Joel’s Scattered Thoughts

One of these days I want to get a DVR.  There aren’t a lot of shows I want to watch on TV and when I’m in the mood for watching TV they’re not on. 

From what I’ve seen, Neuros‘ DVRs are about the best.  They don’t lock you into anything, they let you watch things the way you want to watch them, and they look decently easy to set up.  Hopefully the next iteration of Canada’s Copyright Bill doesn’t make them illegal. 

In The Myth of the Tragedy of the Commons Ian Angus argues convincingly that there is no tradgedy of the commons.  I din’t like that he led of with an ad hominem attack on the author of the Tradgedy of the Commons, but the rest of the arguments seemed quite sound.  The argument is that a stable community takes a long term view when it comes to managing shared assets.  Angus supplies links to a a number of studies that support this view.  The problems with a despoiling of a commons arrive when people can swoop in, grab as much as they can, and then take off for greener pastures.

I am interested in how this would apply for copyright.  It seems to me that one of the big reasons copyright is useful to a society is that it exchanges a temporary monopoly for the creation of a greater commons.  By extending copyright indefinitely, copyright maximalists are snatching what they can and running.  They want the freedom to build on the works of others, but don’t want to reciprocate by giving others the freedom to build on their works.  It’s been a long, long, long time since anyone created something without drawing in any way on the creators who came before them. 

I received a response to my email about bill C-61. I am posting the response and my response to it.

July 3, 2008

Joel Tone
Box 673
St. Pierre, MB R0A 1V0

Dear Joel Tone:

The Government recently introduced a bill to amend the Copyright Act to bring it in line with advances in technology and current international standards.

This reform is much needed and long overdue. It has been ten years since the last major reform of this important legislation. In that time, we have seen nothing short of an Internet revolution and major advancements in technology.

This is a balanced, made-in-Canada approach to copyright reform that will help ensure fair access by Canadian consumers to copyright material and protection of the rights of Canadians who create material that is copyrighted.

Our Government is the first to specifically allow Canadians to record their TV and radio shows to enjoy at different times—without infringing copyright. Our reform will also permit consumers to copy music onto devices such as MP3 players, and copy books, newspapers, videos and photos into different formats. Last but certainly not least, our bill limits at $500 the amount of statutory damages that individuals may be liable to pay if they infringed copyright for private use, provided the material is not protected by a digital lock. (Currently, statutory damages could be as high as $20,000 for a single infringement).

With this bill, we have introduced important measures to support industries whose success depends on copyright such as software companies, musicians, photographers, and film makers. We are providing stronger protection of digital locks online so that companies that choose to use them in their business models will have the support of the law. We have also introduced stronger provisions to address Internet piracy.

We believe this copyright reform promotes innovation and competition in a digital, knowledge-based economy.

Our role as Government is to set the stage for business to succeed and the economy to flourish. In short, to create the right environment for Canada to prosper by setting the right policies and this copyright bill accomplishes this.

The proposed amendments would implement:
* New exceptions for Canadian consumers, so they can record TV shows for later viewing; copy legally acquired music onto other devices, such as MP3 players or cellphones; and make backup copies of legally acquired books, newspapers, videocassettes and photographs onto devices they own;
* New rights and protections for copyright owners, tailored to the Internet, to encourage participation in the online economy, as well as stronger legal means to address Internet piracy;
* Exceptions for some educational and research purposes to promote innovation and enrich the educational experience;
* Clarity for Internet service providers on their roles and responsibilities in relation to copyright, in order to support the growth of Internet services in Canada; and
* Rights for photographers equal to those of other creators.

For more information, please visit the Copyright Reform Process website at www.ic.gc.ca/epic/site/crp-prda.nsf/en/home.

Please note, the House of Commons is now adjourned and will resume September 15, 2008. You may read the bill in it’s entirety at: http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HouseBills/BillsGovernment.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=39&Ses=2

Once the House of Commons resumes, you can follow the bill’s status through this link as well.

I hope you find this information helpful.

Sincerely,

Jeremy Davis
Constituency Assistant
Office of Vic Toews, M.P.
Riding of Provencher
204-326-9889
ToewsV1B@parl.gc.ca

——————————————————————————–

Dear Minister Toews:

I appreciate your response. However there are several statements in
your assistant’s reply that are incomplete or incorrect.

Bill C-61 as it stands does not bring the Copyright Act into line with
advances in technology and current international standards. Instead
it seeks to prevent advances in technology. Canada already has more
onerous copyright laws than most of the G-8 countries (including the
United States), let alone the rest of the world.

Reform to the Copyright Act may be much needed and long overdue. If
you seek to invoke the Internet revolution and major advancements in
technology as a reason for Copyright reform, then the public, creators
of copyrighted materials, and industry should be consulted. From what
I can find, the last public consultation on copyright was in 2001.
Why not speak to the people who are to be affected by these new laws?

This is not a balanced, made-in-Canada approach to copyright reform.
Canadians artists, broadcasters, reporters, musicians, and the general
public are speaking out against this bill. Where are the Canadians
who stand behind it? This bill was drafted behind closed doors -
where is the open government we were promised? Why were creators,
public, and industry not consulted?

It’s true that some time and format shifting provisions are in the
Bill. However this has been done in a way that makes these provisions
meaningless. Format shifting is limited to such things as
videocassettes and other analog media. Under the bill as it stands if
I break the copy protection on a DVD I own to copy it to my computer,
I am a criminal. If I record an episode of a TV show and watch it
several times over the next year, I could be subject to fines. What
use are provisions that do not cover the digital media that Canadians
are using today?

The fine print that you listed in limiting damages to $500 is
disturbing. “..our bill limits at $500 the amount of statutory
damages that individuals may be liable to pay if they infringed
copyright for private use, provided the material is not protected by a
digital lock.” There is a lot of material protected by a digital lock.
Circumventing these locks is trivial and can be done by accident. If
I record a video of my 5 year old dancing to a a track I bought off of
iTunes, I have broken the digital lock on the iTunes track. Under
Bill C-61 the least I can expect is a $20,000 fine for making this
home movie. If I then upload that video to Youtube for his
grandparents and relatives to watch, I have added public distribution
to my list of offenses. Why are these actions to be criminalized?

You say you are supporting industries whose success depends on
copyright. However, the Canadian Newspaper Association, Canadian
Library Association, Canadian Music Creators Coalition, Documentary
Organization of Canada, Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest
Clinic, and other organizations whose success depends on copyright are
speaking out against the bill. Who are you supporting?

This copyright reform discourages innovation and competition. Instead
it supports established (American) business models that are based on
an analog, scarcity-based economy.

Your role is not to prop up failing business models but to encourage
business to succeed and the economy to flourish. This copyright bill
is bad policy and acts against Canadian interests.

If you’re Canadian, please write a letter to your MP and Minister Jim Prentice about Bill C-61. If you want to do it quickly Canadian Coalition for Electronic Rights has set up a quick way to write in.

Copyright needs restrictions because an over-broad copyright helps neither creators nor the public at large. Creators are denied the capability of building on the past and the public loses works that build on others and is discouraged from appreciating existing works. Would you write a better story if Shakespeare’s heirs could sue you for using words coined by Shakespeare? Shakespeare’s copyrighted words would include “lonely”, “fixture”, “madcap”, “torture”, “accused”, “advertising” and many many more words and phrases.

If you want more details as to why a more pervasive copyright should be opposed, read these speeches by Thomas Babington Macaulay in the 1840s. It’s amazing how little things change. The same arguments that were shot down 150 years ago are still being brought up as fresh new reasons why copyright needs to be everywhere. For a modern context see Eric Flint’s Salvos Against Big Brother columns particularly A Matter of Principle.

I find the current copyright law legislation that the government has tabled to be absolutely depressing. I’ve written to my MP and the ministers responsible for submitting this. I found that this editorial,Editorial: Made-in-America copyright law, gives a good overview of what common activities will be illegal if this passes. There is more insidiously nasty stuff in there too. See Michael Geist’s Blog if you want more details or ideas for what you can do to stop it.

MLB rips off fans who bought DRM videos is exactly why I won’t buy things with DRM on them.

This weekend I broke down and bought the Cash Creating Guide for World of Warcraft in the hope of picking up some extra gold. I have read it through and here is my review.

Summary If you’re new to making gold in World of Warcraft and want your information in one place, this guide is pretty good. There are a number of tips for farming critters that you may not have considered. However, the guide really needs to be revised for the Burning Crusade expansion - particularly for post-Beta play. My recommendation is to go read various (free) forums and posts on making money in WoW. The slight edge this guide may give you is probably not worth the price of the guide.

Review

The PDF itself is 152 pages in length, including cover and copyright information. It was written by Luke Brown. The author has locked the PDF and appears to have used images instead of text, so you can’t copy and pate information from the guide. The text is black on a beige background, so printing it would probably take a LOT of ink. There are typos and other editing errors.

This is essentially a farming guide for players at level 60+. There are a few tips for making money with lower level characters, but not many. I would have liked to have seen a guide to making money for your first mount included. This often the first time in Warcraft where players are really looking to make some gold, so a guide for that would be very useful. The guide is quite comprehensive in its list of spots to farm and the extras that can be picked up at various farming spots.

Approximately half the guide is describes making gold in WoW prior to the Burning Crusade and the other half seems to based on his experience in making gold in the beta version of the Burning Crusade. A lot of the information in the first half will not be as useful as it was, due to the changes in what items are needed in the Burning Crusade. I suspect that at least some of it would still make you some pretty good money and it would be much easier to farm certain areas due to reduced population in Azeroth. The Burning Crusade portion is good, but could use an update to take the latest patches/post-beta changes into account.

If you’re using Auctioneer , aren’t interested in farming mobs, and are already making decent money in WoW, this guide may provide you with a few tips. However, you can easily get many of these tips just by browsing various WoW forums. The promised maps are few and far between. The black text on brown background makes it a little hard to read. There hasn’t been an update since around the time the Burning Crusade was released. At this time there are no forums for this guide.

My recommendation is to go read various (free) forums and posts on making money in WoW. The slight edge this guide may give you is probably not worth the price of the guide.

While you’re in the Outlands….
While you’re in the Outlands….think about who you’re neglecting!

{You have entered 60 Bosses Chat}
{BaronRivendare has come online}
{Gandling}: what’s up.
{BaronRivendare}: hey.
{Gandling} : what you doin
{BaronRivendare} : nothin just ridin my horse. Are you lagging?
{Gandling} : dont think so
{Gandling} : y
{BaronRivendare} : havent seen any mobs in three days. think i’m dc’d but just dont know it.
{Gandling} : oic
{Gandling} : same
{BaronRivendare} : bored. u wanna do a me run?
{Gandling} : lol
{Gandling} : at least you get more time with the baroness lol
{BaronRivendare} : lol yeah
{BaronRivendare} : she can definitely take more than 45 minutes if she wants to
{Gandling} : o_O
{Drakkisath has come online}
{BaronRivendare} : ‘Sup Drak
{Gandling} : wb
{Gandling} : dc’d?
{Drakkisath} nah thought I heard someone coming in downstairs.
{Drakkisath} was nef and rend fighting again.
{Drakkisath} they usually stop if people come over. nef thinks its funny when rend gets pwned and goes back to sitting on his throne.
{Drakkisath} brb snack
{Drakkisath has gone offline}
{Gandling} SCHOOL IS IN SESSION
{BaronRivendare} wtf
{Gandling} Sorry, just trying to keep up the routine.
{Ysida Harmon} DON’T WORRY ABOUT ME. JUST SLAY THIS ABOMINATION AND RID THE WORLD OF HIS FILTH FOREVER
{BaronRivendare} stfu there isnt even anyone here
{Gandling} damn, caps, jeez
{BaronRivendare} sry
{Gandling} think im gonna go to my alchemy lab
{Gandling} brew up some ‘refreshments’ to pass the time
{BaronRivendare} lol kk
{Gandling has gone offline}
{BaronRivendare} /sigh
{BaronRivendare} /silly
{BaronRivendare} /silly
{BaronRivendare} /silly
{BaronRivendare} /flirt
{Ysida Harmon} can i go?
{BaronRivendare} stfu
{Nefarian has come online}
{Nefarian} WTF
{Nefarian} where’s drak
{BaronRivendare} gettin a snack
{Nefarian} Is it Tuesday?
{BaronRivendare} naw man its Saturday
{Nefarian} you laggin
{BaronRivendare} nope same problem tho
{Nefarian} damn
{Majordomo Executus has come online}
{EliteGuard has come online}
{EliteGuard has come online}
{EliteGuard has come online}
{EliteGuard has come online}
{Healer has come online}
{Healer has come online}
{Healer has come online}
{Healer has come online}
{Majordomo Executus} : hey
{EliteGuard} hey
{EliteGuard} hey
{EliteGuard} hey
{EliteGuard} hey
{Healer} hey
{Healer} hey
{Healer} hey
{Healer} hey
{MajordomoExecutus} jesus christ shut up you’re driving me crazy with that
{Majordomo Executus} all damn day
{EliteGuard} sry
{EliteGuard} sry
{EliteGuard} sry
{EliteGuard} sry
{Healer} sry
{Healer} sry
{Healer} sry
{Healer} sry
{EliteGuard is now being ignored}
{Healer is now being ignored}
{MajordomoExecutus} rag told me to ask you guys if you’re all laggin’
{Nefarian} nah
{Drakkisath has come online}
{BaronRivendare} no i’m goin real fast
{Drakkisath} that’s what the baroness says
{Nefarian} PWNED
{MajordomoExecutus} haha ss’d.
{BaronRivendare} ass
{Drakkisath} dammit i’m bored. where are all the mobs?
{Ragnaros has come online}
{Nefarian} hey rag.
{Ragnaros} TASTE THE FLAMES OF SULFURON
{MajordomoExecutus} wtf caps
{BaronRivendare} o_O
{Nefarian} you dont have to put on your show, there arent any mobs around
{Ragnaros} where the hell is everyone
{Level 64 human warrior has come online}
{Nefarian} niiiiiice
{Nefarian} Im not even gonna use my skellies
{BaronRivendare} same
{Level 64 human warrior has killed Drakkisath}
{Nefarian} ….
{BaronRivendare} wt…
{Level 64 human warrior has killed BaronRivendare}
{Nefarian} jesus
{MajordomoExecutus} /inspect
{MajordomoExecutus} wtf he’s wearing greens!
{Level 64 human warrior has killed Majordomo Executus}
{Ragnaros} BY FIRE BE PUR}
{Level 64 human warrior has killed Ragnaros}
{Nefarian} omg
{Nefarian has gone offline}
{Level 64 human warrior} lol noobz
{Level 66 night elf hunter has come online}
{Level 64 human warrior} 2 minutes 34 seconds, beat it
{Level 66 night elf hunter} oh i will
{Level 66 night elf hunter} what are all these healers and elites doing here?

(Copyright, Buzzfreedom)

Copyright: How Long Should It Be? - Jim Baen’s Universe is a very interesting article on how long copyright should run. I especially like the way Eric Flint concluded his column. It kind of reminds me of something….

By the way, if you enjoy science fiction and/or fantasy, consider subscribing to Baen’s Universe for great stories and more great columns like this one.

I posted a question on the duration of copyright on S.L. Veihl’s site. She seems to believe that copyright should be perpetual. I have a real problem with that. It may be because I’m not a writer, but I believe that a perpetual copyright would impovrish us all.

Take the Musical My Fair Lady. It was based on George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, which references the Greek legend of Pygmalion. In the Greek legend, a sculptor creates a statue so beautiful that he falls in love with it, a goddess gives the statue life so that the sculptor and the statue can live and love together. In sum, a creator falls in love with his creation.

Suppose copyright were perpetual. I’m not sure if Pygmalion was out of copyright when My Fair Lady was written. However, if copyright were perpetual, Shaw would never have been allowed to tell a story so clearly derivative of the Greek legend. For that matter, Shelly’s Frankenstein could be said to derive from the same legend (without the romantic elements of course). When does copyright quit quashing other stories?

Fair election results would tell a different story . I’ve often thought about this kind of thing. The trouble is that I’m not sure how elections should be structured to be more representative.

The People Who Owned the Bible is an interesting story about what happens when copy right keeps being extended ad infinitum. I can understand why copyright exists. I can see the argument for a reasonable length of copyright (maybe 20 years or so), but why should copyright be infinite? I really like Thomas Babington Macaulay’s speech on the subject of the extension of copyright. It seems to me to do a masterful job of highlighting both the importance of copyright and the need for its limitation.

I ran across this old post of mine from a previous blog.

Tim O’Reilly has some lessons he’s learned from book publishing and how they might apply to the current furor over music and movie piracy.

1. Lesson 1: Obscurity is a far greater threat to authors and creative artists than piracy.
2. Lesson 2: Piracy is progressive taxation.
3. Lesson 2: Piracy is progressive taxation
4. Lesson 3: Customers want to do the right thing, if they can.
5. Lesson 4: Shoplifting is a bigger threat than piracy.
6. Lesson 5: File sharing networks don’t threaten book, music, or film publishing. They threaten existing publishers.
7. Lesson 6: “Free” is eventually replaced by a higher-quality paid service.
8. Lesson 7: There’s more than one way to do it.

Also see The Free Expression Project for more on copyright and free expression.

Jaimie and I like to discuss various ethical questions. Fortunately we agree, or at least don’t violently disagree, on most of them. Anyhow, this site looks to have some interesting resources on contemporary ethics problems.

Open Source Software and Libraries Bibliography