create new limits on personal copying exception
- create new limits on time shifting exception
- create additional limits on backup copy provision
- limit the safe harbour for ISPs
- limit the safe harbour for caching activities
- limit the safe harbour for hosting content
- limit the search engine (ILT) exception
- eliminate the ephemeral recording amendment

Canadian Music Industry Lobby: Put SOPA Into C-11 Or Stand With Illegal Sites

• [Nathan Hornby]

  It’s times like this that I wish everyone thought like me – and we’d all just stop paying for anything that comes out of Big Media.  Sod ‘em.  If they don’t produce content, someone else will – in fact the indie media scene is far more interesting anyway.  Quite frankly they don’t deserve a dime of our hard earned cash, not when they’re working so tirelessly to punish the people that actually pay for their media and have little to no effect on those actually pirating content.  Thoughtless and destructive bunch of techno-ignorant nob-ends.

• [Nathan Hornby]

  [EDIT: Turns out Disqus was playing up cause it figured out how to link my email address with my twitter account - crazy Disqus]

  Also, while I’m complaining, what’s with that bug I regularly get where YouTube videos display in the wrong places on the homepage (i.e. a video from a different post displaying in the wrong post)?  That’s some weird shit right there – never seen it before, and I work in web production.

  Dean, pull your socks up!

• [scatterfingers]

  Aw jeez, not this shit again.

• [digi_owl]

  A clear example that international corporations are playing nations against each other in trying to bend international politics in their favor. These entities are abominations beyond anything humanity have created before.

• [wrecksdart]

  They should talk to Chris Dodd, I hear he’s pretty knowledgeable about this iss…oh, wait.

• [Ryan Lenethen]

  Reminds me of a certain Aliens quote:

  “I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.”

  • [Antinous / Moderator]

    But then they say:

    “This installation has a substantial dollar value attached to it.”

  • [niktemadur]

     You know, when I first saw that movie, I couldn’t figure out what Ripley said, it sounded like “I say we take off and nuke the entire site for morbid“.

• [niktemadur]

  This is starting to sound like a Monty Python sketch, Njorl’s Saga:
  “PIPA, sister of SOPA, son of ACTA, which begat C-11…”
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kdp9M9tJx1I

  Tenacious bastards, aren’t they?