Your Last Chance To Save & Win
You can save 30% on e-Books from Kobo Books Canada and possibly win a Kobo Glo
or Kobo Mini
. But this offer and contest ends on September 27th, 2012.
My e-Book recommendations :
- Kicking and Dreaming: A Story of Heart, Soul, and Rock and Roll
by Ann & Nancy of Heart
- Cyndi Lauper: A Memoir by Cyndi Lauper
- Dear Fatty
by British comedian Dawn French (thought I’d sneak this non music one in)
- Between a Heart and a Rock Place: A Memoir by Pat Benatar
- Somebody to Love?: A Rock-and-Roll Memoir by Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane/Starship
- The Phantom Of The Opera
by Gaston Leroux, my favorite novel. Free download.
One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
The Copyright Modernization Act passed through the legislative process and obtained royal assent in June of this year. And though I am critical of the technological protection measure provisions, the bill is still a step forward. But it appears that the lobbyists in the United States are attempting to reverse many of the provisions in this legislation through the Trans Pacific Partnership trade negotiations.
The International Intellectual Property Alliance want to circumvent our democratic processes in order to force our government to enact RIAA style prosecutions in Canada.
They are demanding new penalties for intellectual property violations, new processes in which internet providers are forced to police the internet on their behalf and the removal of the $5000 liability cap on non-commercial infringement.
But their demands don’t end there.
They want an extension of the copyright term up to the American standard and want our customs officers to search people for copyright violations upon entry, without a search warrant.
At the moment copyright is limited to life plus 50 years, meaning an author will own his works up to his death and his estate would retain copyright on these works for 50 years after the author’s death.
The Americans extended their copyright term to life plus 70 years and added additional provisions to their Copyright Act extending copyright on published works to 95 years from publication, which could be renewed resulting in a term of 120 years in some instances.
So, not only do they want to practically eliminate our public domain
but they also want us to be burdened with longer lines at our airports and border crossings so searches can be performed on laptop hard drives and media players.
These amendments were ineffective in the United States, having failed to prevent 96.68 million BitTorrent downloads in the first half of 2012 according to the Musicmetric Digital Music Index, so why would they work in Canada ?
He Said It, He Did It
Sam Sniderman, the founder of Sam The Record Man, has died at the age of 92.
The Sam The Record Man chain was founded in 1937 and had become Canada’s largest chain of record stores by 1982, which enabled the chain to be a major promoter of Canadian music.
In 1961, their flagship store at 347 Yonge Street in Toronto opened and had become a landmark due to its pair of rotating neon signs, which were prominently featured in film and television including Marvel’s “The Incredible Hulk” and one of my favorite music videos, Alphaville’s “Big In Japan”.
Unfortunately, the chain and flagship store closed by mid 2007 due to competition and advancements in music distribution technology. But Sam The Record Man will be remembered for his contributions to the Canadian music industry, including the independent scene, which flourished in the 80’s and 90’s because of his support.
Sam The Record Man RIP 1920-2012
Parliament Is In Session
So, Parliament is now in session and several issues are back on the table.
Quite a few of the more controversial bills have passed through, some changed slightly like the Copyright Modernization Act. But the primary issue I’m having now is related to privacy in the internet.
We have progressed, the Office Of The Privacy Commissioner of Canada offering an online form for complaints. And the debate persists in the media, as it’s been since Bill C-12 was introduced in September 2011 by the Minister of Industry and Ministry of State (Agriculture).
The issue of course is the wording of the proposed amendments to Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act in Bill C-12 and other documents, which could cause problems later on in its interpretation and enforcement.
At the moment the member of parliament are concentrating on the budget, which will be tabled next week. But quite a few citizens are also wondering if they will be required to pay for technology to spy on every day citizens through their internet providers. And others wonder what will qualify as “probable cause” to start an investigation of an individual.
For example, will the past downloading of files from services like Megaupload result in an investigation in regards to piracy because of the accusations made against the service by the United States ? Will the viewing of a fundamentalist video on Youtube result in an investigation related to terrorism ?
Some people assume that they will be determined innocent with little to no effort if they were ever exposed to these issues. But what will be the due processes and how inconvenient will they be to the accused and the system ?
I am concerned about the mass prosecution of people and financial toll this will take on our internet providers and legal system. And having avoided the use of peer to peer transfer programs because of malware and spyware, I do not appreciate being exposed to the possibility of security issues through the implementation of a system that could have security issues of its own.
“Haste makes waste”. We need to tread slowly and thoughtfully through the process.
A Big Year For Heart
A Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame nomination and exhibit, a new auto-biography, a new boxed set, a new album and now a new star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame in front of The Musician’s Institute !
The presentation ceremony for the new star will be streamed online from the official Walk Of Fame web site at 11:30 am Pacific time on the 23rd of September, 2012.
If you happen to be in Los Angeles on that day it will be at 6752 Hollywood Boulevard, at the corner of North Highland Avenue near the Hollywood/Highland Subway Station.
The Musical Institute is located next to the Guinness World Records Museum and The Green Room. It almost faces Fredericks of Hollywood.
Live Music Festival
A nightly music festival is being held through-out the month of September on iTunes which will feature numerous acts from various genres.
I personally will be tuning into P!nk’s performance at 4pm on the 13th, Andrea Bocelli’s performance at 4pm on the 18th and Muse’s performance at 4pm on the 30th.
An iPhone/iPad App is available to watch the whole festival.