Green Party vs Pirate Party
Canadians have long been faced with the choice of voting for their favorite candidate… or voting to keep their least favorite party out of power. This is a side effect of our first-past-the-post electoral system which has helped keep conservatives out of power until 2000 (when the Reform party was dissolved).
Today, non-conservative vote splitting serves to keep Canadian conservatives in power. Any attempt to address “special interest” issues in Canada must acknowledge vote splitting as a significant barrier to reform.
And on the subject of Copyright, neither Liberal nor Conservative governments have impressive resumes.
I’ll assume anyone reading this article is already familiar with the argument for copyright reform. Not reform as in DMCA, stiffer penalties and anti-circumvention legislation. Reform in the direction proposed by the Pirate Party of Sweden: shorter copyright duration.
In a nutshell, copyright constrains the economy. Just as taxes can be too low (no services offered) or too high (no financial incentive to take entrepreneurial risks), copyright duration also has a sweet spot. Financial reward to artists VS the ability to create new work by leveraging public domain content. Studies have shown [PDF] this sweet spot to be under 15 years. Today Canadian copyright has a duration of about 100 years.
Any lobbyist looking to maintain 100 year copyrights would welcome the spectacle of Greens and Pirates fighting over copyright voters. While there’s much work to be done in educating the public, keep in mind public opinion on copyright reform has never shaped government policy.
“A 12 year copyright on creative material is reasonable. Lifetime of the creator +70 years doesn’t make any sense at all.” -Elizabeth May, Green Party Leader of Canada
HDV video available for download and recycling at Internet Archive under a Creative-Commons license.
UPDATE:
I posted to Pirate Party forum, which garnered some interesting responses.
Greens issued a press release noting the Swedish Pirate Party’s victory in European Parliament.
And The Pirate Party of Canada issued a response to Canadian Green Party’s Elizabeth May.
- Green Party vs Pirate Party
- by Gordon McDowell
- Published on July 3rd, 2009
More from Gordon McDowell:
-
How to Receive Both Infrared and Visible Light
As the little grey men walk across the scorched surface of our planet, I shall witness their approach… by monitoring the INFRARED SPECTRUM.
-
R4NT Revenge
You still taking it? Still taking it from the man? Oh poor baby. Is the baby gonna cry? Cry baby, cry! Or, perhaps instead of crying, how about a nice warm glass of REVENGE!
-
WATCHMEN – The “What is Alan’s problem?” review.
Nixon is serving a third term. The cold war is about to heat up. What’s the point in catching bank robbers, when nuclear war is about to turn the entire planet into a cinder?
-
SugarPlumHoneyBun
And so Vahini entered the tub. She with the understanding that the bra she wore would protect her decency. And I with the understanding the bubbles… the precious bubbles…
-
JVC GR-HD1 Review
I would suspect they are created during MPEG-2 compression, due to an insufficient bitrate. I can actually hear the camera change speed when playing back DV footage, compared to SD and HD footage.
-
R4NT vs Ours To Destroy
Interview and live performance captured back in December. Ours To Destroy consists of Steve Dodd, Eric Ewin, Roland Griffith and David Morely. Camerawork was performed by D4V, Gord and multiple beer.
Other recent features:
-
Sónar 2010 – Barcelona, Spain
The festival attracts a lot of outsiders, but the Mediterranean, Spanish and more specifically Catalan nature of the people makes the festival what it is. Catalan people are passionate and this passion is infectious. The atmosphere is electric in Barcelona as a city and heightened by music and intoxicants at Sónar.
-
Summer Party Naval Styles at Seven RestoLounge
Oysters, like wine are affected by terroir and these Miyagi’s flavor profiles ranged with one showing a cleaner, almost tropical profile and the other being more salty, marine driven. As I was devouring the seemingly endless plates put in front of us, I sipped on a glass of fine sauvignon blanc.
-
R4NT Radio March 2010
R4NT Radio March 2010 um wow it’s been far too long since the last edition edition, featuring: Hector Hernandez, The Infesticons, Blockhead, Gramatik, Emika, Thunderheist, Parov Stelar, Eddy Meets Yannah, Anti-Pop Consortium, The Slew, Lighterthief, Andreya Triana, Parasyte Woman, Mathon, Venetian Snares, and Funki Porcini.
-
O Restaurant & Lounge revisited
Calgary has a diverse set of urban communities, most of which have the ubiquitous strip mall watering hole. In the South West community of Marda Loop, a reinvention of this paradigm has been established.
-
Predictions 2010.. and beyond!
So 2010 eh? Almost but not quite (no year zero they say) another decade? It seems like just yesterday that the world was waiting for Y2K. R4NT started publishing in March 2001, so we’re not quite 10 years old yet, but in internet years we are already a senior citizen.
-
Invictus
No matter what, the reality of Nelson Mandela is something that deserves screen time. Should this film even remotely intrigue the masses to take interest in this figure, the world would likely benefit greatly from it.