grahamwilliams dot ca

You have six weeks to save the Internet. Six weeks to save everything you love about technology. Six weeks before the Canadian government limits the cool stuff you can do with the things you buy from electronics stores. Six weeks before this country becomes less fun – and for no good reason.

This is not a political piece. This is not about the government and it’s not about the Canadian content industry (which is doing quite well, thank you very much). This is about YOU and what YOU DO with the THINGS YOU OWN.

Are you getting it yet? If not, here’s the rundown: the government tried to pass bill C-61, a bill that would prevent Canadians from ripping CDs and DVDs to enjoy on their iPods, Xboxes, PlayStations, and so on. They tried to pass a bill that would criminalize copyright infringement. They’ve already passed legislation that can see you PUT IN JAIL longer for videotaping a movie in a theatre than for beating someone within an inch of their lives. Something is drastically wrong here – immense consumer dissatisfaction made them back down and now they’re trying to do it again.

This legislation isn’t being written by Canadian politicians. It’s not being written by Canadian artists. It certainly isn’t being written by Canadian consumers. The American content industry has issued a decree through the American government in a report called Section 301 that says that we, as Canadians, are some of the worst pirates in the world. That we, despite our ISPs actively throttling legal activities like using Bit Torrent, manage to out-pirate the Russians and the Chinese, where you can find counterfit DVDs on store shelves for a dollar.

In short, we’re the victims of a smear campaign and the government is responding exactly the way the content industry wants: by moving to limit our rights on what we can do with THE THINGS WE OWN. If you believe a word about the “abhorrent level of piracy in Canada” you’re investing in a pack of lies.

You buy a DVD or a Blu-ray – you should have the option of watching that content on your DVD player, or your computer, or your phone, or anywhere you please. You’ve bought it! But the industry would rather that you bought a physical version, and a digital copy for each device – so they want it to be illegal for you to remove the digital lock on your DVD so that you can enjoy content YOU OWN in more places.

The stuff you buy from electronics stores today is what will power the connected home of tomorrow. By locking that connected home down with DRM the future becomes less fun, less creative, and you’re less likely to buy the things you want to enjoy – why bother when the people who make it are actively taking steps to make it more difficult for you to enjoy them? We can’t let this happen.

Canadians are inherently honest. We buy our media, despite what the industry wants you to believe. Record numbers are being recorded for movie and game sales – and while physical music sales are down, digital sales are up by an incredible amount. This isn’t about protecting artists, it’s about control and it’s about a content industry that’s terrified that its current lucrative structure may become irrelevant.

So it’s time to stand up. Stand up to American interests trying to dictate Canadian policy. Stand up to our politicians who are willing to bow down to them. Stand up for your digital future.

You need to contact your MP NOW. To quote Michael Geist (copyright expert and law professor):

For those wondering what can be done, my only answer is to speak out now. Write a paper letter to your Member of Parliament and send copies to the Prime Minister, Moore, Clement and Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff. No stamp is required – be sure to include your home address and send it to the House of Commons, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0A6. Once that is done, join the Facebook group and the Facebook page and be sure to ask others do the same. You may spoken out before, but your voice is needed yet again.

In short: you have six weeks. Make the best of it.