My Thoughts On The Throne Speech
There were quite a few music related issues mentioned in the throne speech that I’d like to discuss, so here they are in the order presented in the speech :
Government assets
“Our Government will review federal assets; when it is in the best interest of Canadians, they will be sold.”
Unfortunately that may include the CBC/Radio Canada, which has been in the cross hairs for years.
The CBC/Radio Canada has remained a constant for the promotion of Canadian music so its loss to another major network would be felt through-out Canada. And I’m hoping that the support shown during the recent CRTC hearings will keep the CBC/Radio Canada going. But I suspect the current government will cut into this public broadcaster’s budget again soon.
Heather Conway will be the new executive vice-president of English-language services at the CBC in a few weeks so we should know CBC’s fate soon.
Cable/Wireless
“Our Government will take steps to reduce roaming costs on networks within Canada. Our Government believes Canadian families should be able to choose the combination of television channels they want. It will require channels to be unbundled, while protecting Canadian jobs.”
A deduction on wireless roaming fees would be great. But I have some doubt in regards to the reduction of cable fees through unbundling.
Yes, it would be more convenient to choose which channels you want. But will choosing individual channels result in lower monthly bills for the average consumer ?
The providers have been hiking their rates significantly higher than the rate of inflation, claiming the expansion of their services justified these rates. And I suspect they will fight any reduction tooth and nail until their industry is eventually decimated by online broadcasting.
The CRTC will be holding public hearings on the future of Cable and Satellite television, starting on the 24th of this month, and I’m sure Canadian consumers will make it abundantly clear that it’s time to move on.
I, for one, will probably only have an antenna and internet access in four to five years if they don’t get their hikes under control.
Rural Internet
“Our Government will continue enhancing high-speed broadband networks for rural Canadians.”
Good news but I just hope the rates will be more reasonable. There definitely needs to be a reduction in price to make these services more affordable to the average Canadian consumer.
I would hate having to download music and stream music videos using the very limited speeds found in some rural communities. And with cutbacks at Canada Post access will become essential.
At Par Purchasing ?
“And our Government will take additional action to protect Canadian consumers. Canadians are tired of hidden fees. They deserve to know the real cost of paying by debit or credit card. And they should not be charged more in Canada for identical goods that sell for less in the United States.”
When I purchase books I mostly purchase music biographies, industry books and sheet music. But I’ve pretty much given up on purchasing books in my local book stores because of the higher Canadian sticker prices.
I don’t think the industry can be helped now because of the e-Book, which is much more convenient. But it could help people who prefer paperbacks, like yours truly.
My most recent paperback purchase was Belinda Carlisle’s Lips Unsealed: A Memoir
The difference in price is usually attributed to higher labour and transportation costs but many consumers have been questioning whether this is a valid argument since our dollar got strong.
Seriously, if it weren’t for the shipping costs I’d probably buy more from the states and several Americans companies have already started offering free shipping to Canadians. The Canadian retailers definitely need to get their prices down.
The prices on compact discs and DVDs/Blu-rays are o.k but when it comes to imports I can still find better deals outside of Canada, even with shipping & handling.
For example, I just imported Belinda Carlisle’s “Heaven On Earth
I don’t know what measures can be taken to help this situation on the federal level. But as a consumer I’d appreciate lower costs.
I’m sure rural Canadians would enjoy an elimination of the fees associated to paper billing proposed in this speech. But I’m guessing public consultations will probably be required for most of these changes.
I will of course post additional details on these issues as they come along.
New Fee May Hurt Small Clubs
The Calgary Herold reported yesterday that new fees for international performers have been introduced on July 31st, 2013.
Non-Canadian musicians, technicians, sound engineers, crew members and tour managers may now be subject to a $275 fee, per person, per venue. This amount is added to the $150 work permit fee that most of these people are required to pay to work in Canada.
Prior to the introduction of this fee most bands were subject to a maximum of $450 to play Canada’s smaller venues. But now the fees have quadrupled for some international acts resulting in extra expenditures that will be passed along to consumers.
This new fee will also hurt new and upcoming international performers who have not yet gained enough of an audience in Canada to play the larger venues, some of which are tax exempt.
A petition against the implementation of this fee is available at change.org. Please consider signing this petition.
Thank You.
Library and Archives Canada’s Secret Deal
I’ve been keeping an eye out for details on this secret deal for several days now, since the Ottawa Citizen broke the story.
Apparently Library and Archives Canada has decided to contract out their digital conversion. And instead of consulting the archivists of Canada, they entered into secret negotiations with canadiana.org in exchange for an exclusive contract that would last ten years.
Unfortunately this deal may translate into user fees for Canadians who want to access anything considered other than “basic” on the database. And the Ottawa Citizen article mentions a $10 per month fee for this online access, making some wonder why Canadians need to pay to access their own material.
Having accessed these services for decades for free, I am concerned that these fees may shut out researchers like yours truly. Will I be able to access this database for free at the Archives in Ottawa ? Will individuals have access through their public library for free ? Will students be able to access the database via their university or college for free ?
Yes, it is quite expensive and time consuming to digitize material. But what will happen after that contract expires ? The public has clearly not been consulted and were not given answers as to what is involved here.
And this is why I signed the openmedia.org petition and may also consider contacting my local Member of Parliament over this issue.
Please consider doing this as well on this Canada Day weekend.
Good Morning or Happy Birthday ?
Say, did you know that you can’t sing “Happy Birthday To You” on Youtube ?
That’s right. The age old tune is still copyrighted and to use it you need to pay up.
It doesn’t matter whether it’s an adult or group of children that sings it. And when a film production company called Good Morning To You Productions Inc made a documentary about the songs history, they were required to pay a $1,500 synchronization license fee to use it on their film.
Had this company not paid they would have been liable up to $150,000 in damaged for copyright infringement so they paid up. But of course they also decided to launch a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court representing the Southern District of New York, on behalf of all who were forced to pay to use this song.
The composition was originally entitled “Good Morning To All” and composed in 1893 by Patty Smith Hill and her sister Mildred Hill. And the copyright to that song of course expired in 1921 in the States. But a change in lyrics in 1924 and a different arrangement in 1935 caused the copyright to linger.
Fast forward to 2013.
The plaintiffs claim that they have evidence dating the traditional lyrics to 1911. This would date both the composition and traditional lyrics to over 75 years, rendering both public domain.
They also dispute whether copyright was actually established in 1924 because Robert H. Coleman was only credited for compiling, editing and publishing “Harvest Hymns”, a songbook which featured the melody and lyrics to “Happy Birthday To You”.
The class action lawsuit also alleges that copyright for “Happy Birthday To You” had not been established in several subsequent publications and copyright registrations.
What’s annoying about this is that in Canada there’s no dispute whether this song is public domain with lyrics or not. But everything that is uploaded to Youtube is subject to American law so hold off uploading your birthday videos guys and gals until this is settled.
The Road To Hell Is Paved With Good Intentions
Today you will notice many sites have gone dark in opposition to a law proposed in the United States House Of Representatives called CISPA.
The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act enables private companies and the United States government to exchange information related to internet security issues including private information to prevent cyberattacks, without public disclosure or the need for warrants. And this is of course where the idiom in the subject line of this post comes in.
In order to prevent cyberattacks and attacks against the national security of the United States everyone’s information would be exchanged and stored on multiple computers for analysis, opening this information up to misuse, abuse or theft.
This bill enables the distribution of information that you don’t want made public, from private posts and email to your internet browsing information, without your knowledge or consent. And it also contains an exemption from liability, reducing an individual’s ability to sue if something were to go wrong during this exchange of information.
The proponents of the bill are also relying on people’s inability to understand that the definitions used in this bill may extend the coverage of this bill beyond “cyber attacks”, the term “national security of the United States” having been linked to that country’s commercial interests in past legislation.
Your choice to purchase something outside of the United States could cause your information to be taken under the premise that the purchase was a threat to the American intellectual property owners because the product might not be authentic or authorized by an American company.
Having unfortunately been subjected to counterfeit DVDs in the past via eBay, my personal, private information could be collected and distributed. And because of this, an act beyond my control, I could face further victimization without legal recourse to prevent it.
Yes, some intellectual property provisions have been removed from the bill but what’s to stop them from re-introducing them ? They have no qualms re-introducing warrantless searches, over and over again and warrants do not significantly impede their current efforts to stop crime on the internet. And I have yet to see and evidence substantiating the claim that privacy is a hindrance to law enforcement, so why are these sentiments remaining in Government ?
I suspect internet security firms want to be funded by the public and are doing their best to present these bills as solutions to politicians that have no idea of what is involved.
Vic Toews, for example, is proof positive that politicians can be severely illiterate when it comes to technology.
In February 2012 this Canadian politician had introduced a bill in Parliament that he had not read in its entirety, claiming that it would address child pornography. And he had been so well convinced that it would that he actually accused opponents of this legislation of standing with child pornographers, in the House of Commons of all places.
Even joint statements from the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and her provincial counterparts had failed to convince him that there were serious issues with the bill and it took a severe public backlash to get him to actually review what he was proposing.
This isn’t the time for half-baked, open ended legislation that can be exploited by the very criminals that these bills are trying to address. And it is rather stupid to believe criminals would not use arguments about the constitutionality of these laws in their defense.
Opposition has been strong within the United States and a White House petition has apparently convinced the President to threaten to veto the bill, “as currently crafted” in a April 16th, 2013 statement (pdf).
Another petition for Americans and non American alike is also available at Avaaz. There are currently over 800,000 signatories on this petition.
Changes in Retail Sales Taxes in BC and PEI
Effective today, residents of Prince Edward Island will be subject to a Harmonized Sales Tax of 14% on most services and products whilst British Columbia Residents will be subject to a Goods and Services Tax of 5%, which will be replacing the Harmonized Sales Tax of 12% in BC.
In British Columbia there will be a decrease in taxes on books (audio, electronic, bound and printed), basic cable services, concert tickets, music lessons and movie tickets but a combined tax of 12% (5% GST + 7% PST) will remain on most products and services. Individually purchased magazines will be subject to less taxes in this province.
In Prince Edward Island there will be decreases in retail sales taxes on CDs, DVDs, Blu-Rays, MP3 players, DVD and Blu-Ray players, radios, stereos, televisions, movie tickets, basic cable subscriptions and individual magazine purchases. Audio Books and Books will still be subject to the GST at 5% in this province whilst music lessons will be exempt.
For additional information please consult the following documents :
- For Residents of British Columbia
- What’s Taxable and What’s Not ? (pdf)
- Fact sheet: Changes to the sales tax in British Columbia
- Elimination of the HST in British Columbia in 2013 – Questions and Answers
- For Residents of Prince Edward Island
- What’s Taxable and What’s Not ?
- Fact sheet: Harmonized sales tax in Prince Edward Island
- GST/HST – General information HST – Transitional rules for Prince Edward Island for transactions that straddle April 1, 2013