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.
Canada Day 2012
It’s Canada day so I thought I’d bump some Independent Canadian Artists.
Lately I’ve been partial to electronic pop band Austra but I’ve also been keeping an eye on rock instrumentalists The David Barrett Trio and new wave rockers Metric.
I’ve also recently discovered Young Galaxy, whose catalogue I haven’t yet had the time to listen to thoroughly. But I like what I’ve heard so far on Youtube and their latest single is excellent.
I’ve been meaning to get back into francophone music after hearing Marie-Mai and Cœur de pirate recently. But I’ve unfortunately been quite busy over the past year and a half so I haven’t been keeping track of the music scene in Quebec for some time.
Anglophones may know Cœur de pirate for her Everyday cover on Danone Activia commercials and Ensemble, the song behind this cute viral video.
I’m hoping to find more time to get back to my previous music listening schedule in the next few months. I have quite allot of catching up to do.
BTW, don’t forget to listen to CBC Radio today, which will feature Canadian music all day.
Bill C-11 Update
Bill C-11, the Copyright Modernization Act, will be up for its third reading vote by June 18th in the House Of Commons.
Cisco Predicts Online Video Explosion
Cisco has released their Visual Networking Index Mobile Forecast for 2011-2016 and it predicts that mobile data traffic will explode because of online video.
The report predicts that in Canada “mobile data traffic will reach 219,897 Terabytes (0.22 Exabytes) per month in 2016” because more Canadians are using their mobile devices to watch movies, television programs, music videos and other content from sites like Youtube.
In 2011, Canada’s mobile data traffic was clocked by Cisco at 10,773 Terabytes (11 Petabytes) per month, “the equivalent of 3 million DVDs each month or 30 million text messages each second.” And their 2016 prediction would equal “55 million DVDs each month or 606 million text messages each second”.
Cisco reported that in 2011 only 57% of that year’s mobile data traffic was video. But predicts that 75% of this traffic will be video by 2016, at 162,179 Terabytes per month.
A Vinyl Comeback ?
It appears that more and more consumers are choosing vinyl over compact disc when if comes to purchasing physical copies of their music.
According to Soundscan, Americans had purchased just over 330 million vinyl albums last year and over 76 thousand new record albums were released in the United States that year.
Apparently many audiophiles are purchasing mp3s for their portable players and purchasing vinyl for their home stereos instead of compact discs because they believe vinyl has a richer sound. And although many bloggers have claimed that this opinion was subjective, the sales of vinyl records continue to rise.
Regardless of the technological debate, consumers have not dropped vinyl as a physical format like the magnetic tape formats (8 track/cassette tape). And compact disc sales are dropping so dramatically in the United States that many major retailers have either reduced or eliminated the retail space they had dedicated to the format.
On the other hand, many online retailers have created vinyl stores to fulfill the demand, including Amazon.ca
in Canada, and Amazon.com
, CD Universe
, DeepDiscounts.com & JR.com
in the United States.
Yes, compact disc sales were still substantial at $225.5 Million dollars in the United States in 2011. But sales have slipped by 5.7% from 2010 whilst sales of LPs, digital singles and digital albums have grown.
LPs will not likely not surpass compact discs in sales anytime soon. But it obviously remains a niche product that is fashionable in certain circles, who also prefer the artwork found on LPs and 45s.
Compact disc inserts may be adequate to some but I personally prefer framing a LP for display if I am unable to find a poster of an album cover’s artwork. And I doubt that I am alone in finding the LP album cover more aesthetically appealing.
Many home audio systems and compact stereo units still include turntables but record players are available as separate components in Canada from Amazon.ca, and Sony.ca
.
Added More Listings
Updated my Music/Film/TV Memorabilia, Free Shipping Offers and Musical Instruments & Recording Equipment listings. Will add more Canadian entries to the latter as soon as possible.