Boycott American studios pressuring canadian laws
5/8/2007 at 2:57 PM
The Globe and Mail is reporting on the following story:
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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070508.WBmingram20070508112009/WBStory/WBmingram"
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(if anyone knows how to format links in posts please let me know, Adam?
The article is about Warner Bros decision to stop releasing preview copies of it's movies to Canada because piracy is so rampant up here. The article links to Canadian Copyright advocate Michael Geist's well informed opinions on the matter.
The context here is that Fox, WB et al. have been lobbying the Canadian government very hard through the MPAA for changing Canadian Copyright law to something more like the 'proper' American way. Specifically, they want the American DMCA to be given a Canadian equivalent. For those not informed, the DMCA strips both fair use and privacy rights of citizens. The principal is to allow copyright holders to prosecute those SUSPECTED of infringing copyrights more easily. It has resulted in all manner of abuses to civil rights and has been rightly kept out of Canadian law.
Those wanting more details need only google "DMCA" to see what I'm talking about. If you have any questions about the details I'd be glad to answer them.
The point of all this is I plan on boycotting all movies from the WB, or any other studio with holding previews. "Ocean's Thirteen" and "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" are the next big title's the WB will be doing this for. I strongly urge everyone to follow suit and send a message to the box office about what you think about foreign companies messing with our laws.