New US Ambassador To Canada Kicks Things Off By Pushing For Bad Copyright Laws

from the sigh dept

Fri, Oct 23rd 2009 3:32pm — Mike Masnick

So it looks like the "timing" on Barrie McKenna's ridiculous Globe & Mail column spewing a bunch of recording industry propaganda wasn't so random after all. Just after it came out, the new US ambassador to Canada, David Jacobson, made a point of scolding Canada for its copyright laws, and sticking by the decision to put Canada on the "watch list" in the USTR special 301 report. Once again, despite early suggestions that the new administration might actually take an evidence-based approach to intellectual property, it looks it's instead decided to simply act as an enforcer for Hollywood make believe. Too bad.

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Filed Under: ambassador, canada, copyright, david jacobson, us

15 Comments

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Marcus Carab (profile), 23 Oct 2009 @ 3:44pm

What's more, our damn prime minister will probably fold like a cheap lawn chair. At least we will get some fun Question Period shouting sessions out of it.
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A. Engelfriet, 23 Oct 2009 @ 3:44pm

Keep it real (honest)
To all

The Court of Amsterdam has received a letter from Reservella, supposedly the owner of the website ThePiratebay.org according to the founders.

In it Reservella makes clear that Reservella does not own the site. This contradicts statements made by Piratebay founder Peter Sunde. The result was that the judge in Amsterdam did not believe the founders of The Pirate Bay anymore and now they have lost this particular battle.

I am an IT lawyer and involved in cases such as BREIN vs FTD. I call on all file sharers to resist to those forces that are trying to impose restrictions on file sharing services.

However, I also want to urge everybody to play this game fairly, otherwise the damage to our community will be even worse.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Regards,

A. Engelfriet
The Netherlands
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Marcus Carab (profile), 23 Oct 2009 @ 3:45pm

Re: Keep it real (honest)
This is completely off-topic, and your homepage link doesn't work. What are you up to?
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Anonymous Coward, 23 Oct 2009 @ 4:30pm

You still seem to be under the illusion that the new boss is somehow different than the old boss. I always pictured you as being smarter than the average Kos Kid.
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william (profile), 23 Oct 2009 @ 4:38pm

As a Canadian, let me welcome the new Ambassador on behave of Canadians every where.

If you don't like it, get the f**k out. Here is the road to the boarder, and take those electricity and lumber out of your purse before you leave.

Thank you.
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william (profile), 23 Oct 2009 @ 4:46pm

Re: Keep it real (honest)
Hi Arnoud,

1. Your working url is http://www.arnoud.engelfriet.net/. You might want to correct this in your profile.

2. Please don't post off topic comments. If you have a need to contact Mike, please try this form at http://techdirt.com/contact.php, or call them at 1.888.930.9272 as indicated in their "Contact Us" page. If you would like to submit a story, as this seems like a news story, please use http://techdirt.com/submitstory.php.

Thank you for your time to check us out, but please RTFM next time.

(sorry, I can't resist slipping the acronym there) ;-)
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william (profile), 23 Oct 2009 @ 4:47pm

Re:
sorry, it's another pent up rage day. ;-)
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Snidely Whiplash, 23 Oct 2009 @ 5:41pm

Canada
Why is Canada the fav whipping boy? I dont get it.
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1DandyTroll, 23 Oct 2009 @ 6:40pm

I don't get it.

I mean, shouldn't Mr J make sure he had a clean and proper front lawn at least, and then, only US cares about of what US thinks about anyway, like the nazis.

I mean who in their right mind gives a flying f-ck! US still haven't conquered Iraq, let alone Afghanistan. And the only thing MPA/A, and RIAA, has manage to do is alienate people even more, like the US gov did in Iraq and Afghanistan.

:/
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net625, 23 Oct 2009 @ 7:41pm

Re: Re: Don't be sry...
We understand...
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Chuck (profile), 23 Oct 2009 @ 8:49pm

Re:
They won't. Luckily, the Conservatives are relying on the NDP right now, and Olivia Chow is against more draconian copyright laws. Olivia is the wife of Jack Layton. We're safe for now.
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Marc, 23 Oct 2009 @ 9:00pm

Re: Canada
I think it's mostly because of our health care and we don't have the DMCA.

A lot is riding on getting DMCA like provisions passed this time around. Otherwise, a lot of countries around the globe will wonder why they allowed themselves to cave on this issue.

You're the best friends we can have. But that doesn't mean you can't be dicks on certain issues.

We'll both survive either way and continue to have more in common than not.
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Marcus Carab (profile), 24 Oct 2009 @ 7:03am

Re: Re:
Olivia is one of the better voices on IP law, yes, but she is so grass-roots in her approaches whereas the Tories are so corporate - I worry that on this issue (driven by lobbyists) she doesn't have the strength to compete.

And don't think Harper isn't waiting to diverge from the NDPs the *moment* he thinks he can get away with it. I'm not convinced that stronger IP laws would be enough of an excuse for the NDP to drop their support for the government. Layton has to play his cards carefully too: his party might have some wild-card power right now, but deciding when to play that card is not a decision they can take lightly.
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Dale, 26 Oct 2009 @ 12:03pm

@ Marcus
It is just a matter of time before Harper goes for a majority and then Captain America will pass his own DMCA bill.
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Scott, 26 Oct 2009 @ 12:38pm

"It is just a matter of time before Harper goes for a majority and then Captain America will pass his own DMCA bill."

I don't believe Harper will ever get a majority even with the recent polls, but we're probably getting off topic.

I just hope Harper doesn't fold like Marcus mentioned in the first post...
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