[fsfc-discuss] Petition to protect Information Technology property rights (Was: Re: "FSF Canada" )

[Russell McOrmond]

On 12-02-16 03:51 AM, Richard Stallman wrote:
>         We've been hosting paper petitions that use the official
>      parliamentary process http://c11.ca/petition  , with the one I
>      personally believe in the most being the "Petition to protect
>      Information Technology property rights" which raises the issues
>      discussed above (TPMs can be applied to both content and devices).
>
> If you show me the text of the petition in question, I will take a look.

  At the URL is PDF and OpenDocument files which need to be printed and 
signed on paper.  It is using the existing parliamentary petitions 
procedure which doesn't currently accept electronic petitions.

  I'm including the text of both petitions below so people can decide 
if they want to endorse and/or sign.  If the FSF, or specific 
influential individuals, wish to publicly endorse the petition that 
would be very helpful!  And of course, please forward (ask questions, etc).


  The IT property rights petition has received a modest 390 signatures 
so far.  I took lead, and launched in 2006 after Conservatives formed 
government.


  The user rights petition has 2834 signatures, and was launched in 
2004. Others took the lead on the text, but I added added last sentence 
("and to recognise the right of citizens to personally control their own 
communication devices").


  More pages are trickling in the mail to my home all the time.  If we 
could turn that into a flood that might have a great impact.



Petition to protect Information Technology property rights
----------------------------------------------------------

To the House of Commons in Parliament Assembled

We, the undersigned Canadians or residents of Canada draw attention of 
the House to the following:

THAT technical protection measures (TPMs), as implemented by some 
copyright holders, can violate end users privacy rights, prevent 
consumers from enjoying content on devices and software of their 
independent choice, and circumvent or compromise the security of their 
computers, including rendering them vulnerable to attack, as was the 
case in the well publicized Sony-BMG RootKit fiasco.

THAT TPMs can be applied to both content and devices, and thus the 
copyright holder and the owner of the device have rights that must be 
respected;

THAT while copyright holders own rights on the protected work, private 
citizens usually own the devices used to access those works;

THAT TPMs can be abused to harm the interest of the copyright holder 
and/or the device owner;

THAT numerous Canadian organizations have opposed the legal protection 
of TPMs applied by copyright holders or manufacturers to devices, 
including (but not limited to) the Canadian privacy community, Digital 
Security Coalition, Canadian Music Creators Coalition, Appropriation 
Art, Canadian Federation of Students, Canadian Library Association, 
Canadian Art Museum Directors' Organization, and several thousand 
Canadians who signed the Petition for Users' Rights.

THAT existing Canadian legislation, such as the Canadian Personal 
Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, prohibits the 
condition of the supply of a product or service on a person waiving 
their rights;

THAT the Canadian Competition Act section 77 regulates against exclusive 
dealing and tied selling;

THEREFORE, your petitioners call upon Parliament to prohibit the 
application of a technical protection measure to a device without the 
informed consent of the owner of the device, and to prohibit the 
conditioning of the supply of content to the purchase or use of a device 
which has a technical measure applied to it. We further call upon 
Parliament to recognise the right of citizens to personally control 
their own communication devices, and to choose software based on their 
own personal criteria.


------------------------------cut------------------

Petition for Users Rights
-------------------------

To the House of Commons in Parliament Assembled

We, the undersigned residents of Canada draw attention of the House to 
the following:

THAT the Copyright Act is properly recognised as being a careful balance 
between the rights of creators and the rights of the public (including 
viewers, readers and listeners);

THAT the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously affirmed this view in CCH 
Canadian Ltd v Law Society of Upper Canada;

THAT digital technologies have recently given copyright holders the 
ability to upset the balance in the Copyright Act by preventing 
Canadians from accessing works for purposes that have been legally 
granted to them;

THAT the creation of original works is nourished by wide accessibility 
of earlier works, including a vibrant public domain;

THAT dissemination of cultural ideas requires that they be preserved in 
a form that is accessible to future generations; and

THAT historically consultations regarding changes to the Copyright Act 
have mostly taken place with creators, intermediaries and only some 
special users (such as educators and librarians)

THEREFORE, your petitioners call upon Parliament to ensure generally 
that users are recognised as interested parties and are meaningfully 
consulted about proposed changes to the Copyright Act and to ensure in 
particular that any changes at least preserve all existing users' 
rights, including the right to use copyrighted materials under Fair 
Dealing and the right to make private copies of audio recordings. We 
further call upon Parliament not to extend the term of copyright; and to 
recognise the right of citizens to personally control their own 
communication devices.


--
 Russell McOrmond, Internet Consultant: <http://www.flora.ca/>
 Please help us tell the Canadian Parliament to protect our property
 rights as owners of Information Technology. Sign the petition!
 http://l.c11.ca/ict

 "The government, lobbied by legacy copyright holders and hardware
  manufacturers, can pry my camcorder, computer, home theatre, or
  portable media player from my cold dead hands!" http://c11.ca/own