Even artists have had enough of Sony

so this band called My Morning Jacket has decided to take matters into their own hands. They were one of the unfortunate bands that got released by Sony with the extra rootkit garbage on the CD, which incidentally, prevented the music from being transferred to an ipod.

The manager for My Morning Jacket has been burning CDs of their latest album for any customer who contacts them with a complaint about the DRM. Even Rolling Stone magazine has an article on it, although the article has more to do with Sony and the rootkit mess than with action taken by band managers.

Sony CDs crippled to not play on ipods (windows only)

I just love this article. Well written and informative. This stuff is just crap.

My thoughts: Sony reached a new low with the use of Sunncomm's DRM technology. They are trying to punish Apple for not opening up iTunes and the ipod formats for competition. (As in, if you buy songs on ITMS, you get them in Apple's proprietary format. Sony can't play with that.)

Yes, it can be said that Apple isn't playing nice with competitors by not licensing their tech to them. Bad bad Apple, for protecting their self-created market.

But wait: note that Apple Mac users are unaffected. Yes, that is right - this only hurts Windows PC users who happen to have an iPod. Moral of the story: If you want to buy Apple, make the complete switch to avoid headaches. Maybe Sony needs to rethink their competitive strategy on this one...

Here comes the cavalry (at last)

Okay, so Slashdot has already reported this. But still, it needs to be said. Michael Geist and others have put together a 600 page book that analyses the proposed changes to Canadian Copywrite Law. This is must-read stuff for Canadians online. I might update this post with a short synopsis if I get time, but wanted to put out links first.

Bill C-60 is here (cue Darth Vader theme song)

We Canadians are standing by as our rights erode before us. This bill was just passed which grants more rights to the recording labels and fewer to the consumers. (big surprise)

I'll post again when I find a good explanation of how this impacts the average guy. Until then, I suggest reading Michael Geist's site.

Videotron coughs up names of file swappers

Videotron, a Canadian ISP, has been giving identity information to the CRIA on a 'regular basis' for quite some time now. Of the five major ISPs in the country, Videotron is the only one not fighting againt these identity requests from the CRIA, with Shaw being the one that seems to be arguing the loudest for end user privacy rights. Just in case you don't feel this is a big deal, I decided to link to the Personal Information Privacy and Electronic Documents Act for your perusal.

Key quotes from the Act:

3. The purpose of this Part is to establish, in an era in which technology increasingly facilitates the circulation and exchange of information, rules to govern the collection, use and disclosure of personal information in a manner that recognizes the right of privacy of individuals with respect to their personal information and the need of organizations to collect, use or disclose personal information for purposes that a reasonable person would consider appropriate in the circumstances.

9. (1) Despite clause 4.9 of Schedule 1, an organization shall not give an individual access to personal information if doing so would likely reveal personal information about a third party.

There is more, but I'm sure you get the idea. Also, in the spirit of disclosure, it should be pointed out that Videotron is a subsidiary of Quebecor Media.

The real threat to downloading music

Michael Geist offers an interesting assessment of the legal campaign put on by the CRIA. It seems they are looking to place a 40% tariff on music downloads (like from iTunes, for example), among other things. For more information, I suggest reading Michael's site.

Piercing the P2P Myths

Another informative page. This one examines the impact of P2P systems on the music industry from a Canadian perspective. This doesn't really go into depth on Canadian law so much as provide a counter argument to the CIAA's claim that P2P systems have harmed their business materially.

Heritage Minister proposes changes to Copywrite Law

This is taken from the CBC, originally posted here.
Quote: Frulla expressed her intention to toughen Canada's "antiquated" intellectual property laws through proposed new copyright legislation to be tabled in June.

So she doesn't like the current state of Canadian law. I wonder if she'll repeal the media levy we currently have to pay for precisely this sort of thing while she's at it. I'm not hopeful.

In case you were wondering what the current state of Canadian law is, you can find out here. I would also reccomend reading the Jem Berkes website linked on the right.

Copywrite law in Canada

A bit of background: In Canada, it is currently legal to download music, movies or other copywrited material off the internet.

It is not legal to upload copywrited material to the net for others to download. Remember that. Downloading good, uploading bad. So for filesharing programs like Kazaa, it is illegal to share your content with the internet from Canada.

The reason for this is because Canada charges consumers a levy on every cassette, CD-R or ipod sold in the country.