Access Copyright Says That There Should Be Less Fair Use
from the let's-not-listen-to-our-customers dept
Access Copyright, a Canadian copyright collections agency that has already positioned the discussions on copyright reform in Canada as a war against consumers, has had its submission to the government on the topic published, and it's really quite stunning in that it says that "fair dealing" (the Canadian version of fair use) is already too broad and needs to be greatly restricted. But the really stunning statement from the filing is the following:Access Copyright submits that good public policy should not be dictated by legalizing common public practices.Actually, it seems that's the very definition of good public policy. You know what bad public policy is? Destroying basic consumer rights and criminalizing basic consumer behavior because some obsolete organization can't figure out a way to adjust its business model.
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Filed Under: canada, copyright, fair dealing, fair use
Companies: access copyright
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Lessons of prohibition
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Re: Lessons of prohibition
See: The "War" on Drugs.
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Re: Lessons of prohibition
See: Tobacco Taxes, Tariffs, and eventual criminalization.
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Link to Submission
http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/008.nsf/eng/02603.html
It will be interesting to read Geist's tally when all the submission are finally available (they are gradually showing up, but thousands are still not posted).
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Just goes to show the mentality of intellectual property maximists. No wonder why intellectual property laws are so messed up. Why do we pay them any attention? Oh, that's right, we don't, it's our bribed governments that do.
Pretty soon everything I type on techdirt will be infringement and we will be labeled the techdirt terrorists for disagreeing with corporate efforts to exploit the public.
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"Actually, it seems that's the very definition of good public policy."
Not that I agree with what they are trying to accomplish, but I have concerns with the validity of your argument. Isn't it common public practice to drive 5 over the speed limit? Shouldn't, therefore, we all demand that we be ever increasing the speed limits?
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if the public is speeding, maybe the limit is low?
Or did you read the article about how lower speed limits = more traffic and more road rage, while our speed limits have been going up and the amount of high speed accidents has gone down. What do ya know? I have the link right here. http://www.fark.com/cgi/comments.pl?IDLink=4686874
which links to http://www.detnews.com/article/20091008/OPINION03/910080328/1149/Road-rage-s-causes-and-prevalence-d ebatable
You have two choices in society: make everyone a criminal, or make actions reasonable. We've tried both routes, and the latter is the only one that works without violent resistance, ergo.
Stop trying to strawman when you don't even read the facts.
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I do believe that the speed limit, at least in California, should be raised. 65 Miles per hour on the freeway is too slow. Perhaps 75? I think that would be fair, 75 or 80, which really depends on where one drives of course (certain locations are designed to accommodate higher speeds than others).
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There won't be any pedestrians approaching this road from either side, due to the swamp and the river.
But, because the road is within a certain distance of the high school itself, it must have a reduced speed in the morning and afternoon.
To add insult to injury, a quarter mile down the road there is a bridge over the river where teens and kids cross on their way to that school and an elementary school. Because of its distance, it doesn't merit school-zone status, and kids are left to fend for themselves on public roads.
The rule is applied and enforced despite the invalidity of the reason and despite public practice. The net effect of the rule is to contribute to rush hour congestion. There is no protective benefit of this rule being applied in this location.
Of course, this is the exception, not the rule. It is, however, an excellent example of bad public policy.
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Industry lobbyists lobbying for something doesn't make it any more right either. Politicians making policy against public opinion doesn't make them any more right. I prefer public opinion through open public communication over industry lobbyists any day.
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Many things don't make something write. The opinion of a politician does not make something right. The opinion of a lobbyist does not make something right. Laws passed due to industry lobbying does not make them right. The opinion of a judge does not make something right. However, it's the TAXPAYERS that pay taxes so THEIR collective opinions are the only ones that count.
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I drive on 400 series highways daily for the last 15 years or so. From my observation over that period, 99% of drives exceed the 100 km/hr speed limit. I would guess the median speed to be around 115-120 km/hr
I would have the speed limit set around 120 km/hr if I had any say. This will likely not happen as the fines here in Ontario are tied to how much you go over the speed limit. So raising the speed limit would reduce the revenue of speeding tickets.
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Yes.
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speed limits exist for a reason. Every increasing speed limits are what we desire, but not what is good for us.
Every increasing free use of content is what we want (we all want something for nothing) but it isn't what is good for us.
The analogy is damn good, spot on really.
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The analogy is damn good, spot on really.
Not quite. Access Copyright isn't arguing to keep fair use fair use protections as they are, they are arguing for further reductions in fair use protections. Taking away rights that people currently have.
And once again you make the "everyone wants everything for free" statement that you are so fond of, yet completely off base on. Paying for products is perfectly sound and is what drives the economy when the product received is worth the price. But when the price is arbitrarily set and is not based on the actual value of the product then the consumer will go elsewhere.
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And everyone drives 300mph?
You recommend keeping the speed limit the same? Even in the face of a changing landscape?
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Nor do people desire increasing free use of content. They desire the ability to do whatever they want with content they paid for.
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Every increasing free use of content is what we want (we all want something for nothing) but it isn't what is good for us.
so by that logic, you agree with copyright access that we should be continually decreasing speed limits?
sounds like that will not be a popular public policy move.
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"Traffic engineers may rely on the 85th percentile rule[13][14] to establish speed limits. The speed limit should be set to the speed that separates the bottom 85% of vehicle speeds from the top 15%. The 85th percentile is slightly greater than a speed that is one standard deviation (SD) above the mean of a normal distribution.
"The theory is that traffic laws that reflect the behavior of the majority of motorists may have better compliance than laws that arbitrarily criminalize the majority of motorists and encourage violations. The latter kinds of laws lack public support and often fail to bring about desirable changes in driving behavior. An example is United States's old 55 mph (88 km/h) speed limit that was removed in part because of notoriously low compliance."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_limit
So in short; YES. If significantly more that 15% of the population are routinely breaking the speed limit, that speed limit is probably too low.
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I've got this situation just up the street from me: a "back road" - in an area where all back roads are limited at 45 - is limited at 25. People regularly drive 45-50 on this road because it is as safe to do so on this road as every other road of this type. The only reason it is at 25 is because it forms the border of the city, so city rules apply instead of county rules.
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