DRM gains power in Canada

bleh http://m.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/law-cracks-down-on-digital-piracy-in-canada/article2184521/?service=mobile

Breaking the digital encryption on a movie DVD – even if copying it for personal use – would make individual Canadians liable for legal damages of up to $5,000 under the bill unveiled by Industry Minister Christian Paradis and Mr. Moore Thursday.

Grand.

“The movie industry has digital locks on some films and not others ... An informed consumer makes the right choices. If people don’t want to buy a piece of software or a movie that has a digital lock, the don’t have to,”

Err unless there's two versions of the same movie, one with a lock and one without, this would just result in them assuming a movie with a lock had failed due to being a sh*tty movie.

Also as far as I can tell as long as I don't break the lock it's perfectly fine? If there is no lock or if my friend from a questionable European country sends me whatever without a lock...

*edit: To top it all off I bet this new compliance STILL won't give me access to Hulu or US Netflix.

Yeah, the Digital Locks part of the billis bollocks. The thing is, I'm not actually sure how that can be enforced unless you're sharing/selling the backups you make.

At least there's some aspects of the bill that are ok. 5000$ limit for piracy will go a long way to prevent lawsuits from clogging up the courts.

*edit: To top it all off I bet this new compliance STILL won't give me access to Hulu or US Netflix.

One has nothing to do with the other. We'll never get access to the same US content on Hulu or Netflix because the license holders are different in each country, not because of copyright law.

As Dysplastic says, this law is a LOT more watered down than it could have been. Still, this is the result of the Conservative majority people voted for.

You Francophonic Bastards have Netflix, suck it up.

So, heavy protection on disc media? Any plans on reforming laws regarding flint lock pistols next?

That said. Raise your hand if you have had to crack a piece of software or a game-often from Warner Bros or Ubisoft?

-Raises hand.

Thanks for the amendment Dysplastic, I think I knew it was licensing nonsense but I always get hopeful that some change like this will render all of that null. Damn you pipe dream!
We do have it KG but it's selection is (last I checked) much more restricted than what Americans have access to.

KingGorilla wrote:

That said. Raise your hand if you have had to crack a piece of software or a game-often from Warner Bros or Ubisoft?

This is why I'm concerned, we all know how easily DRM can go wrong and breaking the lock in those cases is not merely warranted but often required in order to make use of a product you legally own.

I would love to have a single digital ID that allowed me to access my digital content on any device I register. It would be convenient. I don't mind DRM so long as it comes with the ability for me to access the content anywhere and re-download on demand.

bandit0013 wrote:

I would love to have a single digital ID that allowed me to access my digital content on any device I register. It would be convenient. I don't mind DRM so long as it comes with the ability for me to access the content anywhere and re-download on demand.

I am liking where Amazon, Amazon Cloud Storage is headed. Right now, pretty much anyone can have unlimited storage of their MP3 library online. They are doing the same with the Kindle. You are a 3g connection away from your entire music collection for streaming on a phone.

We are talking a device bottleneck here, in the form of smartphone batteries. But what I like is the move from "take anywhere" but locked down as all hell, to Accessible anywhere, on a whim.

I was at my girlfriend's last weekend. She only has a small MP3 player. But I had Pandora to help with mood music. I did not have to make a mix Tape, bring up my iPod.

KingGorilla wrote:

I did not have to make a mix Tape, but I did anyway because I love the sexy time.

IMAGE(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_0jeThVUWlMw/TSewr01J2lI/AAAAAAAADP4/_oHLrCCwai8/s400/cusak.jpg)

No, Taco, in your eyes.

KrazyTacoFO wrote:
KingGorilla wrote:

I did not have to make a mix Tape, but I did anyway because I love the sexy time.

Sexy 80's Cusack

Tonight I crack out the Amazon library, and see if Patton Oswalt albums set a mood.