the flying squirrel

I’m in Belleville for the weekend. Which is nice, since tomorrow’s Father’s Day and all. My dad’s not around, though. He’s working most of the weekend.

I was supposed to come up last weekend, but I ran into difficulties. I took the car into the shop for what I thought was a quick oil change and tire change (I hadn’t gotten around to getting it off the snow tires, and figured that might be a good thing to do before I embarked on a long highway trip). They were backed up, though, and it took about two hours just for them to get around to start working on my car. And then, after the quick oil change and tire change, they pointed out a bunch of stuff that needed work (although not urgently). I decided it was probably a good idea to take care of a couple of those things, but that meant I wouldn’t get my car back till the next morning.

So that scuttled my going-home plans last week. It worked out, though, since it gave me the opportunity to go to Toronto for Rin’s birthday and hang out with Stela. These are good things.

Anyway, here I am, sitting it the living room of my youth. My parents seem to still be clinging to their Bulls paraphernalia. There’s a “Zellers Go Bulls Go” towel on the armchair opposite and my mom was still wearing her “more cowbell” t-shirt this morning. I don’t think they’ve quite accepted reality yet.

Part of my plan was to phone up a bunch of bed and breakfast places and see if there were any likely candidates for Ellen and I to stay at for my sister’s wedding that I could go check out while I was here. But after getting nearly no sleep the night before last and then driving home through a typhoon last night, I’m not eager to phoning around a bunch of places today. That may be an excuse, since if I’m honest, I’m never eager to phone around to places.

You can read it too:

June 13, 2008

The Honourable Andrew Telegdi
House of Commons
Parliament Buildings
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6

Dear Sir,

I am a constituent who is concerned about copyright and intellectual property issues. As a member of Waterloo’s high tech community, I make my living from my intellectual property. I understand the need to balance the interests of all stakeholders.

I do not believe that Bill C-61, the amendment to the Copyright Act tabled by minister Prentice yesterday, strikes that balance.

As has been noted, copyright is complex and nuanced. Time and care are needed to make sure changes to this important piece of legislation do not result in consequences that are damaging to Canadian culture and industry, and that Canadian citizens (ie. “consumers”) are treated fairly and with respect.

I am concerned that the provisions to protect technological protection measures trump all hard-won protections for consumers and render illegal activities like device-shifting, time-shifting and back ups that are legal and common practice today.

I am concerned that the technological measures protections may have far-reaching consequences beyond the above, stifling Canada’s high-tech innovation. I also do not believe that these protections have rendered any real protection to artists in jurisdictions where they have been put in place. There may very little benefit for a change to law that comes at a very high cost.

I am concerned that the “making available” provision could open Canadian citizens to indiscriminate and extortionate lawsuits like those seen in the United States.

I am concerned that strengthened “moral rights” provisions could stifle Canadian culture, particularly a thriving remix culture and Canada’s long, but unprotected tradition of parody.

Most of all, I am very concerned that all of this will be enacted without due consultation with Canadian citizens: Canadian artists, Canadian consumers, Canadian industry and Canadian institutions. This is a complex matter that requires considerable deliberation. This is not a bill that can be railroaded through the House.

I sincerely hope you take the time to review these issues and vote against any bill that does not truly balance the needs and interests of Canadians ahead of powerful international lobbies.

Sincerely,
Darcy Casselman

I’m sure there’s more, but this is about the best I can do at 6 in the morning running on about 3 hours’ sleep.

You might want to write too.

Edited to add: I’m now a supporting member of the Electronic Frontier Foundation in support of Online Rights Canada.

Also, if you can’t bring yourself to do anything else, you should probably join the Fair Copyright for Canada group on Facebook if you’re on Facebook. I know, that’s not many of you, but maybe you could pass it along to your Facebook friends. The size of this group has been referenced on the floor of the House of Commons to demonstrate that Canadians actually care about intellectual property issues (bizarre, I know).

Whenever someone says “netizen”, the first thing I think of isn’t “citizen”; it’s “denizen”.

I just looked that word up. I’d always assumed it was related to den, but apparently it’s not.