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Re: [OCLUG-Tech] New Copyright Bill C-32

On 10-06-04 02:22 PM, George Standish wrote:
Late last night I posted a question to the Ubuntu-ca mailing list,
asking if anyone could confirm or deny my suspicion that the new
copyright law would be bad for linux and open source.

CBC headlines like "Copyright bill would ban breaking digital locks",
this sounds bad for DVD playback on linux in particular.

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/06/02/copyright-bill-clement-montreal.html

On a whim, I also sent an email to Michael Geist, detailing the
Ubuntu-Medibuntu situation in particular.  Well, it turns out he was
both kind enough to reply, and was well aware of the Linux/DVD issue!

Michael quick reply suggested that not much had changed regarding Open
Source since Bill C-61.

A comparison of the two available at
http://www.scribd.com/doc/32485771/C-61-C-32-Comparison-No-Annotation-English

Michael's blog post dated July 30, 2008, "61 Reforms to C-61, Day 28:
TPMs - Interoperability Exception, Linux and DVDs" detail the situation
nicely.

http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/3244/369/

There is no ban on the current encoding for DVDs or CDs. This is because the government is charging a media levy on all blank CDs and DVDs. Because you have already paid to access them, you can view and copy them (to a blank disk, of course). Otherwise the government has committed fraud.


--
Just my 0.00000002 million dollars worth,
  Shawn

Programming is as much about organization and communication
as it is about coding.

The secret to great software:  Fail early & often.

Eliminate software piracy:  use only FLOSS.

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